Former NFL star Antonio Brown decided Friday not to challenge his extradition from New Jersey to Miami after he was detained by U.S. Marshals in Dubai on Thursday. His arrest came almost five months after a warrant was issued on attempted murder charges stemming from an altercation outside a celebrity kickboxing event in the spring in Miami.
A warrant issued June 11 by the 11th Judicial District of Miami-Dade County shows Brown is charged with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, a first-degree felony.
Brown was flown from Dubai to a jail in Newark, New Jersey, where he was being held awaiting extradition to the Miami-Dade County Jail. He decided not to fight the extradition at a short hearing Friday morning. If convicted, the attempted second-degree murder charge could carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
“Let this send a clear message: no matter who you are or where you are running, we will get the facts, identify you, find you and bring you to justice,” said the chief of the Miami Police Department. This is stated in a statement by Manuel Morales. Thursday. “To anyone who even considers committing a crime in Miami, know that we will find you.”
Brown is accused of taking a gun from a security officer outside a May 16 event in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood and firing two shots at another man. According to the arrest warrant, the alleged victim told police several days later that one of the bullets may have grazed his neck.
Brown appeared to address the alleged incident in a May 17 post on X.
“I was attacked by several people who tried to steal my jewelry and physically harm me,” Brown wrote. “Contrary to some of the videos being circulated, the police temporarily detained me until they got my side of the story and then released me. I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT AND WAS NOT ARRESTED. I will be speaking to my legal counsel and lawyers about filing charges against the people who attacked me.”
A few days after the warrant was issued, Brown appeared to make it clear that he was not in the United States. by X including the hashtag #lovefromthemiddleeast. Brown has remained active on social media since then, but on Thursday he pointed out by X that he has “handed over the keys” to his account to his team while he goes through “this fight for his innocence.”
Miami Police spokesman Mike Vega told Athletic that some of those previous reports helped investigators track down the seven-time Pro Bowl receiver, who spent nine of his 12 NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2020 season.
“He made fun of us on social media,” Vega said. “We established that he was in Dubai and informed the marshals.”
Brown has had legal troubles, including a 2019 lawsuit. from a former coach who said he sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions (he denied the allegations and the case was settled out of court), charges of burglary and battery involves an altercation with a trucking company (Brown pleaded no contest in 2020) and an arrest in 2023 on suspicion of failure to pay child support.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
