Yahoo Finance Arrest docs: Man who wrongly accused Colorado State player of being 'antifa guy' knelt on player's neck
The man who held an unidentified Colorado State player and his roofing company coworker at gunpoint on Thursday because he thought the men were members of antifa also allegedly knelt on the player’s neck while waiting for police to arrive.
Scott Gudmundsen is charged with two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of felony menacing. Per arrest documents obtained by the Coloradoan, Gudmundsen used the same tactic on the player that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin used on George Floyd on May 25. Floyd died after Chauvin had his knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder.
Neither man was injured during Thursday’s incident with Gudmundsen.
Gudmundsen had approached the men, pointed a firearm at them and told them to get on the ground, arrest documents say. The men told police Gudmundsen called them terrorists and antifa and said he would shoot them.
As Gudmundsen held a gun to the CSU athlete's back and knelt on his neck, he told the man that "he was not going to kill him, the police would," according to arrest documents.
The player, who is black, was with his coworker in Loveland, Colorado, and going house-to-house after a recent hailstorm. Per the arrest documents, Gudmundsen thought they were members of antifa — despite being clearly identifiable by their shirts and other materials that they were working for a roofing company — and was wearing tactical gear when he detained the men after calling the police.
The men had been to Gudmundsen’s house the previous day and left after he instructed them leave. He then detained them on Thursday approximately two blocks from his house. Included in the Coloradoan’s story is the acknowledgment of social media posts from the Loveland area based on false rumors that members of antifa were coming to the suburb with the intent to cause harm.
Gudmundsen’s son previously told a Denver news station that his father was receiving mental health treatment.
Colorado State issued an open letter to its students on Friday night after learning of the incident involving the player:
“Our student is a young man of color, while the perpetrator is white. Regardless of what investigators learn or reasons the perpetrator gives, we know this: Our student got up Thursday morning, worked out with his team, then showered, dressed, and went to work. Hours later, he was facing a stranger with a gun and hearing police sirens that had been inexplicably called on him. Given what we have seen happening in cities across this county, we know all too well that this encounter could have proceeded very differently.”
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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