A group of Kentucky Wildcats football players was cleared of all burglary charges by a grand jury last year, and now they’re suing the cop who directed the investigation, alleging that they were racially targeted and the white officer sought to frame them for a crime they did not commit.
According to ESPN, five of the six Kentucky players who were arrested last March are now suing Lexington police officer Cory Vinlove with lawsuits alleging that he knew probable cause did not exist to charge them and “embarked on a journey” to frame them.
The players were charged in August 2021 with first-degree burglary stemming from a March 2021 incident at an off-campus private party. But none of them were found guilty.
Attorney Elliot Slosar, who is one of four attorneys listed on the case, told ESPN in a statement that the lawsuit is “another tragic example of the damage caused by corrupt policing in America,” and suggested that the false accusations made by Vinlove and the Lexington police were racially motivated.
“As the lawsuits demonstrate, these five young Black men were targeted by a white officer with an axe to grind and determined to make a name for himself,” Slosar said.
Reuben Adams, Jutahn McClain, Vito Tisdale, Joel Williams, and Andru Phillips are the players listed in the lawsuit, though only Tisdale, McClain, and Phillips remain on the Kentucky football team, which is currently ranked No. 8 in the country.
[ESPN]
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