The image is making the rounds on social networks in the United States and has reminded many Americans of scenes of past police violence. It is filmed by the girlfriend of the man who is on the ground, violently molested by four police officers, one of whom beat him.
The scene takes place last Thursday in Miami and the person on the ground screaming is named Fred Kerley. He is African-American and 29 years old. According to initial information, he approached a crime scene in South Beach. The police accuse him of having had “aggressive behavior”. Law enforcement swears Kerley adopted a “combat position” by ignoring the police officers’ instructions, which would have led him to resist during the arrest. He swears that he was worried about his car, parked near the crime scene in question and denies the facts with which he is accused.
Kerley, crowned world champion in the 100m in 2022, was charged with rebellion, assault and battery against an agent and disturbing the peace and then imprisoned. During his appearance in a Florida court on Friday, reported by a local television station, Kerley's lawyer deplored “an overreaction by the police.”
Released on bail in this case, Kerley was arrested again Friday in connection with another, dating back to last May. According to Miami Dade County police, Kerley was under investigation for domestic violence against his then-wife, whom he had been with for more than 10 years. Still according to the police, he tried to strangle her after an argument.
If his spectacular arrest on Thursday ignited social networks and the American media, it is because Fred Kerley is an athletics star: 2022 world champion in the 100m, Olympic bronze medalist (9''81) in the queen distance on the purple track of the Stade de France last summer. He can run a 100m in 9″76, his personal best.
The story of Fred Kerley is that of an extraordinary destiny. When he was 2 years old, his father was in prison and his mother was wiped off the map “after taking bad turns in life,” his son says modestly. Orphaned or almost, the future champion was adopted with his brothers and sisters by his aunt in Texas. “She sacrificed her life for me, my brothers, my sisters and my cousins. We were all adopted by our aunt, there were thirteen of us. We had a room, all thirteen of us slept in it. In total, there were 26 children in the home. It's incredible to achieve something that few people in my position have achieved,” said the American at the time of his world title.
A complete athlete
On his body covered in tattoos, the sprinter has one more important than the others. It is made up of 4 letters “Meme”, the nickname of his aunt to whom he owes everything. Since his unhappy times, however, Fred Kerley has reconciled with his two parents who emerged from poverty.
At university, the student first excelled in American football and basketball. He is predicted to have a great professional career in one of the two sports. But a broken collarbone shatters his dream. He is forced to fall back on a less popular discipline in the United States: “track and field” (athletics in English). It's 2016 and Fred Kerley is showing his extraordinary burst of speed. During the Rio Games, anonymously, he won a gold medal at the Caribbean championship in the 4x100m. His adventure starts from there.
Like his idol Carl Lewis, Kerley is complete: 100, 200 m, length and especially 400 m, his first favorite distance. He is a double United States champion in 2017 and 2019 in 43''64. That same year, he was world champion in the 4x400m with the US selection in Doha. Three years later, he achieved a unique feat: being crowned world champion in the 100m (in 9''86) by being a lap runner. He broke all the times by being one of only three runners in history to have run in less than 10 seconds over 100 m (9''76), less than 20 seconds over 200 m (19''76) and less 44 seconds over 400 m (43''64).
Still incarcerated this Saturday, the sprinter risks much more in the case of domestic violence than in that of rebellion against the police. According to local media, this latest case has not yet been updated in the county court system, which currently prevents his appearance for (further) bail.
