Former NFL star Chad Johnson describes pre-dawn FBI raid on Roger Stone's house
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation keeps taking wild twists and turns with surprising characters making cameos along the way. Chad Johnson, née Ochocinco, was an unexpected — but pleasant — addition on Friday.
According to the New York Times, the FBI arrived at Roger Stone’s Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home before dawn to arrest the former adviser to President Donald Trump on seven counts, including witness tampering, obstruction of an official proceeding and making false statements.
As it turns out, that Fort Lauderdale neighborhood is also home to Johnson, the former Cincinnati Bengals star and six-time Pro Bowler, who witnessed the arrest.
FBI arrested my neighbor Roger before my morning jog, I’ve only seen shit like that in movies, crazy to start to my Friday
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 25, 2019
Since his final NFL training camp in 2012, Johnson has been all over the place. He signed a two-year deal to play with the Montreal Alouettes and was weirdly excited about it. Johnson even made an appearance at 39 in the Mexican Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional. And apparently, he still likes morning jogs before 7:30.
One hopes that Johnson did not know his neighbor too well, considering Stone is facing substantial jail time, although he does apparently know “Roger” on a first-name basis. Stone, who has worked on at least five Republican campaigns dating back to former president Richard Nixon in the 1970s, reportedly coordinated with WikiLeaks to let the Trump campaign know about stolen emails that could be damaging toward Hillary Clinton.
Stone is expected to appear in a federal courthouse later Friday. Meanwhile, another Trump associate, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is also due to appear in court Friday to argue that he did not breach his plea agreement with Mueller.
Since Johnson’s original tweet, he has not added any more context to what he saw Friday, instead tweeting back to his fans. But Ochocinco, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find more details to share about this pre-dawn raid that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens.
Twitter reacts to Ochocinco’s appearance
Twitter always has plenty to say about anything Trump- or Russia-related, but things really kicked into high gear with Johnson’s surprising involvement. Here’s just a taste of some of the best jokes from Friday morning:
when you think about it, it's probably crazier roger stone can afford to live in chad's neighborhood than vice versa. https://t.co/LMgcTWgssx
— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) January 25, 2019
Neighbors thinking Ochocinco was getting arrested but it was actually Roger Stone.
Ochocinco: pic.twitter.com/O6jsXaeGBs
— Jes (@DoYouEvenLIf) January 25, 2019
Who will play Ochocinco in the movie? https://t.co/uGgkATYqro
— Dave Schilling (@dave_schilling) January 25, 2019
How I imagine @ochocinco looked watching his neighbor Roger getting arrested. pic.twitter.com/hWVXUb9A3M
— Jaison Oliver (@oJaison) January 25, 2019
envisioning @ochocinco just BBQing on his back patio, casually looking over the fence and seeing Roger Stone burning tons of documents in his chiminea
— et le but! (@zanstey) January 25, 2019
Let's hope Roger Stone is sentenced to Ochocinco years in prison https://t.co/p9lA0xKfMP
— Jordan Lillz (@JordanLillyHaha) January 25, 2019
CHAD JOHNSON LIVES IN AN UNSAFE NEIGHBORHOOD
— DPalm (@dpalm66) January 25, 2019
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