State Watch

NFL player waived after gun threat surfaces on video

The Las Vegas Raiders have released defensive back Damon Arnette after video surfaced online showing him with a gun threatening to kill someone, NBC News reported. 

“Today, we waived Damon Arnette — a very painful decision,” Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock told reporters in a conference call on Monday. 

Mayock also said the club has “significant concerns” about Arnette, sharing the club spent a significant amount of resources to help Arnette off the field, 

“We spent significant time, effort and resources trying to help him in all facets of his life. There have been a series of bad decisions over the last year or so, but we can’t stand — we cannot stand — for the video of Damon with a gun, threatening to take a life,” Mayock said. 

An Instagram video surfaced online over the weekend reportedly appeared to show Arnette saying he will kill someone, displaying a fireman in the video, according to NBC News. 

Arnette, a 2020 first-round pick out of Ohio State University, was in his second season with the organization. 

Arnette’s firing comes a week after the team released former 2020 first-round pick wide receiver Henry Ruggs III after he allegedly killed Tina Tintor, 23, and her dog in a DUI crash, NBC News reported.  

Ruggs is accused of driving his Chevrolet Corvette 156 mph with a bold-alcohol level of .161 before slamming his Vehicle into the rear of Tintor’s Toyota Rav4 Tuesday morning. 


Arnette, 25, is also being sued for an alleged hit and run crash in October 2020, NBC affiliate KSNV reported.