New video shows Ray Rice striking then-fiancée in casino elevator
(Warning: The video above contains graphic content.)
New video has surfaced showing Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City casino elevator in February.
The video, obtained by TMZ.com, shows Rice and Palmer, now his wife, in the elevator, and Rice striking Palmer, knocking her to the ground. Previous video had shown Rice dragging Palmer out of the elevator into the hotel.
Rice was suspended by the NFL for two games for the incident, prompting widespread criticism.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodellhas since revamped the league's policy for domestic violence offenders, making it a six-game suspension for a first offense for violations of the Personal Conduct Policy regarding assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault that involve physical force, and a lifetime ban for a second offense.
"I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect our values. I didn't get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will," Goodell said.
The NFL said in a statement that it requested the video from authorities and all information about what happened that night, but "that video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today.”
Rice was originally charged with third-degree aggravated assault and was accepted into a pretrial diversion program that will allow the charges to be dismissed if he completes it.
The Ravens have yet to comment, but the Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman reports that a player texted him indicating that Rice may be losing support among his teammates.
-Scooby Axson
