Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant says a Southlake, Texas police officer pointed a gun at him in front of his young daughters during a traffic-dispute confrontation on Sunday that ended with him receiving a citation for assault.
Bryant, who played eight seasons with the Cowboys and earned three Pro Bowl selections, provided footage to OutKick showing an officer aiming a firearm in his direction. Other footage shows Bryant lying on the ground in handcuffs alongside two other men in Southlake, located in Tarrant County.
The citation, reviewed by OutKick, charges Bryant with “Assault by Contact,” a Class C misdemeanor under Texas law punishable by a fine of up to $500. It lists the incident location as 2251 E. Southlake Blvd., the address of Chiloso Mexican Bistro, marks “Arrest: No,” and orders Bryant to appear at Southlake Municipal Court on or before Nov. 20 at 5 p.m.
Bryant said the encounter began when two vehicles cut him off in traffic and continued what he described as reckless driving as all three arrived at the same restaurant parking lot. He said he confronted the men verbally, acknowledging he used profanity, and that one of them, described as a young adult, threatened him.
“He go to threatening me and basically saying, um, he’ll insinuate that he’ll, you know, he’ll shoot me or whatever,” Bryant said.
Bryant said he fired back a warning of his own.
“You pull that gun, I’m telling you right now, you better use it because if you don’t I’m going to do something to you,” he recalled telling the man.
Asked directly whether the man ever produced a weapon, Bryant said he did not. Instead, Bryant said the man pulled out a phone and began recording him, which Bryant says prompted him to knock the phone out of the man’s hand.
The man said he would call police, and Bryant says he welcomed it, expecting officers to investigate the threat he says he’d received. Instead, Bryant says a responding officer drew a gun and ordered everyone to the ground just as his girlfriend arrived with his two daughters, who recorded the scene.
“I get on the ground,” Bryant said. “My lady pulled up, she got my children, and they seen everything that’s going on.”
Bryant said his primary concern in the moment was his children witnessing him on the ground with a gun pointed at him.
“I was really more so concerned about my children, you know, looking at their dad, you know, being on the ground with a gun pointed at me,” Bryant said.
According to Bryant, officers handcuffed all three men, questioned them separately, placed Bryant in a patrol vehicle, then released him with a citation while allowing the other two men to leave without one. Bryant alleges police leaned on the other man’s phone video without investigating the driving incident that triggered the confrontation, including by pulling nearby surveillance footage.
“I would rather you guys take us all down to the police station and do the proper investigation instead of just taking somebody else, you know, side,” Bryant said. “I felt like it was very one-sided.”
Bryant also said an officer told him he needed to be “the bigger person.” He has repeatedly characterized his own conduct as self-defense. Under Texas law, whether force qualifies as self-defense turns on the circumstances, including whether a person reasonably believed force was immediately necessary to counter another’s use or threatened use of unlawful force.
Bryant said he has good relationships with individual Southlake officers, including one connected to his son’s Southlake Carroll football team, and called this encounter “extremely unfortunate.” He said his standing in the community, especially among children, is part of why he decided to speak publicly.
“My reputation mean everything to me,” Bryant said.
Asked what he wants from law enforcement going forward, Bryant called for even-handed treatment and a full investigation.
“Treat everybody fair. Treat everybody fair. Treat everybody with respect,” he said. “Do your due diligence on what’s actually going on.”
OutKick has reached out to the City of Southlake for comment on behalf of its police department. Neither the department nor city officials had responded publicly as of this writing.
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