Police handcuffed and escorted Tuskegee basketball coach Benjy Taylor off the court after a loss to Morehouse on Saturday, Jan. 31, following a Division II HBCU game.
According to Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin, Taylor asked security to enforce the conference rules and remove the football players from the handshake line.
“We have security measures for our protection of our officials, our student-athlete coaches and spectators,” Ruffin told HBCU Gameday. He said those measures follow a protocol ‘mandated by the conference office’ and used ‘at all levels across member institutions.’
However, officers handcuffed Taylor instead, claiming Taylor was ‘very aggressive’ − which Ruffin refuted.
“I am at a loss for words and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today,’ Taylor said in a statement to Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68. ‘For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking for me. I was simply trying to get the football team out of the handshake line as they were following right behind me and the team yelling obscenities! It was a very dangerous situation.”
When contacted by USA TODAY Sports about the matter, Taylor issued the following statement: ‘I am devastated and I will have no more comments at this time.’
This story has been updated with new information.