Atlanta — An HBCU rivalry between Morehouse and Tuskegee has escalated into a lawsuit, with Benjy Taylor and his legal team alleging he was wrongfully handcuffed, arrested, and publicly humiliated. Lawyers claim he was attempting to enforce conference security protocols during a nationally broadcast SIAC championship game.
In a brief released by Taylor’s attorneys, the Tuskegee men’s basketball coach announced he is suing Morehouse as well as campus police officers R. Clark and M. Roberson over the incident that occurred Jan. 31. Taylor is represented by civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and John Burris, along with attorneys Gerald Griggs and Gregory Reynald Williams.
The handcuffing incident drew national attention after video showed Taylor being escorted off the court in cuffs following the postgame handshake line. The brief claims Taylor was “needlessly handcuffed and escorted off the court” after he asked an officer to enforce conference-mandated security rules in an effort to “diffuse an increasingly dangerous situation” following the game.
The filing also lays out new allegations about what led to the confrontation.
HBCU rivalry turns heated
According to the lawsuit, tensions began during the game when Taylor expressed concerns that several members of the Morehouse football team were positioned near the baseline. He claims they were taunting Tuskegee players and shouting profanities at Tuskegee coaches and staff. The brief says Taylor asked that the football players be removed from the baseline area beneath the basket. Officer R. Clark was notified, according to the statement.
Instead of addressing the issue, the statement alleges Clark “took his position next to the football players,” laughed, and turned his back while the insults continued.
The brief says matters escalated further when the football players began intermingling with the basketball teams on the court during the postgame handshake. Taylor then personally asked Clark to enforce the conference’s security protocols. The lawsuit alleges Clark responded by handcuffing Taylor, arresting him, and escorting him from the court “as if he was a wanted criminal.”
“Coach Taylor is a good man who did the right thing to protect his team and deescalate a dangerous situation and this officer put him in chains for his troubles,” Daniels said in the brief, also citing the SIAC’s decision to fine Morehouse for failing to enforce conference-mandated security protocols. Daniels called the alleged conduct “reprehensible” and “illegal.”
Burris also criticized the officers’ actions, arguing the incident reflects a failure to meet the standard expected of an institution with deep civil rights roots.
“We might not be surprised to see that kind of behavior in some out-of-control department,” Burris said. “But this is the home of Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and more. We expect better.”
The lawsuit filing marks a significant new chapter in a story that began on the court, but now centers on accountability, security enforcement, and how an HBCU coach says he was treated in the aftermath of a high-profile game involving Morehouse.