The man who claimed former NFL star Antonio Brown tried to shoot him outside a Miami boxing event last year did not appear for his scheduled deposition on Wednesday in Florida.
Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, was scheduled to give his deposition via Zoom at 10am on Wednesday, but did not materialize by 10:10, according to a court filing provided to The Daily Mail by Brown’s attorney, Mark Eiglarsh.
Judge Tinkler Mendez has since ordered Nantambu to appear before the Miami-Dade County Judicial Circuit Court on Friday morning and explain himself, according to a press release from Eiglarsh’s firm. The Daily Mail has sought confirmation with court officials.
Although Eiglarsh claims Brown’s alleged victim was ‘properly served,’ Nantambu told The Daily Mail by phone he was completely unaware of the scheduled deposition, let alone Mendez’s order requiring him to appear in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Friday.
‘I had no idea,’ Nantambu, a New Orleans resident, told The Daily Mail on Wednesday.
Nantambu’s absence could prove fortuitous for Brown, who is seeking to dismiss the case on the basis of Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law. Brown has claimed he was acting in self defense on May 16, 2025 when he was seen in viral video running towards a melee with a firearm in hand.
Antonio Brown was arrested in November after fleeing to the UAE following the shooting
Nantambu, a jewelry designer, is a strong supporter of Sudanese and Palestinian refugees
Brown appears to pull out a gun before shots are fired outside a boxing match in May of 2025
‘I think this is a significant development,’ Eiglarsh told The Daily Mail in an email. ‘We are not surprised at all. It’s clearly apparent that he wants to avoid going under oath and having to reveal the truth of what occurred. It would only favor my client.’
The Daily Mail has also sought comment from Nantambu’s attorney, Emily Posner.
Brown has pleaded not guilty and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Mendez’s ruling comes at a busy time for Nantambu, who is set to be sentenced in Louisiana for his on-field protest during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance in February of 2025. Earlier this week, New Orleans judge Juana Marine-Lombard found Nantambu guilty of resisting an officer but not guilty of disturbing the peace by interruption of a lawful assembly.
Nantambu could get up to six months in prison for his role in that protest, which was aimed at raising awareness of refugees being killed in Gaza and Sudan.
Although Nantambu was pleased with Lombard’s ruling, he remains nervous about his June 1 sentencing: ‘I pray I’m not incarcerated behind this.’
The NFL took a keen interest in the case, according to Nantambu, who claimed to see several high-ranking league security officials at his trial.
‘The NFL flew in two people,’ Nantambu said. ‘So when I saw the guy in there with a suit on and an NFL pin, I was like: “Oh, they taking this serious.”‘
The Daily Mail has reached out for comment from the NFL about Nantambu, who has been banned from league games for life.
On Tuesday, Nantambu’s attorney told The Daily Mail that Lombard’s ruling ‘assures that the NFL does not dictate how the criminal legal system works.’
In an unrelated incident, Nantambu arrested during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show as he protested the killing of refugees in both Gaza and Sudan. He could face six months in prison
Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu was seen unfurling a pro-Sudan and pro-Gaza flag Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance in 2025 in New Orleans
The two men have been feuding since 2022 when Nantambu, a jewelry designer, claimed Brown stole a valuable pendant of his in Dubai ahead of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. boxing event. Nantambu further said Brown lied to police in the United Arab Emirates, accusing him of theft, resulting in Nantambu’s brief imprisonment.
Eiglarsh’s motion to dismiss frames Nantambu as the thief: ‘Additionally, in 2022, Nantambu was jailed in Dubai for thirty days after stealing Brown’s jewelry.’
Nantambu sued Brown in Florida in 2022 and ultimately won a $968,960 verdict that was later vacated in 2024 before the case was dismissed. The jeweler has since pursued a partial reduced judgement of $123,600 in federal bankruptcy court as Brown continued to deny the allegations of theft, as seen those filings.
The 2025 shooting took place outside an Adin Ross boxing event, where the two unexpectedly crossed paths.
Brown allegedly called security to swarm Nantambu before running to grab his gun, the jeweler told The Daily Mail last year.
One video, provided to Daily Mail by Nantambu, showed him fighting with a group of men before an individual matching Brown’s description abruptly fled. Another viral video of the incident appeared to show Brown returning to the melee with a gun in hand.
Eiglarsh conceded in his motion to dismiss that Brown fled the brawl only to return with a concealed firearm. However, Eiglarsh insists Brown only fired ‘warning shots’ while ‘intentionally aiming away from Nantambu to ensure he would not be struck.’
‘Brown hoped the warning shots would deter Nantambu’s aggression, allowing Brown to safely reach his vehicle and leave the scene,’ read the motion.
In a picture purportedly from Dubai in 2022, Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu is seen standing on a yacht. As he told Daily Mail, it’s Antonio Brown who is pictured wearing red in the background
Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu, who goes by ‘@fff_zulqarnain’ on Instagram, shared photos of his injuries with Daily Mail. Nantambu says a bullet grazed his neck and he broke a finger
Former NFL star wide receiver Antonio Brown, left, greets his attorney Mark Russell Eiglarsh, right, after being released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in November
Previously, Nantambu told The Daily Mail a bullet grazed his neck during the incident.
‘He ran to get the gun. He shot at me. I think he grazed my neck. We started fighting for the gun,’ Nantambu told The Daily Mail in 2025. ‘The adrenaline is going crazy. He ran into me. I threw him on the ground. A gun fell. We start scrambling for the gun on the ground.’
It was at this point cops arrived, according to Nantambu. Despite the violent uproar, police made no arrests and Brown wrote on X soon after that he was considering potential legal action against ‘the individuals that jumped me.’
Instead, Brown fled to Dubai before ultimately being extradited to the US in November. He has since been released from jail on $25,000 bond as his former Florida home has surfaced on the market.
It’s unclear if Brown is the seller in this case or if he’s already been relieved of the home as part of the liquidation process. A transaction record for the property shows it was put up for sale by Brown in March of 2024 but does not list any buyer. He originally purchased the property in 2021, while he was still with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brown’s looming attempted-murder trial is just the latest dramatic episode of his turbulent life.
A legendary receiver for the Steelers who later won a title with the Bucs, Brown’s career was derailed by a series of on- and off-field incidents involving trainers, teammates, coaches and executives.
The seven-time Pro Bowler last appeared on the field in January 2022, when he was seen arguing with Bucs coaches and ripping off his pads in the middle of a game against the Jets. He then left the field, never to play in another NFL game.
