A few more details have surfaced in the investigation surrounding Tennessee football players senior linebacker A.J. Johnson and redshirt sophomore cornerback Michael Williams.
A police report obtained by the Knoxville-News Sentinel’s police beat reporter Don Jacobs, confirmed that both Johnson and Williams have been accused of “forcible rape” at a party that occurred at The Woodlands Apartment Complex, located near UT’s campus, early Sunday morning after the Vols defeated Kentucky 50-16.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones said on Monday that he was aware of the alleged incident, but never mentioned Johnson or Williams by name, only confirming that UT players were under investigation.
“I’m aware of the alleged incident,” Jones said. “We are in the process of gathering information. Once we have all the information, we will act quickly and decisively.”
The school then announced later on Monday that Williams and Johnson have been suspended from all team activities. The police report released Tuesday doesn’t necessarily add a lot of new information, but does confirm that it is indeed Johnson and Williams under investigation and tells us a little bit about the nature of the accusations.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, no charges or arrests have been made in the case as the investigation continues to be ongoing.
On Monday, Jones spoke about how he wants to keep this from being a distraction from his team.
“Every situation that occurs, just like in life, I teach it as a teaching opportunity – a teaching moment,” he said. “We spend an inordinate amount of time in that in our Vol for Life Program, our character education program, all that. We’ll discuss it, but it will be business as usual. I’m not into speculation, but we talk about instances all the time.
“It will just be another point of contention, a point of emphasis, which it is all the time in our football program. We have a lot on the line. We’re representing the state of Tennessee, Vol Nation, the city of Knoxville, our student body, our fan base, our boosters, our alumni. We have a lot of positive momentum and energy going right now. We can’t let that derail us.”
• After practice on Tuesday, Jones had a few brief statements about suspending Johnson and Williams:
On how difficult it is to suspend a senior at this point:
“It’s very difficult. But it’s where we are right now. I can’t really comment any further.”
On the timing of the decision to suspend Johnson and Williams with no charges filed:
“No comment any further means no comment any further”
