Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown appeared in a New Jersey court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty in an attempted murder case out of Florida, his attorney said.
Brown, 37, was extradited from Dubai to the U.S. on Monday on a warrant for attempted second-degree murder in connection with a shooting in Miami in May, officials have said.
He waived extradition from New Jersey to Florida on Tuesday, the Essex County, New Jersey, prosecutor’s office said.
The former Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is accused of shooting at a man outside an amateur boxing event at Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
His attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said in a statement Tuesday that Brown was attacked and defending himself.
“The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim’s violent behavior,” Eiglarsh said. “Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself from an individual who previously committed criminal acts against him.”
Miami police have said that officers responded to a report of shots fired the night of the incident and that there was a fight between another man and Brown.
Security video shows Brown punching a man, which prompted three other men to join the fight, according to the arrest warrant. The video shows Brown taking the firearm of a security officer and approaching the man he had punched, according to the warrant. Cellphone video captured two shots fired, it says.
There were no serious injuries from gunfire to the person who was fired upon, according to officials. The person told investigators he may have been grazed in the neck, the warrant says.
Brown played in parts of 12 seasons in the NFL, most with the Steelers, where he once appeared to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
He ended his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he caught a scoring pass in the 2021 Super Bowl. In January 2022, he removed his jersey and stormed off the field during a game and was later released by the team.
