The controversy surrounding Howard Bryant's arrest is not over, as the ESPN writer's lawyer is fighting back against the allegations that Bryant assaulted his wife outside a restaurant in Buckland, Mass.
According to recorder.com, Bryant's lawyer Buz Eisenberg claims that race was a factor in the arrest, insisting that the police officer involved did not completely investigate the situation.
"Mr. Bryant was the victim of excessive force," Eisenberg said after Bryant's arraignment on Monday in Greenfield, Mass. ''[Police] responded to the scene and rather than do an investigation they made an arrest of a black man with a white wife."
Bryant pleaded innocent to charges of domestic assault and battery, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest on Monday. He was released on personal cognizance.
Bryant's wife, Veronique, says she is not pressing charges against her husband of nine years and told the Boston Herald that she has never been a victim of abuse.
"I'm not a victim of abuse — never been," she said in a phone interview. "Not now. Not ever."
Massachusetts State Police's director of media communications David Procopio responded to the Eisenberg's race claim, defending the arrest made by state troopers.
"To claim race had anything to do with his arrest is not only wrong, but is also an affront to domestic violence victims and to the vast majority of people from all racial backgrounds who choose to obey the law," Procopio said.
