By Ryan Gilroy ‘19, staff writer

Former NFL player Brian Banks spoke at LVC in early September about making the right choices and how a false accusation permanently changed his life.

His presentation, “Justice for All and the Power of Choice,” stressed the importance of self-love and how to handle daily situations along with his grueling experience of social injustice.

“No one will work harder for you than you,” Banks said. “It’s not what you go through that defines everything, it’s how you deal with it that defines everything.”

That mindset did not come by choice and Banks told his story of a wrongful conviction and how he worked towards an opportunity that did not yet exist.

In 2002, while attending Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California, Banks was arrested and charged with sexual assault. Banks faced 41 years to life in prison. He was 16 years old.

With limited options, he was tried as an adult and eventually accepted a plea deal which included five years in prison and five years of probation. He was ordered to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet and register as a sex offender.

Nine years later, Banks’ accuser, Wanetta Gibson, friend requested him on Facebook and sent a message and said she wanted to “let bygones be bygones.”

After Banks received Gibson’s friend request, Banks called private investigator Freddie Parish and asked for help. Through a series of interviews, Gibson confessed to Parish that she lied about the assault and Banks never sexually assaulted her, nor did he kidnap her.

While on probation and after serving a total of five years and two months in prison, the confession proved Banks’ innocence and his case was overturned a decade later on May 24, 2012. The dismissed charges also released Banks from his sex-offender status and allowed him to continue his football career.

He initially tried out for the Seattle Seahawks but did not make the team. After considerations and tryouts from other NFL teams, he eventually signed with the Atlanta Falcons in April 2013.

To this day, Banks doesn’t know why everything went so wrong, so fast.

“She never admitted to why she made the lies up,” Banks said.

Banks told students to love themselves first.

“It’s not a test, its life,” he said. “What you do in this moment will determine what happens afterward.”

rg004@lvc.edu