Shots Fired. Claims of a Robbery Attempt. Denials. The Accused Robber Saying He's the Victim. Just Another Weekend in the Life of Antonio Brown.

Shareif Ziyadat. Getty Images.

You might think that living as we do in a world where every place we go and everything we do is recorded and able to be uploaded to the public in a matter of seconds, that there'd be no more doubt about anything. That the days wondering what happened at any particular moment would be long over. The camera doesn't lie. A picture is worth a thousand words, and video is worth a trillion. 

But if anything, things have gotten more confusing, not less. For instance, this weekend there was chaos outside a boxing event in Miami. It not only included Antonio Brown, whose entire life should be recorded because he's seemingly incapable of experiencing a dull moment. But also a guy who became briefly famous for a stunt he pulled during the Super Bowl halftime show. There were dozens of phones recording it from all angles. And yet I defy anyone to sort out exactly what happened:

Certainly this woman, who seemed to be having a blast until the shots rang out wouldn't be much help:

Let's let the professional journos try to make sense of it:

CNN - Antonio Brown was briefly detained by police early Saturday following an altercation in which gunshots were fired outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami, according to the former NFL star and video posted to social media.    

   

Miami police confirmed in a written statement that officers responded to the area at about 3 a.m. after receiving an alert from the gunshot-detection system ShotSpotter. … No injuries were reported at the scene. …

Video posted to social media showed Brown involved in a fight with several people at the boxing event, which was hosted by popular streamer Adin Ross. He was seen apparently holding a black pistol as he pursued someone. Shots could be heard off camera shortly thereafter.    

   

Additional video showed Brown, hands behind his back, being escorted from the venue by an officer.    

   

Brown posted on social media that he had been “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.”    

   

“Police temporarily detained me until they received my side of the story and then released me. I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT AND WAS NOT ARRESTED,” Brown wrote.    

   

Brown’s statement did not mention the gunshots.    

Yeah, I think if your average person were involved in a fracas like that, the gunshots would be the first thing you'd mention. But no one has ever accused Antonio Brown of being your average person. He not only buried the lede, he chained to cinder blocks and dumped it in the ocean like Tony Soprano did with Big Pussy. 

And I confess this is the first time I've ever heard of ShotSpotter. But the idea that American cities are now relying on gunshot-detection systems is the least surprising thing ever. And another example of why Europeans all look at us like we're living in fucking Tombstone in 1881. They're not wrong. 

But I suppose any time you get a scene of panic and chaos like this, there's going to be more than one side of the story. And the almost famous gentleman that Brown accused of trying to snatch his jewelry got the chance to give his:

TMZ - Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu says he's the guy on video scuffling with Antonio Brown … and he claims Antonio went to grab a gun and shot at him.

                   

Zül-Qarnaįn tells TMZ Sports … AB squeezed off a couple shots during Friday night's incident, and there were kids around when the former NFL player pulled the trigger.

Zül-Qarnaįn, who made news in February when he pulled off a Pro-Palestinain protest during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime performance, says AB definitely had a gun in his hand, because he claims they got into a second scuffle and fought over the firearm.

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“His story is a half-truth. His story is a non-truth. He’s a liar. I’ve been knowing AB since 2021. I have a judgment against AB for 180 and why would I want to even damage that for a moister night and fork metal chain? [Note: That's what the close captioning says. I have no idea what he's referring to. The only chain I own is a saint medal.] He’s a liar. If you watch the video, everybody was attacking me. It was a 3v1. Three dudes. The dude with the green hoodie was with AB. The other little Puerto Rican-looking dude that was swinging the bat was with AB. And the rest was Adin security. …

“They got children out there selling candy, bro. He could have hit one of them kids. He runs into me after he shoot at me. We hustling for the gun, fighting for the gun all over the ground. I get up, there’s police. There’s police here. Police out there, bro. We holding on the gun for dear life. We both get up off the ground and then when I look up the police is pointing a gun at us. The sheriff is pointing a gun at us. That’s when I throw my hands up. He runs inside and that’s when they run after him. …

“So I guess he lied to them and said whatever, somebody tried to rob him. But if you look at the footage, you saw he swung first. Nobody reached for no chain. I didn’t have no weapon. It’s just falsehood. You feel what I’m saying? And he’s out here slandering my name.”

So there you have it. One of those ultimate He Said/He Said scenarios. Either Brown was foiling a robbery attempt or he wasn't. Either he came at a rival who has a judgment against him, or he didn't. Brown was either minding his own business and was jumped, or he started it and is slandering a man's name. Or perhaps, as is so often the case, the truth lies somewhere in between. People perceiving complex events through the prism of their own self-interests. Making themselves the hero of their own story. A Rashomon scenario if ever there was one. 

All I know for sure is that these videos and these versions of events are the kind of thing that make you appreciate living a quiet, normal life. Knowing that if anybody whipped out a phone and started recording your weekend, they delete it after about two minutes of you not being involved in a fight outside an arena, not doing anything to trigger ShotSpotter, and being complete unnewsworthy. 

We can all take comfort in knowing nobody was hurt. Especially not children who were allegedly selling candy outside a boxing venue at 3am. And to remind ourselves once again of one of the truest things ever said. "Nothing good ever happens after midnight." Least of all to Antonio Brown.