Ryan Lochte and James Feigen, two US Olympic swimmers who claimed they were robbed at gunpoint in Rio, are set to have their passports seized by a Brazilian court because, it seems, no one can back up their mugging-at-gunpoint story.
Judge Keyla Blanc De Cnop released a statement requesting the duo’s passports due to “inconsistencies” in their report that they were robbed at gunpoint in Rio in a taxi on the way back to Olympic Village after a party. And yet, according to the AP, it’s unclear if the swimmers are even still in the country, after police went to Olympic Village to find them and they had already moved out of it. Patrick Sandusky, Team USA’s PR guy, would not disclose whether they were still in the country, or their specific travel plans. The AP:
Police have found little evidence so far to support their accounts, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.
A police official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
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It’s unclear what, exactly, the “competitors’ attitude” in surveillance footage refers to in the statement, but after the alleged robbing incident, Lochte was very specific about what happened:
“They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground — they got down on the ground,” Lochte told NBC News. “I refused, I was like, we didn’t do anything wrong, so — I’m not getting down on the ground.
“And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, ‘Get down’ and I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever.’”
Lochte won a single gold at Rio, in the men’s 4x200 freestyle relay.
Update, 11:58 a.m.: Lochte is already back in the States, his laywer told the Times. Judge Blanc de Cnop said that in the Olympic surveillance footage, “You can see the supposed victims arriving without signs of being physically or psychologically shaken, even joking amongst themselves.”