Johnny Damon claimed DUI arrest was because hes a Trump supporter
After former MLB player Johnny Damon was pulled over last month on suspicion of DUI, he told a police officer that he was being targeted because of his support for former president Donald Trump.
Damon’s wife, Michelle Mangan-Damon, is also shown pointing out what she described as a “Blue Lives Matter” slogan on their license plate in body-cam footage of their arrest released Tuesday.
The incident, in which Damon was charged with resisting an officer without violence and cited for driving under the influence of alcohol and running a stop sign, took place Feb. 19, at approximately 1:30 a.m. in Windermere, Fla.
The footage released Tuesday shows Damon and his wife pulled over just in front of a security kiosk for a gated community near Orlando with Damon telling an officer several times that he lives just 200 yards away. Damon and his wife both utter the phrase, “Blue lives matter,” and at one point he says, “Guys, we are all for cops.”
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The video bolsters initial claims by police that Damon, 47, slurred his words and was unsteady on his feet, and that his wife was combative. Mangan-Damon is shown repeatedly refusing to get back into the passenger-side front seat of their car. After the officer tries to pull her back in that direction, she exclaims, “Don’t [expletive] touch me,” and walks away.
“Yeah, she’s a tough girl. She fights, all the time,” Damon tells the officer. At another point, he says, “My wife’s crazy.”
A two-time all-star and two-time World Series winner over an 18-year career that ended in 2012, Damon is a native of Orlando whose father served in the military. He became a noted supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project during his playing days and has continued those efforts during retirement.
Damon’s post-MLB pursuits have also included being part of the 2015 cast of “Celebrity Apprentice,” which starred Trump. Shortly before Election Day in 2016, Damon appeared with Trump at an Orlando rally in which he praised the GOP nominee’s support for the military and led the crowd in chanting, “Build that wall!”
Damon participated in sports-oriented White House events while Trump was in office and in 2018, when the former outfielder was competing on “Dancing With the Stars,” he told Fox News, “Donald’s doing a great job of trying to bring everything to the table, just work at something instead of wasting people’s time.”
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After Trump denigrated Baltimore in 2019 as a “disgusting, rat- and rodent-infested mess,” Damon backed the then-president, telling TMZ Sports, “He’s not wrong.”
“Baltimore was one of the best places to visit when I broke into the league in ’95,” Damon added at the time. “And, at the end, we didn’t really, like, enjoy going back. I think Baltimore is a great town, and this is raising awareness, and hopefully they can go in and spend the hard taxpaying dollars to actually make a difference.”
In the body-cam video, Damon asserts, “I know people are trying to target me because I’m a Trump supporter.”
“I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” the officer says, to which Damon replies, “Yeah, it does.”
“That’s neither here nor there right now,” the officer then says. “That’s not why I’m stopping you.”
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Asked at another point how much he’d had to drink, Damon says, “Oh, a little bit,” while pinching his thumb and index finger. According to TMZ Sports, police said Damon’s blood alcohol content level was .30, almost four times higher than Florida’s limit for drivers of .08.
“I understand you had a couple of drinks,” the officer tells Damon in the video. “It’s completely okay if you have some drinks and then drive, but my concern is that you might be too impaired to drive.”
Damon then agrees to a field-sobriety test “because I’m a big boy.” Per reports, he failed to follow a red light with his eyes and without turning his head, and he stumbled after a few steps while performing a walking exercise.
Mangan-Damon was also arrested at the time and charged with battery on an officer and resisting with violence. Both have since bonded out of the Orange County jail, per the Orlando Sentinel, and Damon’s resisting charge has been dropped.
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A first-round pick in 1992 by the Kansas City Royals, Damon began his major league career playing six seasons for the Royals and one with the Oakland Athletics before joining the Boston Red Sox in 2002. He gained renown as one of the leaders of the longhair “idiots” who in 2004 helped the Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 86 years.
After signing with the rival New York Yankees in 2006, Damon famously got a haircut and shaved off his beard, per the team’s rules. He helped the Yankees win the World Series in 2009, then finished his career with brief stints in Detroit, Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
At an old-timers day event at Yankee Stadium in 2018 (via NJ.com), Damon again praised Trump.
“He’s doing a great job,” Damon said then. “Unfortunately, people don’t really want to hear the truth that’s out there.”
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