Tuskegee Coach Handcuffed After Game Now Suing Morehouse & Police

Tuskegee University men’s basketball coach is looking to file a lawsuit against Morehouse College and two of its campus police officers after a Division II game earlier this season led to the coach being placed in handcuffs and escorted off the court. 

Coach Benjy Taylor was never charged with a crime despite being walked off the floor in cuffs and escorted by an officer after a 77-69 loss at rival Morehouse. 

The coach is expected to announce, on Friday, March 20, that he’s seeking legal recourse from the incident, according to Taylor’s attorneys, who told USA Today. Civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels, John Burris, Gerald Griggs, and Gregory Reynald Williams are representing Taylor.

In a news release from Taylor’s attorneys announced their intention to officially file a lawsuit later this week, noting that the way Taylor was treated “sparked national attention and outcry.”

“The incident occurred as players from Tuskegee and Morehouse shook hands after a Jan. 31 game at Forbes Arena in Atlanta, with an HBCU Gameday video widely shared on social media showing Taylor initially confronting security,” USA Today notes. 

Taylor claims that he was asking security for help. He wanted a group of Morehouse football players — who Taylor claimed were yelling obscenities — from the end of the game handshake line. Instead, after a brief interaction with the security officer, Taylor was handcuffed and walked him off the court.

“I am at a loss for words, and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today,” Taylor said in a statement after the incident occurred. “For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking for me. I was simply trying to get the football team out of the handshake line as they were following right behind me and the team yelling obscenities! It was a very dangerous situation.”

Morehouse was fined an undisclosed amount by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), of which both schools are members. An investigation by the conference found that Morehouse “did not satisfy the required security standards for a host institution, specifically as it relates to crowd control and ensuring the safe entry and exit of visiting teams and game participants.”

See social media’s reaction to the detention below.