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Friday, September 3
 
Conversation with Jim Brown

Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown joined host Gary Miller Thursday on ESPN's Up Close.

Brown addressed the controversy surrounding a 911 tape released Wednesday relating to his June 15th arrest. Brown reinforced to Miller that he neither harmed his wife nor made any terrorist threats.

"I can't stop people from accusing me of things," Brown said during the interview. "I live an open life. My house has been open. But I do a lot of work around this country and I face up to what I am accused of. So that 911 tape did not have to be out there. I approved my lawyer to put it out there."

The following are all of Brown's comments regarding the June 15th incident.

Miller: In your own words, what happened that night at your house?

Brown: Very simply, my wife decided I was having an extra-marital affair and she was a little upset about it and I was leaving town that night. I was going to go to Ohio and then Miami and she doesn't like Miami because she thinks that's where the lady is, and we got in an argument -- mainly she got in an argument. Got mad. Went up the hill, I got provoked, shouldn't of got provoked. Went into the garage, told her I was going to break the car windows. Went back and laid down. The rest of it is like Vietnam. She made a 911 call, which we made public so that everyone would know what that call was. The police came with 15 squad cars. I don't know how many policemen. They took shotguns out of the trunk of the car in front of her. They basically put a siege on the house. Knocked on the door. I came to the door, no shoes on, with some shorts and a cut off shirt. They threw me up against my brick wall up front, double hand-cuffed me, twisted the hand-cuffs, asked me two questions which I gave the answers. 'What happened to the car?' I said 'sir I broke the windows.' 'Is there a gun in the house?' I said 'Yes, there is a gun in the dresser.' Boom, went down. The talked to me downtown for about two minutes. They interrogated her for about four hours. Scared her to death.

When I was bailed out and came home, they were still there. I waited till they left. She left for about two minutes, came back to the house. We reunited. She went down to try and get them to stop doing what they were doing. They ignored her. She went down the next morning. They ignored her. They had a restraining order on me. We went on television the next day because the cameras were sneaking around the house, so we told everyone to come on down. They took pictures of us. They took pictures of the house, of the dog. She told them basically she had overreacted and that I never touched her, never threatened her. That's the story. They are pursuing it. They are writing report after report. They are trying to find something to hang on me. If I were them, I would just say all right he broke the windows. What can we charge him for that. Because there was no terrorist threat. There was no violence. There was no nothing.

Miller : Why go public with this? Normally, in the legal case it's best not to say anything. Obviously, no matter how it is adjudicated. Whether they do drop it, which seems unlikely at this point with all the publicity it's getting. Why go public with it?

Brown: Because the only thing they are playing to is the public. They don't really have a chance for anything else because there is no violence. There is nothing to ahh....I mean, terrorist threat! That should be overseas somewhere is Kosovo, not in America. It's all about publicity. It's all about James Hahn. His ambitions to be mayor. He is putting pressure on these policemen to come up with a better story so they can get some kind of evidence so that they won't look bad. It's a terrible situation for them because they have to beat on her. They are brow-beating her. They are terrorizing her at this time because they need her to prove their case. But she is saying the same thing that I am saying and the same thing my daughter is saying. So all the evidence is right there. There has been nothing that represents violence in any way other than the fact that I broke the car windows. So it's a political situation. James Hahn is the boss. So to me he is responsible for their pursuit of the situation.

 Jim Brown
Jim Brown said the only violent act he committed was breaking his wife's car windows.
Miller: O.K. that's what's happening now. Let's play a section of the 911 tape when Monique initially called and see what prompted them to come to the house in the first place.

911 Tape:

Operator: Monique, what's going on?

Monique Brown: My husband...

Operator: What did he do? Did he hit you?

Monique Brown: He smashed things, and he (inaudible)....

Miller: Sounds to me at the end there, and it's been transcribed as inaudible, and it sounds to me and to people on our staff when we listened to it, that it says he smashed things and he threatened to kill me. Did she say that? What do you think she said?

Brown: No, no. I don't know what she said, but you're going along with them, huh. If that was what she said, believe me, it would not be inaudible. If you play the tape you will find that the 911 operator said to her that he threatened to kill you, didn't he?

Miller: We have that section. Let's listen to this again and then we'll play that section where the 911 operator, you feel, led her but let's play this one section again. What do you think she says on this part of the tape?

Brown: You're going to play this again?

Miller: Yeah.

Brown: I'm surprised at you. What are you trying to prove?

Miller: Listen, see what you think she said.

Brown: (interrupting) I don't know what she said.

Miller: (continuing) and then we'll talk about the other part of the tape where you felt like she (the operator) led her to say he threatened to kill you.

Brown: Let me do this for you, Gary. This is not right. You are using conjecture. The tape speaks for itself. My wife speaks for herself. Okay. I'm not going to get in a race with you on this show to go back and forth and separate these things and do I think she said and what you all think she said. The tape if you think she said it, she said it. Whatever she said will have to hold up. We went on Larry King last night and we dealt with the whole tape. They didn't play sections. They played the whole tape.

Miller: Yes, they did. We don't have time to play the whole tape but I will play...

Brown: (interrupting) Don't get me in your game.

Miller: Okay. We'll play the other section.

Brown: (interrupting) My wife speaks for herself. You can do whatever you please.

Miller: The section you are referring to, let's play that.

911 Tape:

Operator: So he beat your car with a shovel? Was this today?

Monique Brown: Yes, I was out.

Operator: Okay, Monique? Monique? Monique, do you need a paramedic?

Monique Brown: No. He hasn't hit me.

Operator: Oh, he didn't hit you today.

Monique Brown: Not today.

Operator: Okay, but if there's a history of domestic violence right?

Monique Brown: Yes.

Operator: And he threatened to kill you today?

Monique Brown: Yes.

Miller: Now that part you feel like she (the operator) was leading her on.

Brown: It speaks for itself. The words came out of the operator's mouth. They didn't come out of my wife's. She agreed with the operator. She said yes, she said yes, she said yes. If you play the whole tape she says there was no danger, he didn't hit me etc. etc. You must deal with it in context Gary. I'm not here to fight you about the tape. The tape is a part of history.

Miller: What you're saying is absolutely accurate, but what she says, 'there is a history of domestic violence?' 'Yes.' And it has happened before. 'Yes.' Why would she answer in the affirmative?

Brown: I would not know why because I do not have my wife on this show. What we do is she speaks for herself and I speak for myself. Now you are not the judge and I never came on this show to be interrogated in this particular way. I mean this is awful, I'm surprised at you. I don't know what you're trying to prove, but the 911 tape is out there for public consumption. It is not for me to debate. It is up the prosecution, my attorney and my wife. My wife spoke very well last night on all of her reasoning and I thought, I don't speak for her. I speak for me.

Miller: Okay, you speak for you. If I was to ask you that, Is there is a history of domestic violence in this relationship, would you say yes or no?

Brown: I would say no. Of course not, absolutely not.

Miller: But you said that the tape is for public consumption. If the people in the public see it, they interpret it in different ways.

Brown: They interpret it in different ways. That is why you put it out there. You don't fake it. You don't run around it. She made the 911 call. She said what she said. Whatever she said is a fact. That is a fact. Whatever she meant, that is something else. Whatever she was led into that was something else. How the police reacted, that is something else. But when you asked me about speaking for myself, I gave you the exact account of what I said and what I did. Now that tape is out there. You now have the whole tape if you are the defense attorney the prosecution don't even want that tape because a defense attorney will take that tape and really kill them in court. Because there is no violence, she was not hit and she was not threatened.

Miller: Whether they prosecute this for breaking out windows or not, I think you probably have some concerns, we discussed before the show, about a public image and the things that you try to do in the community and to try and teach people to deal with situations that might get out of hand. What is your feeling in your words about any regrets you might have about what happened that day?

Brown: Well let me say something to you. You're almost my issue now because what we teach in the curriculum of AMER-I-CAN is 'I am responsible for me.' Perception is basically irrelevant. When I talked to you before the show I told you that I felt bad because other people have to explain me. I don't have to explain me for me because I always stood up for whatever I did. I always used the process of the law. I've never run away from any case. I've been exonerated in almost everything I've been involved in. People's perception and to be accused can happen to anyone. But if I had resisted arrest, if I had lied, if I had not gotten an attorney, if I do not follow the process then come at me.

Don't ask me to explain your inadequacies, or your perceptions or your prejudice or your racism or whatever it is or your lack of education. I can't explain that for you or to you. But I have given you a clear account of speaking for myself and taking responsibility for myself. I said to you, if there is something I have to pay for because I broke the windows of the car, I admitted that night, I admitted it last night, I did that. I did nothing else. I will not get into a word game, a play on words to try and explain what my wife was thinking or the prosecution or my attorney because that will be resolved in court. I think that's clear, right?

Miller: Yes. That's clear. When you've been confronted on this issue they bring up and you have been cleared of previous charges but the sheet is there.

Brown: That's the best I can do. The best I can do if you accuse me of something, I can follow the right process as an American. They say you have a court system. You are innocent until proven guilty. In domestic affairs, you are guilty until proven innocent. In race relationships you are guilty, guilty, guilty. That's why so many of us are disrespected by so many of you folks because you have a point to prove. Therefore, you go to the jails you, you look at statistics. It's overwhelmed with African-Americans and Latinos. You look at the poverty levels. You look at the killings. You look at the job opportunities. You look at national television. You look at police brutality. All those things point at those of us like myself that come on your show and try and tell you my point of view and you want me to represent this wide situation of accusations. I can't stop people from accusing me of things. I live an open life. My house has been open. But I do a lot of work around this country and I face up to what I am accused of. So that 911 tape did not have to be out there. I approved my lawyer to put it out there. I had a press conference. I went on Larry King and I came here but I didn't go out there to do combat, Gary. That's not who I am.

Miller: Right but there is two sides to every story.

Brown: Sometimes there is more than two.

Miller: True. August 17, what do you think will happen? Do you think it will come to that? Do you think it will come to trial?

Brown: Well I tell you. You prepare for trial. You prepare for trial. And you spend a lot of money on lawyers, and you do research and you deal with all the things you have to do to represent yourself properly. But the interesting thing about this, and I'm surprised that you don't understand it, is that my wife and I are preparing for trial because we both have a life to live. She is a great lady, she's standing up, like a champion. She's breaking new ground because most females don't stand up. You see, in our program in AMER-I-CAN we teach that each individual must take responsibility.

In our society, they say that it's only the man. But I have to take responsibility for what I did. My wife has to take responsibility for what she does because she is an equal to me. She is not a feminist tool that because a woman one day and the man the next day. So when the trial comes up, she will be prepared for it, I will be prepared, my lawyer will be prepared and the prosecution will be prepared and it will be played out in court and they will find me guilty or innocent. If they find me guilty and they fine or put me in jail, I will serve that time and pay that fine like a man. If I'm innocent, I will pick up with my work and go forward and I'm still going to be with my wife and we are still going to do all the things that we do every day and that we have been doing for the last four years. Thankfully, I have a wonderful wife that has the strength to stand up and admit certain things that might be partially because she was emotional.




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