14 DAY TRIAL // The other day saw the release online of a very shocking video showing Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punch his then-fiancée Janay Palmer with such brute force she passed out cold the next moment. Today, the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL have both dropped Rice.
TMZ reports that the Ravens fired Rice on the spot, even though the decision is said to not have been prompted by the release of this shocking video. You can find it embedded below in full; the one right after is footage shot from a surveillance camera outside the elevator, showing Rice dragging Palmer out of the elevator after knocking her unconscious.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell initially ruled that Rice would receive a 2-game suspension in relation to this very violent episode, but NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello has confirmed on Twitter that Rice has been suspended indefinitely. And yes, this time, the video had a lot to do with this decision.
Violent episode took place in February 2014
The video, lifted from footage recorded by a surveillance camera, might be new, but the violent episode is anything but. It took place on February 15 this year, at the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. The establishment has been shut down since then.
Rice and Palmer got into a heated argument, which is also visible on footage included in the first video, as she walks past him in a rush and hits him on the arm. She’s clearly furious at him and gets into the elevator as she continues to exchange words with him.
Once there, she doesn’t waste a minute to attack him. Rice told the cops afterwards that she spit on him and that she punched him first, so he acted in self-defense because this was “mutual combat.”
However, you see in the video that he had exactly zero reason to fear her in any way, because one well-aimed punch to the side of her head knocked her unconscious after she hit her head on the hand rail in the elevator.
The most shocking part of the video isn’t the fact that he punched her, as weird as that might sound, but rather the way he acted afterwards. Rice dragged Palmer out of the elevator and literally deposited her on the floor, while he played with his phone and other people rushed to see if she was ok.
To say that he didn’t seem too fazed about it is a major understatement.
All is forgiven in love and war… including domestic violence?
This very violent episode is dividing the American public (and not only), but more shocking than the beating and Rice’s behavior in its aftermath is the fact that Palmer actually went on and married the guy just one month later.
Rice punched Palmer with such a force as to send her head smack against the hand rail, knocking her unconscious, but just one month later, she stood by his side at the altar and professed her undying love for him until death do them part.
In July, Rice told the press that both were in counseling and that he was working on saving his “family.” She never pressed charges.
Roger Goodell has announced that based on new video evidence that became available today he has
indefinitely suspended Ray Rice.
— Greg Aiello (@gregaiello) September 8, 2014