CNN
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University of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters on Monday that he believed Michigan State University football players were involved in a postgame brawl at Michigan Stadium on Saturday would face criminal charges.
Two Michigan football players, Gemon Green and Ja’Den McBurrows, were injured in the fight, Harbaugh said.
“There must be accountability, there must be a full, thorough and timely investigation,” Harbaugh said.
“I can’t imagine it won’t result in criminal charges. The videos are bad, and what happened is clear. It seems very open and closed. As they say, watch the tape.
“I come from this with the perspective of being a parent, and these young men are entrusted to me by their families and to our program.
“And we have a responsibility to every player to treat them as our own, and I take that responsibility very seriously.”
Green and his father “have every intention of pursuing criminal charges against those responsible for the brutal assault that occurred at the Michigan football stadium after the Michigan/MSU game,” the attorney said. of Green, Tom Mars, in an email to CNN on Monday.
Mars told CNN that Green was punched and beaten with a helmet and suffered a concussion and cuts to his face.
“When college football players brutally attack a member of the opposing team with their helmets, resulting in concussion and other injuries, an apology will not be enough,” Mars said. “There must be serious consequences for this kind of misconduct.”
According to The Athletic, McBurrows still needs medical attention for facial injuries, citing Kerrie Bryan, McBurrows’ mother.
Police from both schools are jointly investigating the brawl, which took place in a stadium tunnel after Michigan’s win over Michigan State. Several videos captured the fight.
Harbaugh told reporters that Green and McBurrows were going up the tunnel together after the game. “You can see it in the video,” Harbaugh said. “Gemon got punched, then Ja’Den tried to help.”
A video posted to Twitter by The Detroit News showed several [Michigan State] Spartans players in an altercation with McBurrows in the tunnel at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
A video from ESPN shows another angle of the scrum, with footage showing what appears to be a player swinging his helmet.
CNN asked the University of Michigan and school police if there was more video of the incident.
On Sunday, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker announced that four players — Tank Brown, Khary Crump, Angelo Grose and Zion Young — had been suspended indefinitely pending the schools’ investigation, of law enforcement and the Big Ten Conference is over. Four additional players – Malcolm Jones, Justin White, Jacoby Windmon and Brandon Wright – have also been suspended, the school announced Tuesday. Their suspensions are effective immediately, according to a statement from the school.
All suspensions will remain in place until investigations are completed, the school said.
“Michigan State University athletics and football program are committed to the highest standard of sportsmanship,” read a joint statement from the vice president and state athletics director on Tuesday. of Michigan, Alan Haller, and head football coach Mel Tucker. “We are working transparently with law enforcement and the Big Ten Conference to assess additional facts and evidence surrounding the events in Ann Arbor. We will continue to take appropriate action on this as we learn more. »
The Big Ten declined to comment on the case to CNN.
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