The Alameda County Sheriff's office is standing by Deputy Alan Strickland. This is after the legal team of Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri released the body cam footage of the encounter between the two at Oracle Arena towards the end of Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
Strickland sued Ujiri in February, alleging the Raptors president initiated a physical confrontation as he tried to get on the floor to celebrate with his team.
The Alameda County Sheriff is standing by Strickland, maintaining Ujiri was the “aggressor” while also stating “don't be quick to judge based off of what the lawyers are saying.”
#UPDATE – Alameda County Sheriff's office tells @CP24 "We 100% stand by original statement that was released that Mr. Ujiri is the aggressor in this incident…don't be quick to judge based off of what lawyers are saying." @Raptors #Toronto
— Stephanie Smyth (@stephaniesmyth) August 19, 2020
This is a pretty bold statement, seeing as the body cam footage clearly shows otherwise.
Strickland shoved Ujiri even after the Raptors president presented his credentials. Masai seemed incredulous at the run-in. In fact, it was not until Strickland pushed Ujiri a second time that he retaliated with some force of his own.
The security video from the end of Game 6 in Oakland has been released. It’s pretty clear Deputy Alan Strickland was the aggressor in this altercation with #Raptors President Masai Ujiri. This cop is a straight clown. pic.twitter.com/ANaOLWRmHh
— Sheldon Alexander (@ShelAlexander) August 19, 2020
Perhaps more information will come out in the following days. But judging from the footage, it is hard to paint Ujiri as the aggressor in the scuffle.
Meanwhile, Ujiri is hoping his Raptors can make it back-to-back championships in Orlando.
The Raptors have taken the first two games of their first-round series after defeating the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday afternoon.
Toronto has been one of the strongest teams during the restart, going 7-1 during the seeding games. They are now hoping to close out the final two against the Nets.
In the meantime, Masai Ujiri's team is likely to issue some form of a response, though the video seems to speak for itself.
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