Ex-Packer Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila goes on YouTube after friends accused of bringing guns to kids' Christmas pageant

Paul Srubas | Green Bay Press-Gazette

GREEN BAY - Former Packers player Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was nearly arrested — and two of his friends were arrested — Tuesday night in an incident that apparently arose from a family dispute over religious differences.

The incident happened about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday when Jordan Salmi, 24,and Ryan Desmith, 22, showed up at Assembly of God Church, 1460 Shawano Ave., which was hosting a Christmas pageant being put on by the private Providence Academy, according to Capt. Kevin Warych of the Green Bay Police Department.

“The officers responded to that church for a report of a trespassing complaint,” Warych said. “They came into contact with staff, who reported two individuals who were asked to leave but weren’t leaving….When the officers made contact with the two individuals, the officers tried to convince them to leave, but they did not. They were subsequently arrested for trespassing.”

Both were found to be carrying concealed weapons but had no permits, Warych said.

Salmi, of Onalaska, was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon at a school and trespassing. Ryan Desmith,of Friendship, is suspected of the same weapons violations and trespassing, as well as obstructing police.

Gbaja-Biamila avoided arrest because he left when police told him to leave, according to Capt. Kevin Warych of the Green Bay Police Department.

“He listened and left. The officers didn’t have the elements of a trespassing charge,” Warych said.

No one at the time indicated why they were there or why they didn’t want to leave, Warych said.

But Gbaja-Biamila later gave an accounting, posted in a 30-minute YouTube video directed apparently to fellow members of the Straitway Truth Ministry, a religious group with which Gbaja-Biamila is affiliated. The ministry identifies itself as a Hebrew Israelite or Black Hebrew group.

Gbaja-Biamila identified the group as having religious views that differed widely from Christian views such as those supported by Providence Academy.

In his video, Gbaja-Biamila said he sent Salmi and Desmith to the church to videotape his sons participating in a Christmas pageant that he had forbidden them from participating in. Gbaja-Biamila said he didn’t want to go himself because he didn’t want to be a distraction.

He said Salmi and Desmith were there peacefully, caused no disturbance, but “ended up in handcuffs and in jail."

“I ended up on the scene trying to get my brothers out of the predicament, and they ended up trying to arrest me,” Gbaja-Biamila said. “Three officers put their hands on me and tried to put the cuffs on. I told them I do not consent, that I need a warrant and a probable cause. And — listen to this — they literally wanted to put me in handcuffs for looking at their badges and supposedly because I was looking at one of their guns.”

Warych said he wasn’t at the scene and, as a result, couldn’t dispute that the officers might have threatened Gbaja-Biamila with handcuffs, but he said that’s something officers typically might do to gain compliance. In any case, Gbaja-Biamila left peacefully and was not cuffed or arrested, Warych said.

In his YouTube video, Gbaja-Biamila goes on to say he paid $2,000 to bond Salmi and Desmith out of jail that night.

Gbaja-Biamila expressed deep religious differences with the pastor/head master of Providence Academy, condemned his sons for participating in what he called a pagan event involving decorated Christmas trees, and said they were committing sin by following the dictates of Gbaja-Biamila’s estranged wife instead of his.

He said she chose to rebel, and members of the Providence Academy, in choosing to support her, were “partaking of her sin."

“They got my sons — my property — doing pagan worship, and I told them I forbid it, and they dishonor me and say it’s OK for my sons to dishonor their father,” he said. “They used the sons, the children, to oppress the man, and the woman rules over them, so that the man walks in error.”

Charges have not been issued, but police are seeking misdemeanor-level charges against Salmi and Desmith.

Gbaja-Biamila, a fifth-round draft pick by the Packers in 2000 out of San Diego State, played his entire nine-year NFL career in Green Bay. The 6-4, 250-pound defensive end recorded double-digit sacks for four straight seasons (2001-04), with career highs of 13.5 in both 2001 and ’04.

Gbaja-Biamila earned Pro Bowl honors in 2003. He finished his career with 74.5 total sacks and was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2013.

Contact Paul Srubas at (920) 265-3087 or psrubas@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGpaulsrubas.