The agent for a Baltimore Ravens rookie linebacker said his client was targeted by police at the Inner Harbor because he is black,
a claim that has sparked debate over racial profiling as police step up enforcement there in the wake of a recent shooting.
Tony Fein was charged Sunday in the assault of a white police officer who received a tip from Harborplace security that a group of men were passing around a large silver object suspected of being a firearm. The device turned out to be a mobile phone. Fein, a 27-year-old veteran of the Iraq War, was twice asked to stand up and refused, shoving the officer in the chest, police said.
Milton "Dee" Hobbs Jr., Fein's Mississippi-based agent, said Monday that Fein was approached from behind and did not know that Sgt. Joseph Donato was a police officer. He disputed that Fein shoved Donato, and claimed police approached Fein because he was a black man wearing a baggy hooded sweat shirt.
"They had a gang incident a week ago, so I don't see how anybody could deny that on its face," Hobbs said. Fein believes that police were "being aggressive," Hobbs said, "but I understand to a certain extent where the officer is coming from."
Police rejected the claim that officers approached Fein because of his race. Private security for Harborplace alerted police about the possibility of a weapon, a claim that officers must take seriously, said Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman.
"The incident could have easily been avoided," Guglielmi said, if Fein and others at the table had "cooperated with police and explained the situation."
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