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University Of New Mexico Football Player Arrested For Sagging Pants

Deshon Marman, a 20-year-old University of New Mexico football player, ended up in jail because of the way he wore his pants.

Albuquerque's KRQE reports that Marman was boarding a U.S. Airways flight Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport when an airline employee asked him to pull up his pants, "because she said, they were 'below his butt and his boxer shorts were showing.'"

Marman refused and took his seat in the plane and after refusing to pull up his pants again, San Francisco police asked for him to leave the plane. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Sgt. Michael Rodriguez said it took "15 to 20 minutes" of talking to Marman before he got off.

The Chronicle reports Marman was in San Francisco to attend the funeral of David Henderson, a close friend who died after being shot in May. The Chronicle spoke to Marman's mother Donna Doyle, who said her son was still grieving:

"I didn't want him to stay here in the city because of what happened to David," Doyle said. "A lot of it is jealousy. These kids are trying to make it, they're going off to college and other people get jealous."

She added that her son was targeted at the airport "because of the way he looks - young black man with dreads and baggy pants. But he's a good kid trying to make it, and he's going through a lot. And then this happens."

Doyle told KRQE that something like this could jeopardize Marman's scholarship. The station reports that an U.S. Airways spokesperson said, "the airline's dress code forbids 'indecent exposure or inappropriate' attire."

According to the Chronicle Marman is being held in jail "on suspicion of trespassing, battery and resisting arrest."

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Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.