Newly released video from 2019 NBA Finals shows deputy altercation with Raptors president Masai Urij
- New video shows a view of the confrontation between Raptors president Masai Uriji and Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Alan Strickland from the 2019 NBA Finals.
- Uriji and the Raptors had maintained their stance that the accusations against Uriji had been baseless from the start.
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New video made public on Tuesday has brought new attention to the alleged confrontation between Raptors president Masai Uriji and Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Alan Strickland after the Raptors win in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
Strickland had accused Uriji of being aggressive while attempting to get onto the court and celebrate the victory with his team, saying that the Toronto executive pushed him and hit him in the face. A sheriff's spokesman said at the time that Uriji had been initially denied access to the court for lacking the proper credential to get onto the floor.
New video of the altercation was revealed on Tuesday. The body camera footage appears to show Strickland shoving Uriji twice, including while he appears to be reaching for a credential.
Strickland can also be heard yelling at Uriji to "Back the f--- up."
—Diamond Leung (@diamond83) August 19, 2020The video is a part of a countersuit filed by Uriji on Tuesday, according to ESPN.
From the countersuit, per ESPN:
"After being shoved and cursed at, Mr. Ujiri did not respond aggressively towards Mr. Strickland. Instead, he calmly asked Mr. Strickland why he had pushed him, informed Mr. Strickland he was the Raptors' President, and held up his all-access arena credential to show it to Mr. Strickland. Rather than trying to communicate with Mr. Ujiri, Mr. Strickland chose to dismiss Mr. Ujiri's claim that he was the Raptors' President and ignore the all-access credential Mr. Ujiri was trying to show him. Mr. Strickland then forcefully shoved Mr. Ujiri a second time."
Authorities initially said they wanted to push for a battery charge against Uriji, but no criminal charges were ever filed. In February, Strickland filed a suit against Uriji, claiming the incident had "caused and continue to cause great mental, physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering."
In a statement on Tuesday, the Raptors maintained their stance that the accusations against Uriji had been baseless from the start.
—Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 19, 2020
Uriji had been calling the suit against him "malicious" since it was filed.
"To me, it's incredible that things play out like that," Uriji said in February. "I think something incredible was taken away from me and I will never forget it. It is one of the things that drives me to win another championship because I want to be able to celebrate a championship the right way.
"This thing will be settled. The truth will come out. The truth will come out of this."
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