An MMA Champion Kicked a Black Man’s Car to Provoke Him — 5 Minutes Later, He Begged for Forgiveness
Chapter 12
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"He grabbed me," Brent said. His voice was already pitched for the audience—for Devon, for Pauline, who was now 12 feet away and taking in the scene with the expression of someone whose morning had just gotten very long. "I came over here to ask him to move his vehicle, and he grabbed me."Pauline looked at Devon. Devon looked at Darius. Darius was looking at his phone on the ground six feet away: screen cracked, powered off."He took my phone," Darius said. He said it without agitation, because agitation was now a liability. "He took it out of my hand and pushed me into my vehicle. I stopped his ability to hit me. That's all I did.""That's not what happened," Brent said. He pointed at Tyler. "We've got it on film.""What part of it?" Darius said.The question landed with a quiet weight that nobody in the immediate circle missed. Devon's eyes went to Tyler. Tyler's camera was still up, but his expression had become the expression of someone who was no longer sure what team he was playing for.Brent turned to Pauline. "I want him removed from this event."Pauline held up both hands. "Nobody's going anywhere yet." Her voice had the careful authority of a woman who had managed community events for nine years and had broken up exactly this kind of situation before. "I need everyone to stay calm and stay right here." She looked at Darius. "Are you injured?""My shoulder and forearm," he said. "Nothing serious.""Okay." She looked at Brent. "And you?""I'm fine." The word came out clipped.Pauline looked at Devon, who identified himself and gave her a card. She glanced at it and slid it into her vest pocket. Then she looked at the crowd, most of whom were still recording. Then she looked at the dent in Darius's van door, which was not subtle."Mr. Bell," she said, "can you hold off on the service completion until I get a clearer picture of what happened here?"Darius looked at the F-250. He looked at his watch. He looked at the noon schedule board Pauline had posted on the fence behind her, which had the utility truck listed for a 12:30 run to the east venue.He said, "Yes."Brent smiled. It was the smile of someone who had navigated a situation to the outcome he needed. The footage Tyler had from the past nine minutes was imperfect: there was too much of Brent kicking the door at the beginning, and the audio from Darius's extended statements in the middle was a problem. But the end of the clip—Darius with his hands on Brent—was usable. With the right cut, it was very usable.