Prosecutors Drop Charge Against Comedian Hannibal Buress
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Comedian Hannibal Buress is off the hook after being arrested in Miami in December.
According to police, Buress was arrested for disorderly intoxication but prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor charge on Thursday.
The incident took place December 10, 2017 at N.W. 20th Street and N.W. 2nd Avenue at 10:30 p.m.
Buress approached a police officer, who described the comedian as having "red blood shot eyes and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage," and asked the officer to call him an Uber, per an arrest report.
After being told by the officer that he couldn't call an Uber, Buress reportedly became angry and belligerent. He was asked to leave the premises but instead Buress walked inside a venue located at 2000 N.W. 2nd Avenue.
Buress was asked again by the officer to leave the premises "due to him being highly intoxicated" and once outside, continued yelling profanities at the officer which led to a crowd gathering, per the report.
According to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, Buress's attorney Brian Bieber said "In Florida, it's protected First Amendment speech to ask a police officer to call you an Uber." Also, when coming from a professional comedian, it's actually funny. Unfortunately, the arresting officer didn't think so."
Buress is a popular comedian that has recently appeared in the film "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and new HBO comedy "Crashing."
In the video, Buress asks the officers why he is being detained.
They reply, "for trespassing."
