Attorneys for LSU football's Koy Moore call for transparency, release of encounter footage
UPDATE: The Baton Rouge Police Union released a statement Friday claiming video from the incident will "vindicate" the officers involved. Read the full story here: https://www.wbrz.com/news/police-union-claims-video-from-koy-moore-incident-will-vindicate-officers-involved
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BATON ROUGE - Days after three Baton Rouge Police officers were put on administrative leave following an encounter with LSU wide receiver Koy Moore, attorneys for Moore and his family are calling for the public release of the officers' body camera video.
"It's more than a call for transparency," Ryan Thompson, one of the attorneys representing Moore said. "It's a call for transparency and accountability."
Thompson says the video will back up Moore's claims of harassment.
"They want everyone to see what it is that happened to these young, Black student-athletes," Thompson said.
Shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, police were called to the Ion apartments on W. Chimes Street to break up a 'large party playing loud music,' according to a police report. Officers were not able to find any large crowd.
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Around that time, Moore's attorneys say Koy and his friend, Alabama wide receiver Traeshon Holden, were leaving Moore's apartment at the Ion after playing video games. They were headed to get food when the officers approached them. Moore, his family, and attorneys have now seen the video of that encounter they say lasted roughly five minutes.
Thompson gave this account of what he saw:
"Both Koy and Traeshon are subsequently searched at gunpoint. They're asked 'where are the guns, where are the drugs?' There are no guns and no drugs. They then proceed to tell them that there are no guns, no drugs, 'what did I do, what did I do?' They [the officers] then say, 'be calm.' They [Koy and Traeshon] then, at some point tell them, after being detained, after being stopped, 'we're LSU football players, we're athletes.' At that point their detention stops and the response from that is 'ok, and...' Good job."
In an interview with WBRZ Thursday night, Thompson and Ron Haley, another of Moore's attorneys, said they believe BRPD will ultimately release the video following its investigation. Haley says it's a matter of public safety for the public to see the footage for themselves.
"This could have gone left," Haley said. "We have seen this movie turn into a horror show before."