South Carolina Gamecocks player Oscar Adaway III has filed charges against the Texas A&M trooper who appeared to intentionally bump into him and his teammate Nyck Harbor, The Washington Post reported.
Per CNN, the November 15 incident occurred during South Carolina’s game against Texas A&M at Kyle Field, and the Department of Public Safety said the trooper in question was “sent home” in the aftermath of the incident.
Besides filing the charges, Adaway also wants an apology from the trooper, whose identity has still not been disclosed.
South Carolina was leading the home team 27-3 at the time of the incident. In the video, Harbor and his teammates are seen exiting the tunnel as the trooper walks toward their direction. The trooper is then seen appearing to intentionally bump into Harbor and Adaway before he seemingly points at Harbor and shouts at him.
Adaway is then seen leading Harbor away in an apparent attempt to de-escalate the situation. “We are aware of the incident in the NE tunnel involving a DPS trooper. He has been relieved of his game day assignment,” Texas A&M campus police later announced in a statement.
In another statement, the DPS also said that the trooper in question was “sent home.” “Our Office of Inspector General (OIG) is also aware of the incident and will be further looking into the matter. No additional information will be released at this time,” DPS added.
Adaway told The Washington Post that he has been unable to sleep because of the incident, adding that he sought consultation from a USC sports psychiatrist.
“You see this sort of thing on TV — different scenarios of police bullying people here and there — but you never feel it and understand it until you’re actually in the situation,” Adaway said.
In the aftermath of the incident, basketball superstar LeBron James took to social media to call for the state trooper’s suspension.
“That A&M cop needs to [sic] suspended!” the four-time NBA champion posted at the time. “That was premeditated and corny AF!! . He went out his way to start some sh*t. Do better man.”
“We know the staff and gameday operations team at Texas A&M work extremely hard to provide a safe environment for student-athletes and fans,” USC athletics director Jeremiah Donati also told The Washington Post in a statement. “We appreciate their communication and immediate action taken following the incident that took place.”
