Wesley Leasy, a former Arizona Cardinals linebacker, has filed a lawsuit against him over $2 million, claiming he was wrongly held at gunpoint when he met his daughter at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on April 10, 2025. Leasy had made two claims of $ 1 million against Mesa and Phoenix City, the police departments, the Phoenix Aviation Department, and the airport itself. The complaint accuses officers of falsely identifying his white Mercedes as a suspect vehicle, forcibly handcuffing him and his daughter, and permanently traumatizing them emotionally. While speaking to NBC News, he stated:
“I’m a nice-looking man, but I’m dark-skinned, and there’s never been any confusion with Caucasians and myself.”
Ex-NFL Player Wesley Leasy Sues After Traumatic Airport Detainment
The April incident has come into national attention, showcasing the misidentification of Wesley profiling and police accountability. Leasy, who played linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals in 1995 and 1996, says he and his 26-year-old daughter were at gunpoint while meeting at the airport. Police personnel misidentified his vehicle in connection with a nearby shooting.
This disappointed the player, who filed a claim for $22 million. The notice of claim describes the situation Leasy encountered in the airport.
“Police Officers witnessed a standard/common father and daughter reunion at the Airport and then drew their weapons, forcing them both to the ground, handcuffing both of them, and utterly refusing to take the context of the situation into account.
In the lawsuit, it is noted that bodycam footage shows an officer joking and saying that that is not how you want to be picked up at the airport as he films his shots, where Leasy and his daughter are restrained. In an interview with ABC15, Leasy said that he remained calm throughout the stop, attempting to soothe his daughter as they went through a terrifying experience: “Look the other way, make the wrong sound, it was over.
The Mesa police initially used a description of the suspected person to explain why they had stopped him: a possibly white male wearing a black mask and black sweatpants. Leasy was evidently not what the description was. The officers released him with his daughter, who concluded that he had made a poor judgment. After a couple of days, the police detained a 19-year-old white male over the shooting.
According to the lawyer of Leasy, Benjamin Taylor, the emotional impact has served to affirm that Mr. Leasy and his daughter are traumatized by the incident until they die. The misidentification was especially objectionable, the former player reflected, since he was tall and had features that made him especially noticeable.
