Antonio Brown is wanted for attempted murder in Miami. Where is the ex-NFL star?

Miami Herald

7 hours ago

Days after authorities in Miami issued an arrest warrant for Antonio Brown, the former NFL star has been traveling in the Middle East — but police don't consider him on the run.
Brown, 36, is wanted on an attempted murder charge stemming from a May 16 dispute at a boxing event hosted by influencer Adin Ross. The seven-page warrant seeks to apprehend him, as signed by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ariel Rodriguez on June 11, and lists Brown's bond as $10,000 plus house arrest.
READ MORE: Antonio Brown charged with attempted murder after shooting at Miami boxing event
In an Instagram post this weekend, Brown said he was in Iran, although the Herald's review of his latest posts show he has been in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In one photo, Brown is posing in front of a Buka Boxing banner; in a now-deleted video, he's seen in what appears to be in a red McLaren Artura at Masterkey Rent A Car. Both locations trace back to Dubai.
Miami Police Chief Manny Morales told the Miami Herald Monday that detectives have been in contact with Brown's attorney and expect Brown to be taken into custody when he returns.
'We're not going to be sending anybody there,' the chief said.
On Sunday, Brown shared on X a screenshot of an exchange with ChatGPT, where the AI tool said he has been racially profiled by the media, fans and the NFL.
'How TF [the f---] You go from being victimized unto a attempt to murder you see they control the media,' Brown said in the post. 'Took a month to change the narrative...'
The Herald couldn't reach an attorney representing Brown as of Monday afternoon.
Miami boxing event ends in gunfire
Brown was detained — but not arrested — the night of the shooting outside the venue, a warehouse located at 221 NE 67th St. in Miami's Little River neighborhood.
The day after the incident, Brown said in a post on X that he was 'jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.'
'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.'
Video posted to social media showed the All-Pro wide receiver appearing to hold a gun and running out of frame. Seconds later, gunshots were heard.
Before the gunfire, Brown punched Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, a 41-year-old who later told police he has known Brown since 2022, according to the warrant. An off-duty lieutenant with the Florida Highway Patrol broke up the fight. However, witnesses then told the lieutenant that Brown might be armed.
Brown, the warrant says, was detained and searched. No firearm was found on him, although police found two spent shell casings and a damaged right-handed holster outside the venue. Brown was released because the man shot, later identified as Nantambu, was no longer at the venue.
The next day, detectives reviewed security footage that showed Brown and two others attacking Nantambu before the shooting, according to the warrant. Security broke up the fight, and Nantambu walked away. Then, Brown took a gun from a security guard before running after Nantambu.
Cellphone video shared on social media confirmed what soon transpired: Brown chased Nantambu to the sidewalk and fired two shots from close range. Nantambu, the warrant says, ducked as shots rang out.
Detectives later interviewed Nantambu, who said he tried to leave after Brown attacked him. But Brown, he asserted, chased him with a gun and fired at him — possibly grazing his neck.
The two struggled over the gun before ending up on the ground, Nantambu told police. When officers arrived, Nantambu said Brown hid the weapon under a dark piece of cloth and walked away.
Fearing for his life, Nantambu said he left and sought medical care at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital.
Brown embroiled in controversy
Since 2007, the Super Bowl champion wide receiver has been enmeshed in a litany of bizarre on-field incidents and off-field controversies, some of which led to legal woes.
After spending a year at North Carolina Tech Prep to get his grades up, the dominoes began to fall when the Miami Norland graduate received a scholarship to play football at Florida International University, where his offer was later rescinded before the season started because of his involvement in an altercation with campus security.
During his decade-long career in the NFL, Brown made headlines for kicking Browns punter Spencer Lanning in the face mask, leaping onto a goalpost and throwing a Gatorade cooler, among other incidents.
Brown was suspended for the first eight weeks of the 2020 NFL season for multiple violations of the league's personal-conduct policy. During his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, Brown destroyed a security camera and threw a bicycle at a security guard at his Hollywood home. Later, Brown was suspended for three games by the NFL for violating the league's COVID-19 protocols by misrepresenting his vaccination status.
Brown pleaded no contest to burglary and battery charges and was sentenced to two years of probation. He was also ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation and to participate in a 13-week anger management program. Two years later, a civil court jury ordered Brown to pay the truck driver $1.2 million in damages due to the attack.
In 2019, Brown was sued by a fitness trainer who alleged that Brown had sexually assaulted her. (He settled that federal suit.) Shortly after, another woman detailed incidents of sexual misconduct involving Brown in a story published by Sports Illustrated.
His career ended in grand fashion with one of the most peculiar moments in recent NFL history. In Week 17 of the 2021 season, during the third quarter of the Buccaneers' 28–24 win over the New York Jets, Brown took his jersey, shoulder pads, glove, and shirt off and ran off the field into the locker room. Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said in a postgame press conference that Brown 'is no longer a Buc' and that Brown refused to enter the game, prompting Arians to tell him to leave.
Three days later, Brown released a statement claiming that Arians and the Buccaneers had engaged in a cover up. Brown claimed that an MRI on his ankle showed 'broken bone fragments stuck in my ankle, the ligament torn from the bone, and cartilage loss, which are beyond painful.'
Tampa Bay released him two weeks later. He hasn't played in the NFL again.