Where's Antonio Brown? Facing attempted murder, wanted NFL star left the country
FILE - Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown reacts courtside after the Miami Heat defeated Detroit 105-98 after four quarters of an NBA game at FTX Arena in Downtown Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Days after authorities in Miami issued an arrest warrant for Antonio Brown, the former NFL star has been traveling in the Middle East — but police don't consider him on the run.
Brown, 36, is wanted on an attempted murder charge stemming from a May 16 dispute at a boxing event hosted by influencer Adin Ross. The seven-page warrant seeks to apprehend him, as signed by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ariel Rodriguez on June 11, and lists Brown's bond as $10,000 plus house arrest.
Advertisement
READ MORE: Antonio Brown charged with attempted murder after shooting at Miami boxing event
In an Instagram post this weekend, Brown said he was in Iran, although the Herald's review of his latest posts show he has been in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In one photo, Brown is posing in front of a Buka Boxing banner; in a now-deleted video, he's seen in what appears to be in a red McLaren Artura at Masterkey Rent A Car. Both locations trace back to Dubai.
Miami Police Chief Manny Morales on Monday afternoon told the Miami Herald that detectives believe Brown is still in Dubai, have been in contact with his attorney and expect him to be taken into custody once he returns to South Florida.
'We're not going to be sending anybody there,' the chief said.
Advertisement
On Sunday, Brown shared on X a screenshot of an exchange with ChatGPT, where the AI tool said he has been racially profiled by the media, fans and the NFL.
'How TF [the f---] You go from being victimized unto a attempt to murder you see they control the media,' Brown said in the post. 'Took a month to change the narrative...'
The Herald couldn't reach an attorney representing Brown as of Monday afternoon.
Miami boxing event ends in gunfire
Brown was detained — but not arrested — the night of the shooting outside the venue, a warehouse located at 221 NE 67th St. in Miami's Little River neighborhood.
Advertisement
The day after the incident, Brown said in a post on X that he was 'jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.'
'Contrary to some video circulating, Police temporarily detained me until they received my side of the story and then released me. I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT AND WAS NOT ARRESTED,' Brown said in the post. 'I will be talking to my legal council and attorneys on pressing charges on the individuals that jumped me.'
Video posted to social media showed the All-Pro wide receiver appearing to hold a gun and running out of frame. Seconds later, gunshots were heard.
Before the gunfire, Brown punched Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, a 41-year-old who later told police he has known Brown since 2022, according to the warrant. An off-duty lieutenant with the Florida Highway Patrol broke up the fight. However, witnesses then told the lieutenant that Brown might be armed.
Advertisement
Brown, the warrant says, was detained and searched. No firearm was found on him, although police found two spent shell casings and a damaged right-handed holster outside the venue. Brown was released because the man shot, later identified as Nantambu, was no longer at the venue.
The next day, detectives reviewed security footage that showed Brown and two others attacking Nantambu before the shooting, according to the warrant. Security broke up the fight, and Nantambu walked away. Then, Brown took a gun from a security guard before running after Nantambu.
Cellphone video shared on social media confirmed what soon transpired: Brown chased Nantambu to the sidewalk and fired two shots from close range. Nantambu, the warrant says, ducked as shots rang out.
Detectives later interviewed Nantambu, who said he tried to leave after Brown attacked him. But Brown, he asserted, chased him with a gun and fired at him — possibly grazing his neck.
Advertisement
The two struggled over the gun before ending up on the ground, Nantambu told police. When officers arrived, Nantambu said Brown hid the weapon under a dark piece of cloth and walked away.
Fearing for his life, Nantambu said he left and sought medical care at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital.
Brown embroiled in controversy
Since 2007, the Super Bowl champion wide receiver has been enmeshed in a litany of bizarre on-field incidents and off-field controversies, some of which led to legal woes.
After spending a year at North Carolina Tech Prep to get his grades up, the dominoes began to fall when the Miami Norland graduate received a scholarship to play football at Florida International University, where his offer was later rescinded before the season started because of his involvement in an altercation with campus security.
Advertisement
During his decade-long career in the NFL, Brown made headlines for kicking Browns punter Spencer Lanning in the face mask, leaping onto a goalpost and throwing a Gatorade cooler, among other incidents.
In 2019, Brown was sued by a fitness trainer who alleged that Brown had sexually assaulted her. He settled that federal suit. Shortly after, another woman detailed incidents of sexual misconduct involving Brown in a story published by Sports Illustrated.
A year later, Brown was suspended for the first eight weeks of the 2020 NFL season for multiple violations of the league's personal-conduct policy. During his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brown destroyed a security camera and threw a bicycle at a security guard at his Hollywood home. Later, Brown was suspended for three games by the NFL for violating the league's COVID-19 protocols by misrepresenting his vaccination status.
Also in 2020, Brown was accused of assaulting a moving truck driver over a payment dispute at his Hollywood home. He subsequently pleaded no contest to burglary and battery charges and was sentenced to two years of probation. Additionally, he was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation and to participate in a 13-week anger management program. Two years later, a civil court jury ordered Brown to pay the truck driver $1.2 million in damages due to the attack.
Advertisement
His polarizing career ended in grand fashion with one of the most peculiar moments in recent NFL history. In Week 17 of the 2021 season, during the third quarter of the Buccaneers' 28–24 win over the New York Jets, Brown took his jersey, shoulder pads, glove, and shirt off and ran off the field into the locker room. Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said in a postgame press conference that Brown 'is no longer a Buc' and that Brown refused to enter the game, prompting Arians to tell him to leave.
Three days later, Brown released a statement claiming that Arians and the Buccaneers had engaged in a cover up. Brown claimed that an MRI on his ankle showed 'broken bone fragments stuck in my ankle, the ligament torn from the bone, and cartilage loss, which are beyond painful.'
Tampa Bay released him two weeks later. He hasn't played in the NFL again.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Israeli Officials Warn Iran Is Hijacking Security Cameras to Spy
Iran is tapping into private security cameras in Israel to gather real-time intelligence about its adversary, exposing a recurrent problem with the devices that has emerged in other global conflicts. Earlier this week, after Iranian ballistic missiles tore through high-rise buildings in Tel Aviv, a former Israeli cybersecurity official went on public radio to issue a stark warning: Turn off your home surveillance cameras or change the password.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dutch soccer player Quincy Promes extradited from Dubai to face prison in cocaine smuggling case
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch soccer player Quincy Promes was being extradited Friday from Dubai to the Netherlands, where he faces a prison sentence for involvement in cocaine smuggling, the prosecutor's office told The Associated Press. The Dutch public prosecution service confirmed to the AP that Promes was en route to the Netherlands, in Dutch custody. Advertisement Promes, who scored seven goals in 50 international matches for the Netherlands before legal issues derailed his international career, was convicted last year of complicity in cocaine smuggling and sentenced in his absence to six years in prison. Amsterdam District Court ruled that Promes was involved in the import and export of hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of cocaine in 2020. His lawyers told judges he denied the allegations. In 2023, Promes was found guilty of stabbing his cousin in the leg and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Both of Promes' convictions are currently under appeal. Promes, a 33-year-old former player for Ajax and Sevilla, had been playing for Spartak Moscow and living in Russia from 2021 until last year, when he was reportedly arrested in Dubai around the time that Spartak was there for friendly games. More recently, he had been playing with United FC, a second-tier club in Dubai. ___ AP soccer:
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Knife-wielding illegal migrant accused of threatening US Attorney on Albany, NY streets
A previously deported illegal migrant with a long rap sheet has been arrested on attempted murder charges in Albany after he pulled out a knife and lunged at the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, according to prosecutors. Saul Morales-Garcia, 40, who is originally from El Salvador, charged at U.S. attorney John Sarcone on Tuesday night while he was outside a hotel, according to prosecutors. Sarcone, who was appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi in March, said he feared for his life. The migrant didn't injure Sarcone, who fled into the hotel on Lodge Street and called Sheriff Craig Apple just before 10 p.m. Sarcone said he then went back to the street and called Garcia-Morales in order to stop the migrant from fleeing the scene, believing an innocent person would be killed if he wasn't apprehended. But before law enforcement arrived, Morales-Garcia charged at Sarcone again, screaming and yelling at him in a foreign language while wielding the knife to make a slitting-the-throat gesture, prosecutors said. Sarcone again ran to the lobby of the Hilton where Morales-Garcia stopped, turned and began to walk away but was arrested when sheriff's deputies arrived. Morales-Garcia was taken into custody and the knife was recovered. "I felt an obligation to the public as the chief Federal law enforcement officer in the district that includes the city of Albany," Sarcone said in a statement. "I feared for my life but I couldn't let this individual harm and potentially kill others." Morales-Garcia, who unlawfully reentered the United States in 2021, has been charged with attempted murder, felony weapons possession and menacing, according to court documents. Police said it was a random attack. He was arraigned in Albany City Court and pleaded not guilty. He is currently being held without bail. "Public safety is our highest priority," Sarcone said. "I am relieved that no one was harmed. I appreciated the swift response by the Albany County Sheriff's office, which was within minutes, although it seemed like an eternity." Sarcone said that despite his familiarity with streets, he thinks they are dangerous. "I'm a resident of the city of Albany, and I can't … I don't feel safe to go out for a walk and have a cigar right near the state Capitol," he told Times Union. The sheriff praised Sarcone and said his "selfless actions likely saved lives." Sarcone is responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation in 32 counties in the Northern District of New York. He requested that his office be recused from prosecuting Morales-Garcia for illegally re-entering the United States, which is a felony. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York will now be prosecuting the case. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are also involved in the investigation. Morales-Garcia has a criminal record in at least three other states besides New York, according to the Times Union. Morales-Garcia was convicted in Georgia in 2022 for driving under the influence and driving without a license, and he currently has an active warrant in Forsyth County for failure to appear in court that year. He was arrested in Virginia 2023 by U.S. Park Police on federal property for disorderly conduct while he was charged with retail theft in Philadelphia last year. Fox News Digital reached out to the Albany County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. attorney's office and Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) for comment.
