Former NFL star Antonio Brown filed a motion this week to dismiss the attempted second-degree murder charge against him in Miami, based on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. The motion was filed Monday but shared with ESPN by his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, on Saturday.
The incident involved gunfire outside an amateur boxing match. Brown, 37, spent nearly six months in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he went after the incident, before being extradited by U.S. law enforcement. Shortly after arriving in Miami last month, he pleaded not guilty and was arraigned.
“Brown’s use of force on May 16, 2025, was fully justified,” the motion states. “Brown reasonably believed that the alleged victim intended to cause him serious harm.”
Richard L. Cooper, attorney for Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, called the defense motion a “farcical reimagining” of what happened.
The motion cited the 2005 Florida law that removed “the requirement to retreat” before using “deadly force in certain circumstances” and provided immunity from prosecution. Brown faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Florida’s most famous Stand Your Ground case stems from the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. George Zimmerman, the shooter, argued self-defense during his second-degree murder trial, which resulted in his acquittal in 2013. Zimmerman did not directly invoke the law, but the judge’s instructions to the jury outlined anti-retirement principles of Florida law.
Brown’s motion described a history of violence by Nantambu toward her, including an alleged jewelry theft incident in Dubai. Nantambu spent 30 days in prison in Dubai in connection with the incident, the motion states.
In the May incident, according to the motion, Brown was trying to get to his car for safety after Nantambu attacked him. But police said Brown punched Nantambu in the face and then, along with two others, continued the attack.
Nantambu walked away, according to a police description of the security footage. Brown then “pursued him and shot him at point-blank range,” according to a prosecutor. Police added that a social media video showed Brown with a gun in his hand near Nantambu. Two shots followed. Nantambu ducked after the first shot, police said.
Monday’s motion, which admitted Brown as the shooter, said he had a “reasonable fear” that Nantambu was armed. He also said Nantambu made an “aggressive move” toward Brown.
“At that time, Brown was again in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily harm,” the motion states. Brown then fired two “warning shots, intentionally aiming away from Nantambu to ensure he would not be hit,” the motion states. Brown also said Nantambu took the gun after a struggle and walked away with it.
At a hearing in November, Cooper testified that Brown intended to kill Nantambu. “By the grace of God, he wasn’t killed,” Cooper said. Cooper said he believed Brown went to Dubai thinking he couldn’t be extradited and was flaunting his presence there on social media.
After returning to Miami, Brown was released on $25,000 bail and placed under house arrest with a GPS monitor on his ankle.
Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
