CINCINNATI — Police arrested Mississippi men’s basketball coach Andy Kennedy early Thursday after a cab driver said the coach punched him while calling him “bin Laden” and other racial insults.
A pretrial hearing has been set for Jan. 16. Kennedy was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor count of assault, which would carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail for conviction.
Kennedy denied the allegations and his attorney, Mike Allen, entered a written plea of not guilty in Hamilton County Municipal Court on Thursday.
Kennedy, a former assistant and interim head coach at Cincinnati, was set to coach the Rebels against No. 9 Louisville in the SEC/Big East Invitational later Thursday.
“I regret this situation,” Kennedy said in a statement released by Ole Miss. “The focus should be on the players and the game, not on me. I vehemently deny the charges levied against me, and am completely confident that I will be fully exonerated of all charges.”
The complaint filed in Municipal Court alleges that Kennedy assaulted Mohamed Moctar Ould Jiddou and “punched victim with a closed fist while shouting racial slurs.” Kennedy, 40, was arrested at 1:15 a.m., police documents show.
“I just don’t think it passes the smell test,” Allen said. He said Kennedy did not hit or slur anyone.
Police subsequently arrested Bill Armstrong, director of operations for the basketball team, on a charge of disorderly conduct. Armstrong, 31, was intoxicated and had been ejected from the Lodge Bar Cincinnati downtown, and had continued taunting the taxi driver, the police report stated. Allen also entered a not guilty plea for him and his pretrial hearing was also set for Jan. 16.
Alex Moller, the bar’s general manager, confirmed that Kennedy had been there.
“Kennedy left the bar amicably. After that, I don’t know what happened,” Moller said, adding that he didn’t know details on Armstrong.
Jiddou, a 25-year-old native of the northwest Africa country of Mauritania, told reporters that the altercation broke out after Kennedy hailed him and then asked him to pick up his friends. When four other people tried to get in, Jiddou said, he told them he couldn’t take that many because he only had four seat belts.
Jiddou said Kennedy then began yelling, cussing him and calling him “bin Laden, Saddam Hussein,” and hit him in the face. Police said the left side of Jiddou’s face was swollen; at his northern Kentucky home more than 12 hours later, he had no apparent injuries and said he wasn’t hurt physically but was upset to be compared to the terrorist leader.
“(Osama) bin Laden killed 3,000 people in this country. I never hurt no one,” Jiddou said. “How can he tell me that? I’m working hard. I don’t want to hear anything like that.”
He said he didn’t know who Kennedy was until a police officer told him hours after the arrest.
Rusty O’Brien, a Louisville, Ky., attorney, said Jiddou is a legal resident of the United States. Jiddou said he has been in this country for seven years. O’Brien met with Jiddou on Thursday to discuss his legal options.
Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone said Kennedy’s entire coaching staff witnessed the altercation.
“Clearly, this is an unfortunate situation,” said Boone, who was in Cincinnati. “However, after a full discussion with Andy Kennedy and his staff, who were with him, I have the utmost confidence that once all the facts are known, coach Kennedy will be cleared of all charges.”
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Comments » 91
Hopson2008 writes:
Someone associated with Ole Miss is racist? I absolutely cannot believe it.
NoMoreWooAfterGoodOleRockyTop writes:
What does Barkley think?
volnbig11land writes:
Don't worry, I'm sure he'll make his opinion known.
I work in Cincy and hadn't even heard about this until now.
Way to go kns, you actually brought some news.
TommyJack writes:
Sounds bogus.
Alumni_06 writes:
al sharpton will be on the scene soon!
cjraney writes:
Agree. You'd have to be dumb as a hammer to do something like that as a Div-I coach. Kennedy doesn't strike me as dumb.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
sounds like complete bs. If kennedy where black, would this be a story??
NeylandWest writes:
Koz please tell me that you're joking.
GreerVol22 writes:
Doesn't the cabbie know thats how they roll in in the M.I.S.S...? Know your role man.
OldNumber7 writes:
The really interesting questions here are what would be the motive for doing this, why doesn't he have a rental car, and what did the cabby say to him? I don't get it.
arkyvol writes:
what the hell did he do? take him to the wrong gym?
TommyJack writes:
Time to put ol' Naffy in the default ignore mode. (that would be RobtheVol, this week)
TommyJack writes:
You have a problem with the mulletly challenged?
Colliervol writes:
Ditto. His act is old and tired.
Colliervol writes:
Me either Hopson. I had no idea that there were any racists in Oxford. Wouldn't have thought Andy Kennedy was one of them though. Something sounds odd.
jimr07 writes:
ditto to your ditto
MrBamSeydu writes:
haha, good one.
I'm sure he'll somehow turn it into him being upset that a black man wasn't given the oppurtunity to drive the cab.
TommyJack writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
thevoice writes:
Schools look for persons who can bring wins, their first priority. If that person is black, white, striped, or plaid, it doesn't matter. Affirmative action is very dangerous. Why don't we apply reverse affirmative action to the WR, DT, or RB position in football? It's because schools (or anybody) get the best person for the best position, regardless of color. If someone wants a black coach, please start providing qualified candidates. If someone wants to see white RBs, someone please start providing good candidates.
givehim6 writes:
The cab driver sounds like he was arabic. Anyway this is the week caoch Kiffin was suppose to be working on his staff, any word on more caoches being hired?
VolinCalif writes:
NO Bama that is me
10ACVOL writes:
I heard that the cabby threw both of his shoes at Kennedy as he was getting out of the cab
GreeneVol writes:
The reverse affirmative action comment made me think of something my son pointed out last night watching Celtics & Hawks: why does NBA have actual jumpballs mid-game after tie-ups rather than alternate posessions like all other leagues below it? Good question. I now think I have the answer: Because they want to avoid reverse discrimination suits from the taller players in the league.
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
when a 'moslem' cries, the whole "world" CRIES with them. I am truly sorry that we have offended another race, relgion, or color. Is YEA whitey? Appropriate?
ncvol writes:
It is never cool to be a racist. Hope the coach didn't do this.
Go Vols!
thurs2000#245193 writes:
Probably called him a towel head/
volboy81 writes:
well if Mohammed Ould Jiddou says its so, it must be so!
BigOrangeVol writes:
Fresh off the Cinci Enquirer:
Former University of Cincinnati head basketball coach Andy Kennedy, now head coach at Mississippi, was arrested this morning on a charge of assault, accused of attacking a taxi driver and hurling racial slurs at the man, according to police and court records.
Also arrested was William Armstrong, the director of operations at Mississippi, on a charge of disorderly conduct, reports show.
The men are in town for the SEC/Big East invitational at U.S. Bank Arena. Mississippi plays No. 8 Louisville tonight.
Reports state Armstrong, 31, was drunk and thrown out of the Lodge Bar downtown early this morning.
After that, he and Kennedy, 40, got a cab. A report says Armstrong taunted the driver “in which his conduct was likely to cause a violent response.”
A separate report says Kennedy “was the aggressor” and punched the driver, Mohammed Ould Jiddou. During the attack Kennedy used “racial slurs.”
Kennedy has hired former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen to represent him.
Allen entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client this morning. He said Kennedy "emphatically denies this and emphatically denies making any racial slurs."
Police say a person standing nearby witnessed the assault and that Armstrong was so intoxicated he refused to calm down when asked and requested that he be taken to jail.
Mitchell Diggs, the assistant director of media at Mississippi, said the school's athletic director and chancellor are meeting about the situation. No decision has been made about whether Kennedy will coach tonight.
RoyaltyVol#280778 writes:
I think this is Charles Barkley's cabby when in Cincy!
Vawlfanpreandpost writes:
Kennedy and Billy Gillispie must have had a big night out on town last night. I wonder if Kennedy tried Gillispie's hangover breakfast/remedy of a pack of crackers and a Dr. Pepper?
chrisw2967 writes:
Mohammed Ould Jiddou =haji in Iraq , maybe kennedy thought he was a shoeacide bomber.
volnbig11land writes:
You first naffy
GainesvilleVol1 writes:
You would think any Division I coach would know better than to get drunk in an out of town bar, punch the cabby, call him racial slurs, and not think it would make the news.
Look in the mirror, your end as Coach of Miss is closer than you think!
auttat writes:
It's a cab driver named Mohammed, and they were stone cold drunk. I think we can see what most likely happened here.
What does Charles Barkley have to do with a Iranian cab driver in Cincinnati? You all are extremely childish.
ctownvol writes:
Put me down for a ditto as well.
ctownvol writes:
Racial equity? Did you mean equality? Ah yes. Affirmative action: The great enabler! Or is it forced racism against caucasians?
ctownvol writes:
Big news is coming soon....
rockytopfrog writes:
ditto
volnbig11land writes:
ditto the previous dittos
GR82BAVOL writes:
I'm not going to crucify him just yet; not until I hear the full details. If he did do this, it will almost certainly cost him his job.
Have you ever noticed how this stuff happens/starts in bars? Kennedy and Armstrong were drunker than a skunk, Plaxico was in a bar when he shot himself, Barkley punched a few folks in bars, Pacman, Ray Lewis, etc etc, the list goes on whether it's college or professional sports.
RocketVol...I'd say he does have a rental car and the only smart thing he did all night was he didn't try to drive it back to the hotel.
BigOrangeVol writes:
In the mug shots these two look HAMMERED!!! The Lodge Bar in Cinci is kind of like a Hooters only wilder.
I'd bet that head coach and director of operations applications are being taken in Oxford. To apply contact Pete Boone at 620 All American Drive, Oxford MS 38677. Contact Mr. Boone with your resume call 662-915-7546, fax to 662-915-7683 or email at pboone@olemiss.edu.
In further news:
Director Pete Boone and Coach Kennedy issued the following statements:
"Clearly, this is an unfortunate situation. However, after a full discussion with Andy Kennedy and his staff, who were with him, I have the utmost confidence that once all the facts are known, Coach Kennedy will be cleared of all charges," said Boone, who is with the team.
"I regret this situation," Kennedy said. "The focus should be on the players and the game, not on me. I vehemently deny the charges levied against me, and am completely confident that I will be fully exonerated of all charges."
Coach Kennedy will continue his coaching duties.
BigOrangeVol writes:
Joe Webb, news reporter in Cincinnati, talked to the driver and Jiddou claimed Kennedy became “verbally abusive” after Jiddou refused to allow five people into his cab, breaching his four person limit around one a.m. Thursday morning. The names included racial names such as “Osama Bin Laden” and “Saddam Hussein” after Jiddou refused to allow five people into his cab. Jiddou has legally been in the country for eight years. According to Webb, Jiddou was not seriously harmed and the punch did not hurt.
The assault happened in the 500 block of Walnut Street in Downtown Cincinnati at 1 a.m. The report also states that Jiddou sustained injuries described as a “swollen left face.”
GreerVol22 writes:
Rob,
Peyton has been throwing a whole lot to Dallas Clark lately....
jasonn1970 writes:
Kennedy's a proud member of the Bob Huggins coaching tree........
volroadwarrior writes:
I know what happened. Kennedy had a rock in his shoe. When he took his shoe off to dump the rock, Mohammed Osama Hussein looked in the rear view mirror. He called Kennedy an infidel and a fight ensued. Kennedy hit him with the pork ribs he just bought in a take out restaurant and called Osama a Jew.
mattlock writes:
I heard RobtheVol was really Osama. . .someone should probably punch him just in case. :)
allvol9 writes:
Wow....I hope it is not true and will not presume it until the facts come out. But nothing comes good out of a college coach being in a bar at 1:00 in the morning.
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
What does having a confrontation with a Arab American cab driver got to do with Auburn hiring their former defensive coordinator? Man, are you eaten up with hate or what??? Get your racist self off this sport web site and over to the political sites.
crappieking writes:
Agreed. 10 to 1 this happened. HE IS SO FIRED! OLE MISS $UCK$ IN BASKETBALL ANYWAY
volroadwarrior writes:
He had been imbibing in a bar is the reason he didn't have a rental car. He just didn't count on the great affirmative action crusader Sir Charles to be the cab driver.
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