Social media influencer and popular livestreamer “BenDaDonnn” was arrested in College Station, Texas, over the weekend, and now he says he is planning to sue the police department responsible.
BenDaDonn, real name Benjamin Beard, was taken into custody by the College Station Police Department alongside his personal security guard, Kenny Carter, following their attendance at an Oct. 3 college football game between Texas A&M and Arkansas, KBTX reported.
Police alleged that they were attempting to clear pedestrians off a road in front of a bar in Northgate, which is a popular entertainment district near the Texas A&M campus, before a physical altercation occurred. Beard was then tased by an officer and accused of evading arrest, while Carter was accused of pushing an officer to the ground during the altercation.
Beard disputed the police version of events in a livestream broadcasted on Monday, while also saying he plans to file a lawsuit.
The influencer began his Monday live broadcast dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit inside a mock jail cell as a reference to his arrest in Texas over the weekend.
“We finna sue the draws off buddy a-s,” Beard during the livestream, referring to the cop that tased him. “This is not a knock at all police, because the rest of police was actually chill. Besides that one bike cop. … If somebody was going to do that to me, I wish it would have been a big, tough-ass cop.”
“When he kept following us and then he kept literally putting his, like he pushing people, he not gently tapping folks like, ‘Hey, get on the sidewalk. Y’all stay on the sidewalk. I’m police,’ Beard added. “He’s pushing folks, like aggressively. What the f-ck are you doing this for? And I guess he didn’t like me saying, ‘Why are you putting your hands on people? You don’t have to put your hands on us to give us a command. We is all human. You can treat us as such.'”
Beard then explained that his security guard swiped at the officer’s hand who was pushing him, and within the next 30 seconds Beard says he was then on the ground being tased.
“I found out halfway through when I was in the precinct in the jail what the f-ck I got charged for,” Beard said. “The whole time, I’m knowing walking while Black, but how are they going to put that on paper?”
Beard, a 34 year-old Memphis native, was officially booked on a charge of evading arrest with a bond amount of $7,000. Carter faces one charge of interference with public duties, and his bond amount was set at $4,000.
Beard was in College Station livestreaming his experience at Texas A&M’s 34-7 win over Arkansas from the team’s sideline. The official Texas A&M football Twitter (X) account posted a video of Beard filming a selfie and celebrating an Aggies touchdown during the game.
BenDaDonnn also went viral after the game when he and his cameraman were kicked out of the Texas A&M locker room by Aggies head coach Mike Elko; some of the team’s players had invited Beard to come into the locker room prior to him being booted by the coach.
Beard has 1.4 million followers on Instagram, and he is close friends with celebrities such as music artist Drake and NFL star Odell Beckham Jr., who have regularly appeared in public and on livestreams with him in recent years.
