Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, who said he was bullied as a child by former NHL draft pick Mitchell Miller, said in a statement released Wednesday that Miller “isn’t my friend” and that he “can’t take more of this.”
The statement was released by the Hockey Diversity Alliance on Meyer-Crothers’ behalf, according to a tweet sent out by the HDA.
In the statement, Meyer-Crothers describes years of abuse at the hands of Miller, the disavowed Arizona Coyotes draft pick who was signed and then cut loose by the Boston Bruins over the weekend.
Meyer-Crothers detailed being repeatedly punched, repeatedly called a racial epithet and being spat on.
According to Miller’s agent, Eustace King, Miller and Meyer-Crothers were coordinating a meeting, ostensibly for Miller to apologize in person.
However, in his statement, Meyer-Crothers said, “All the lies I have been told from him for so many years I don’t believe what Mitchell told me,” adding he told Miller, “I’m not gonna be your friend after all you did to me.”
The Coyotes picked Miller in the fourth round of the 2020 draft despite knowing of his 2016 assault conviction. The team parted ways with Miller amid criticism after learning more about the bullying.
The University of North Dakota announced a day later that Miller was no longer with the school’s hockey team.
Miller pleaded guilty at age 14 to one count of assault and one count of violation of the Ohio Safe Schools Act. He and another teenager were accused of making Meyer-Crothers eat a candy push pop after wiping it in a bathroom urinal, and surveillance video showed them kicking and punching him.
Meyer-Crothers’ mother Joni told the Arizona Republic that Miller started bullying her son in Grade 2 and used racial epithets.
Ahead of the 2020 NHL Draft, Miller sent a letter to all 31 teams acknowledging what happened and apologizing for his behaviour. Joni Meyer-Crothers said Miller never personally apologized to Isaiah or their family other than through a court-mandated letter.
–with files from The Associated Press
