Jones has released another statement following a questionable report from NBC News claiming he’d been arrested by police after being charged with assault.
Jon Jones is not happy with a news report from NBC News that claims he was arrested over a March 30th incident with a UFC drug testing agent.
The UFC heavyweight champion has been charged with assault and interfering with communications after a Drug Free Sport International agent went to Albuquerque police and claimed Jones threatened to kill her during a random drug test at his New Mexico home. Jones denies the allegations, and put out several tweets on Sunday afternoon after mainstream news outlets falsely reported that he had been arrested by police.
“Pretty large platform to post so blindly. #fakenews,” he wrote about an NBC News article that repeatedly made that claim.
Pretty large platform to post so blindly. #fakenews https://t.co/6ZkLdxFnnv
— BONY (@JonnyBones) April 7, 2024
“I wanted to address some misinformation that has been circulating this morning,” he wrote in a longer statement on his X (formerly Twitter) account. “I woke up to false reports that I had been arrested . I have not been arrested. In fact, I am currently in Texas with my daughters at a volleyball tournament.”
“I must admit, it’s disappointing to have to clarify these things again, but I understand that I may be an easy target given some of my past issues. It’s important to set the record straight and make sure the truth is told.”
“I was recently visited by testers while I was celebrating a birthday and taking a nap,” Jones continued. “Upon waking up, I was caught off guard by the unprofessionalism and protocol by one of the testers which caused frustration leading me to use some profanity I regret. However, I want to emphasize that at no point did I threaten, get in anyone’s face, raise my voice to anyone, or engage in any form of assault.”
A summons will be issued to Jones on accusations of assault and interference with communications per the incident report.
Below is an excerpt of the report, provided by Officer Gilbert Gallego of the Albuquerque Police Department: pic.twitter.com/2ArVaOhU3E
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 6, 2024
“It’s unfortunate that false news has been spread without proper fact-checking,” he concluded. “I want to assure you that I will vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations. The truth is, the incident simply did not occur.”
Jones is certainly 100% correct about one thing: police did not arrest him as NBC News claims. Charges were filed and a summons was issued. The NBC News article Jones linked claims “The summons doubled as his arrest, and it doesn’t appear Jones was taken into custody or booked.” That’s the kind of journalistic stretch that justifies a lot of disappointment people have in legacy media these days.
How is it that muckrackers like ABQ Now are getting the details on this story right while NBC News is chasing clickbait headlines?
The Albuquerque Police Department’s Public Information Officer has provided me with an updated incident report after Jon Jones was interviewed by the investigating officer.
The officer added that the court process involving a summons will take some time.
Here is the update: pic.twitter.com/FX8FjjUBLU
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 7, 2024
As for the rest of the story, the initial police report taking the DFSI agent’s complaint and Jones’ version of the story in a subsequent police report tell pretty similar tales. Both versions have Jones threatening to sue one of the DFSI agents. Both have Jones taking an agent’s phone (Jones claiming he mistook it as his own). And both include Jones making an ominous statement about not coming around his house because of ‘danger.’
The difference is in how the agent and Jones perceived the interaction. The agent claims she was terrified. Jones states the agent is lying. Somewhere in the middle we have a UFC heavyweight champion — with a long track record of unpredictable and violent behavior under the influence of alcohol — being aggressive towards a woman the UFC has charged with collecting anti-doping samples.
That’s not a good look, even without a formal arrest.