An Alabama State football player who was caught on camera slapping a security guard across the face during a game has been suspended indefinitely.
Following the viral video of the incident, an Alabama State football player who was arrested for slapping a security guard during Saturday’s game against Florida A&M has been suspended indefinitely from the team.
The player in question, named Jacob Freeman, is first seen in the video arguing with rival Tallahassee fans. But the junior wide receiver wouldn’t back down when a security guard came up to him, seemingly trying to defuse the situation.
When the security guard tried in vain to push Freeman away from irate Florida A&M supporters, the Alabama State player unexpectedly struck him across the face.
Several players tried to join the altercation but were turned away as Alabama State personnel rushed in to remove Freeman from the scene. The security guard, holding his snarling mouth and jaw, kept pointing at Freeman, hoping someone would recognise his attacker.
According to TMZ, Freeman was taken into custody by FAMU Police on Sunday and charged with one count of “battery causing bodily harm” before being released.
Since then, Freeman’s indefinite suspension has been announced by Dr. Jason Cable, the athletic director of Alabama State University, though he hasn’t given his name.
“We are aware of the incident involving an Alabama State University football student-athlete that happened last night after our game against Florida A&M University in Tallahassee,” the statement sent to AL.com stated.
The student-athlete’s actions are not acceptable to us, nor do they align with the standards that our university and the athletic department have established. This kind of behaviour is not tolerated at all. With immediate effect, the student-athlete has been suspended from the football programme for an indefinite period of time.
Eddie Robinson Jr., the head football coach at Alabama State, brought up the incident during his weekly SWAC media conference call.
“It was an unfortunate incident that the kid had, and he was 100% to blame,” stated Robinson Jr., the unrelated person to the late Grambling coach.
We are unable to have that. It is a poor reflection of the SWAC conference, Alabama State, and himself. He knows that those kinds of things are mistakes, but the consequences still apply. Life is like that. He is sorry and recognises that, but he must also deal with the consequences of his actions.
Prior to the current season, Freeman transferred from Georgia State, where he had previously played.
In the end, Alabama State dropped 23-10 to finish the season 1-2.
