More than two weeks after a judge said there was probable cause to charge Antonio Brown with attempted murder in a Miami shooting, the troubled former NFL star remains at large — but also not formally designated a fugitive, in part because of the complexities of the legal system.
Miami Police haven’t sent detectives to apprehend him. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office hasn’t officially charged him. And the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court hasn’t set an arraignment date.
The former All Pro wide receiver doesn’t appear to have a local attorney anymore and hasn’t contacted anyone in the law enforcement community since an arrest warrant was issued June 11. And other than occasional photos posted to social media sites showing Brown gallivanting in what appears to be Dubai, no one is certain as to his whereabouts — or has shared that information publicly.
Early last week Miami Police said they had been in contact with Brown’s attorney and that he wasn’t considered a fugitive. Now, with Brown’s legal representation apparently in flux, it’s not clear who, if anyone, is arguing the case for him. Miami Police also have since refused public comment.
Judging from Brown’s prodigious social media posts, it doesn’t appear the 36-year-old is headed stateside anytime soon. The most recent messages, though cryptic, don’t hint at plans to come home.
“I’m out the country. Ain’t no more child support. Tell your mama get a job,” was posted on his X timeline on June 21.
Brown’s X account has several additional posts since the one, including one with him jumping on a trampoline with Arabic letters in the background on June 23 in what appears to be some sort of giant playroom. Another post from Wednesday shows the interior of an airplane and says Irish influencer Harry Sisson was spotted on a flight. It’s unclear to where.
Despite the posts, a Miami Police spokesman said Friday they have no indication Brown has returned to the U.S. When he returns, if he does, Brown is likely to be apprehended by a customs agent with the arrest warrant pending.
Foreign extradition options?
If Brown has been in Dubai, there’s nothing stopping the country from sending him back or blocking federal agents from crossing the Atlantic to try and retrieve him. Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, which has had an extradition treaty with the U.S. for almost three decades.
But there’s no evidence that law enforcement at this point has moved to extradite Brown, which can be a lengthy and complicated process.
Brown has remained free in the six weeks since he’s been accused of firing a gun at a jeweler who had once sued him outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami’s Little Haiti on May 16. He is almost certainly aware by now that when he lands on U.S. soil he’s likely to be taken into custody on the attempted murder charge, which has been widely publicized.
His seven-page arrest warrant — a formal document signed by a judge that determined probable cause for an arrest — shows his former attorney worked out a deal with state prosecutors allowing Brown to remain out of jail but under house arrest after posting a $10,000 bond. His former attorney refused comment.
Brown’s latest troubles spring from a celebrity boxing event hosted by influencer Adin Ross. A fight, which police say involved Brown broke out in the club’s parking lot. Some people heard gunfire and alerted police. At one point Brown was stopped and patted down, but no gun was found and he was let go.
After the incident, Brown posted that he had been attacked before the shooting. “Contrary to some video circulating, Police temporarily detained me until they received my side of the story and then released me. I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT AND WAS NOT ARRESTED,” Brown said in the post. “I will be talking to my legal council and attorneys on pressing charges on the individuals that jumped me.”
By the time police interviewed more witnesses and viewed surveillance video that captured at least part of the fight and supposedly showed Brown firing a weapon at the person he’d been fighting with, he already had left the country, apparently headed to the Middle East.
A glorious NFL career, crashes and burns
The timeline of Brown’s personal and legal troubles, both on and off the football field, is long.
Even before he became a pro, the Norland Senior High School graduate had his scholarship revoked from Florida International University in 2007 after he got into a tussle with campus security.
Read More: Antonio Brown is no stranger to police, discipline in his career
As he was breaking NFL records with the Pittsburgh Steelers for a decade after signing in 2010, he became a malcontent. He once reportedly chucked a football at his Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, was suspended for the upcoming playoff game and showed up on the sideline in fur coat.
After forcing his way out of Pittsburgh, Brown had a brief ugly fling with the Oakland Raiders. He arrived late to training camp and refused to play before the team finally let him go. His day with the New England Patriots didn’t fare much better. After one game the Patriots released him when a former trainer filed a lawsuit claiming rape and sexual assault.
Then came two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which ended with Brown upset about playing time and ripping off his uniform, waiving to the crowd and skipping shirtless across the turf in New Jersey’s Meadowlands in a game against the New York Jets as he exited the stadium.
There were also run-ins with the law.
In 2020 Brown was accused of destroying a security camera and throwing his bicycle at a security shack in his gated community in Hollywood, Florida. Though police determined there was probable cause for his arrest, the homeowner’s association declined to move forward with the charges.
A year later he was arrested and pleaded no contest to assaulting a moving truck driver outside the Hollywood home. A South Florida civil court jury awarded him $1.2 million. Arrest warrants were issued for Brown for domestic violence and failing to pay child support. And last year he filed for bankruptcy.
In the past Brown has attributed his erratic behavior to CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a pattern of hits to the head that can cause deadly brain injuries and has inflicted dozens across the NFL.