Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Friday whether the White House believes golfer Scottie Scheffler should be facing 10 years in prison for a “misunderstanding at a traffic stop.”
The Louisville Metro Police arrested Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, early Friday after he attempted to drive around a crash scene where a shuttle bus had fatally struck a pedestrian near Valhalla Golf Club. An officer ordered him to stop his vehicle and grabbed the side of the car, and Scheffler finally followed orders after driving another 10-20 yards, dragging the officer as he went.
Scheffler characterized the incident as a “misunderstanding” of law enforcement instructions, adding he “never intended to disregard” any of their orders. He has been charged with felony assault on a police officer, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to The Sun. He plans to plead not guilty.
“What does President Biden think about the world’s number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler, being cuffed and hauled in for a mug shot for what appears to be a misunderstanding at a traffic stop?” Doocy asked.
“So I’ve seen the reports of Mr. Scheffler’s arrest,” Jean-Pierre answered. “I just want to say that our hearts go out to the individual that was killed…”
“Unrelated,” Doocy interjected.
“No, let me finish,” the press secretary pushed back. “In the auto accident that preceded his arrest, obviously, someone did die. Someone was killed [in the crash that] preceded his arrest, that obviously he was not involved in. So, I want to make sure that we share our condolences to that family and their loved ones. Anything else, specifics to his arrest, that would be something for local authorities to speak to.” (RELATED: ‘Nothing You’re Doing…Is Working’: Doocy Doesn’t Let KJP Off The Hook Over Biden’s Bad Poll Numbers)
“I think, you guys have spent a good chunk of this week talking about how you don’t want anybody to ever go to jail again for possessing marijuana. Do you think that somebody who was involved in what appears to be a misunderstanding at a traffic stop should be facing ten years in prison?” Doocy asked.
“We have seen the reports, there’s a process there,” the press secretary answered. “We have to let the legal authorities go to their process and how this all works. I can’t comment from here, from the lectern, about something that’s being looked into by local authorities. I’ve got to be mindful about that, but let’s not forget, someone lost their life — obviously that preceded this — but there was an individual that was killed, and there’s a family that’s mourning a death of a loved one. And so we want to be sensitive to that as well.”
President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to reclassify the federal status of marijuana by filing a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” with the Office of the Federal Register on Thursday. The reclassification would reduce criminal punishment for the possession and sale of marijuana, which has been listed as a highly dangerous drug alongside heroin and methamphetamine since 1971.
Scheffler did not possess marijuana at the time of his arrest.