Thabo Sefolosha speaks out on NYC cops who assaulted him

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By then I was in the street, around many other people. I asked him where he wanted me to go. He said, "Keep moving until I tell you to stop." I joined the rest of the people, next to a pizza place, and that's when five or six or seven other officers surrounded us. It felt like I had done something wrong.

I was just getting into a livery cab—one of the cops opened the door and said, "Get out of here"—when a homeless man asked me for money. I took out twenty bucks. When I made a few steps toward the guy, an officer said, "You're going to jail."

More officers started grabbing me. I was trying to put the money back in my pocket. Usually I don't carry that much, but I had six or seven hundred dollars in my hand. One officer pulled me from my right arm, another grabbed me on my left, and another grabbed me on the back of my neck. I'm in, like, an on-a-cross type of position. I couldn't even move. It was just chaos. I had never been arrested before. I understood a little bit late that they were trying to put me on the ground, but if somebody grabs your arms and pulls you on your neck, you fall face first.

Somebody kicked my leg, more than once, from the back to force me to the ground. I knew something had happened as soon as they did it; I'm an athlete, so I know how my body should feel. They were stepping on my foot, too, I guess to try to keep me there. I didn't feel like there was anything I could do to calm it down. I tried to show them I was cooperating. I tried.

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In September I went to New York, and they offered me this deal: one day of community service, with the charges to be dismissed after six months. My lawyer said that it was a very, very gutsy move not to take the deal. I don't think I realized quite fully how much of a risk it was. My lawyer had told me, "You're risking up to two years in jail for all this." But to accept the deal felt like admitting guilt.

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The charges were obstruction of governmental administration, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. At the beginning of the trial, my lawyer showed new video clips his team uncovered and got the first cop to agree that I was complying with his order, that I was not committing a crime. It was great. The most ludicrous thing to listen to was that I charged an officer. I would never do that. They were trying to make it seem like they had a reason to arrest me. I'm sure that when you break someone's leg and you have video of one officer taking a baton out, you have a lot on the line.

The video was huge. It was everything. I really believe that without it, Pero and I could be behind bars right now. Because if you don't have real proof that you didn't do it and you have five, six officers saying that you did…

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It's tough to think about what I could have done differently. I could have run two blocks away as quickly as I could. But in my mind, the police are under the same laws we are. Did I do something wrong because I said you can talk to me in a nicer way? What would I do the next time it happens? Well, I'll probably run next time. I'll probably say, "I don't want any part of this" and move as fast as I can.

It was an act of police brutality, and I believe it could happen to anyone. Now I'm a lot more aware of everything that goes on. I've been, I don't want to say disillusioned, but brought back to earth in a harsh way.

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