Body cam footage of former MLB outfielder Johnny Damon’s DUI arrest shows him claiming people are “targeting” him for his support of former President Donald Trump.
The videos, released on Tuesday after a public records request, feature the 47-year-old former Red Sox star and World Series champion in an apparently disoriented state, disobeying police commands and talking about “Blue Lives Matter” and the former president.
After being pulled over by police in Windermere, Florida, last month, body cam footage from a police officer shows Damon and his wife, Michelle Mangan-Damon, immediately exiting their SUV.
“Shut your door! Shut your door!” the officer shouted while commanding Damon’s wife back into the passenger seat after she walked around the side of the vehicle.
The officer told Damon to lean against the back of his SUV and asked why Mangan-Damon exited the vehicle.
“Um, because we saw you following us,” Damon said, with the officer saying, “Yeah, it’s a traffic stop. You don’t get out of the car at a traffic stop.”
“What traffic stop?” Damon asked. When asked how much he had to drink before being pulled over, Damon replied, “A little bit.”
About two minutes into the traffic stop, Mangan-Damon once again left the car.
“Don’t touch me,” she said as the officer grabbed her arm, prompting what appeared to be a struggle between them near the back of the SUV.
“Believe me, I am Blue Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter,” Damon told police as he was being detained. “Hey bro, I am a good f—— guy, and I know people are trying to target me because I’m a Trump supporter.”
“I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” the officer said.
“Yeah, it does,” Damon said, prompting the officer to tell him, “That’s neither here nor there right now. That’s not why I’m stopping you.”
The two-time All-Star is seen in later footage performing a series of field sobriety tests in which he tells law enforcement that he’s “healthy as hell” and has the ability to run a 4.2-second 40-yard dash “right now.”
After being booked, Damon’s blood alcohol level was nearly 0.30, according to police. The legal limit to drive in Florida is only 0.08 for people 21 and older. Damon pleaded guilty to his DUI charge, while Mangan-Damon was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence.
Damon was a first-round pick in 1992, when he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals. He is a two-time World Series champion, having won with the Red Sox in 2004 and with the rival New York Yankees in 2009.
