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On September 9, tennis star James Blake became the victim of racial profiling after an NYPD police officer mistook him for a criminal, tackled him to the ground, and threw handcuffs on him – all while James was casually texting and standing outside his NYC hotel.

Now, James is opening up about the ordeal with GQ and his plans to make a difference. In the piece, James admits that the physical altercation did leave him a bit sore, but the emotional scarring was even worse. His immediate reaction following the incident was to go on with his day, until he called his wife. His wife asked how he’d feel if it happened to her, he then became angry and decided that he had to do something about it. He said, “I realized I’d be furious. And that I absolutely didn’t want anything like this to happen to someone that I cared about.That’s when I decided this needs to be publicized. Because it can’t keep happening. And I’m a person that actually has the resources to make a difference.”

As he fulfilled his day’s obligations, he missed a call from Mayor de Blasio, who left a voicemail offering his sincerest apologies. He now wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Mayor to fix these issues and realizes that if he wasn’t a notable person, another example of racism and police brutality would’ve been swept under the rug.

James said he wants Officer James Frascatore fired. He said, “To me it’s ridiculous that (union president) Patrick Lynch is defending the actions of this person. I understand it’s his job to protect all police officers, but my opinion is that the way to protect police officers is to get rid of the bad ones.”

Read the rest of James Blake’s account over at GQ.

SOURCE: GQ | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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