After backlash from LeBron James and more, Texas A&M University Police Department officials have updated that the Texas State trooper who was seen shoving South Carolina football players in a tunnel has been “relieved of his game day assignment.”
The move arrives after the incident itself, but as social media, including NBA star LeBron James and more, condemned the trooper’s actions and called for his automatic suspension.
The incident occurred on Saturday (November 15) as the trooper exchanged words with South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor after a long touchdown. Harbor had just caught a pass and ran for the 80-yard score. He then grabbed his right hamstring and headed into the tunnel at Kyle Field — the home stadium for the Texas A&M Aggies football team, located in College Station, Texas.
Several of Harbor’s teammates joined him in the tunnel and as they walked back out and onto the field, the trooper briskly walked in between the players. However, instead of pardoning himself and walking sideways, or one shoulder first, he kept his body straight and hardly brushed past, essentially shoving, Harbor and running back Oscar Adaway III.
The trooper then scolded Harbor, who turned around, but then kept walking toward the field with help from a teammate. In the second half of the game, the Texas A&M Police posted to X, “We are aware of the incident in the NE tunnel involving a DPS trooper. He has been relieved of his game day assignment.” The account also retweeted a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). It read:
“The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is aware of the incident that occurred today during the Texas A&M football game. The DPS Trooper involved was sent home from the game. Our Office of Inspector General (OIG) is also aware of the incident and will be further looking into the matter. No additional information will be released at this time.”
LeBron James, Stephen A. Smith, And Ryan Clark Condemn Texas State Trooper Who Shoved South Carolina Football Players In Tunnel At Texas A&M Game
Aside from LBJ, sports commentary Stephen A. Smith and ‘The Pivot’ host Ryan Clark addressed the incident as well. Finally, word of the trooper’s reassigning surfaced. James took to his X account and tweeted, “That A&M cop needs to suspended! That was premeditated and corny AF!! He went out his way to start some sh*t. Do better man.”
Meanwhile, Smith also took to his X account and posted a video. He captioned the post, “My thoughts on the police officer interaction in South Carolina vs. Texas A&M game.” In his video, he said:
“This is a no-brainer to me. Nyck Harbor, for South Carolina, catches a pass, scampers down the field for a damn long touchdown run, runs into the tunnel because he’s holding his hamstring, and then his teammates come to help him because they know that something must be wrong because he kept going in there and he’s holding his hamstring.
He comes back out. You can see the officer at the stadium walking in between two players, and literally bumps into both of them, and flexes his arms out, before turning around and telling them to get on out of here, and all of this other stuff. We saw it. It’s clear as day. It’s an automatic suspension.
The man shouldn’t be allowed to work the game again. What’s you doing messing with a player like that for? Wasn’t somebody in street clothes that you didn’t know was a player. You knew exactly who it was. You knew it was a player for South Carolina. You knew that. And you did it anyway. There’s nothing to think about here. There’s no argument. There’s no excuse on the part of the behavior of the officer. He shouldn’t even be allowed to cover the games anymore. And definitely should be suspended.”
Elsewhere, Clark also took to his X account. He captioned his video:
“What happened today at Texas A&M was unacceptable. No young man should face that level of aggression outside of the field of play. Especially, not from someone there to protect. This officer had the audacity to do this in front of millions. What does he do when no one’s watching? It didn’t escalate today, but that doesn’t mean it never has or will.”
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