Baltimore Ravens star running back Ray Rice is seen in a new surveillance video knocking out his now-wife Janay Palmer in an incident earlier this year.
Rice’s vicious attack on his fiancee earned him a modest two-game suspension from the NFL, a controversial move that surely looks even more so now.
Watch the just-released video of the punch that the NFL player delivered that sent her to the ground, with the warning that this is not for the faint of heart:
The aftermath outside the elevator – Rice dragging the unconscious woman across the floor (below) – was first revealed after his arrest for domestic violence.
The attack took place February 15 at the Revel Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., with the pair in a heated argument on their way into the elevator.
Inside the elevator, Rice starts to get physical, she hits back, and he knocks her unconscious, off her feet and into an elevator hand rail, then to the ground.
When the door opens, Ray, seemingly unfazed, drags her out into the hotel, nudging her with his foot at one point to see if she’ll come to (she doesn’t) …
An employee of the hotel says he working there at the time and reports that the NFL saw this elevator clip before imposing the two-game suspension.
Ray Rice and Janay Palmer married one month after the attack.
Given the devastating blow he administers, it’s easy to see why the league was criticized for the wrist slap punishment, especially in light of other NFL moves.
The league has doled out suspensions twice as long for marijuana offenses, critics note, making the Rice wrist slap completely insensitive and incongruous.
Having seen this jarring video, do you agree?