I would not have been as calm about this stop as this guy was, especially when the cop grabbed me by the throat. The officer involved is Matthew Mercado of the Walnut Ridge, Arkansas police department.
When the man in the video, Adam Finley, went to the Walnut Ridge Police Department to complain, he was given citations for refusal to submit to arrest and obstructing governmental operations with the tickets being written by officer Matt Cook with the permission of Police Chief Chris Kirksey. After a trial on April 3, 2017, in Lawrence County District Court, Finley was acquitted of the charges.
Finley sued, and the city of Walnut Ridge settled out of court, paying him $57,500 in damages.
I used to be fairly backing of the cops. No longer. As far as I am concerned, the police are an out of control, armed, criminal gang of violent assholes who only use force when they know the subject of their bullying behavior can’t fight back.
17 Comments
WDS · September 6, 2024 at 8:37 am
We have a deputy here in our county on trial accused of hitting, using pepper spray and tasing the man until he lost consciousness. While on the stand in his own defense the deputy adamantly claimed that the amount of force he used was appropriate. The deputy claims the situation escalated when he found an empty gun holster. No weapon was ever recovered. I wonder how much the county will pay this time?
Yeah, I said “this time”.
Ghost Who Walks · September 8, 2024 at 11:28 am
How can you be a “thin blue line’ when you have a big fat head?
WDS · September 9, 2024 at 7:16 am
Update: Jury finds deputy guilty. The deputy will spend a year in prison after a jury convicted him on Friday of using excessive force while attempting to detain a man in 2020.
The sheriff issued a statement that read: “I am sorry this incident took place. Unfortunately, I can’t go back in time and change what happened. All I can do is make every effort to avoid this happening again.”
This actually was a 2020 event that finally was settled and the sheriff & the deputy were sued. That lawsuit was settled for 1.5 million.
Steve · September 6, 2024 at 9:35 am
I used to keep a file called, “The Thin Blue Line” containing stories like this, but have stopped maintaining it because it got too large and depressing. Qualified Immunity is a get-out-of-jail free card that enables the police being a gang of violent criminal assholes, because they know they can get away with it.
I can count on one hand the number of times police officers have been held responsible for their actions and each time, it’s been because of a national media frenzy. Qualified immunity didn’t overcome the court of public opinion. But as my file noted, locally publicized meant the police got away with it.
I’ve read proposals to eliminate qualified immunity and make police officers carry insurance, just like other professionals. Doing so would curb their lawless behavior.
Noway2 · September 6, 2024 at 10:16 am
I typed some of my true feelings out about cops and what I’d like to see happen to them, and deleted them before posting.
Let’s just say, I’d never convict someone for handing a cop their ass.
StBernard · September 6, 2024 at 3:01 pm
I didn’t get convicted for kicking the shit out of a pig, I got convicted because of the severity of the beating. 6 yes. of his crap finally boiled over.
Steve · September 6, 2024 at 10:21 am
I could easily end up back on the side of the cops. All they would have to do is execute a few of these power-mad jerks in as slow and painful manner as they can devise. Repeat with supervisors and everyone else who should have terminated or prosecuted him.
There was a deputy in this county the better part of a decade ago with this kind of attitude, repeat complaints and lots of dash cams to prove it, but not one official would do a damn thing until he shot and killed 3 kids in a traffic stop because of, well, less than this, from what I could tell.
Ben · September 6, 2024 at 1:00 pm
You know what they say, “90% of cops make the other 10% look bad”
IcyReaper · September 6, 2024 at 11:35 am
To me that’s a multiple incident attack on his rights not just the stop but when he comes to complain they do that shit. I don’t get why he settled for just the 57K?
In Colorado they have a ballot initiative to set aside $350 million of state funds separate from normal spending to go the cops and also a $1 million insurance policy in case they get killed. That’s on top of benefits they already have here. Fuck that noise. Colodao has paid 10’s of millions in settlements to stop court case the past couple years, it getting more and more every year.
I have a better solution, all cop assault cases will not be settled out of court, ALL of them must be thru the court system where if they lose at trial, all money damages will come from their state, local, personal or union retirement funds not the taxpayers. But if they don’t have any of this bullshit in a calendar or fiscal year then there will be a bonus given to each cop. Now how will the good cops like losing money due to the bad cops they protect like the taxpayers do everytime?.
Aesop · September 6, 2024 at 4:04 pm
These incidents pop up on YouTube three-a-day, since years back.
The cop was a ‘roided up rage monster from the get go, not just looking for a problem, but instigating one from his first interaction. None of his actions nor reactions was reasonable, justifiable, or even sane.
He needs to be fired, banned for life from any government or security job, and then publicly horsewhipped.
Whoever his training officer was should be retroactively demoted and suspended for a onth as well. This badgehole didn’t wake up just that day and go off, that’s likely been how he is, and somebody who should have done so failed to teach him any better.
Start making the seniors responsible for the underlings, and punish both, and the culture will change, or the employee roster will.
Win-win.
If former douchebadge ends up living in his car and eating dog food for a couple of years, so much the better.
Dirty Dingus McGee · September 6, 2024 at 7:13 pm
I would spend every last cent of that settlement making that cops life a living hell. There are myriad ways to do this, some legal some not so much. If he has a family they would be fair game also, other than minor children.
As an aside, a quick search found the following article. Quite interesting reading.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2018/07/10/an-arkansas-man-complained-about-police-abuse-then-town-officials-ruined-his-life/
Steve · September 8, 2024 at 5:58 am
Thank you for that link as it fills in a lot more details. Also, this part of the conclusion applies generally:
Once other public officials cover up for “bad apple” cops, the story is no longer about the bad apples. It’s about systemic failure. It’s about public servants willing to tolerate abuse because they’re more loyal to one another than to the public they serve.
wojtek · September 7, 2024 at 12:38 am
Former Army, war on terror, etc – here’s the root of the problem.
Anonymous · September 7, 2024 at 9:10 am
1. Qualified Immunity
2. Civil Asset Forfeiture
3. Sociopathy to occasional outright psychopathy
4. A long history of well-documented abuse of citizenry by police
Four reasons why I (licensed CCW) will not come to the aid of a blue-uniformed thug should he be in a situation with a goblin. He’s on his own; it’s too easy to get shot by the cop, the perp or the back-up team coming up on your six. And having to testify against the original perp will suck too.
I did not always feel this way.
This old video is still relevant today (and should be required viewing for everyone in our families):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
IcyReaper · September 7, 2024 at 12:05 pm
Funny when this happens there doesn’t seem to be any reaction by folks other than trying to get justice thru the corrupt legal system. Everyone has names and addresses so you do have the option to discuss things on a more personal level. They always seem to want to make things personal for you why shouldn’t you make it personal for them. Not condoning violence of course I would never ever do that….
joe · September 7, 2024 at 4:21 pm
if i had settled for a whopping $57k, i should get to kick the asshole in the nuts before he’s fired…i would have gone for a lot more money…
Weekend Edition #2: Barking Mad Isn’t Necessarily Bad (But Beware The Language) – Western Rifle Shooters Association · September 7, 2024 at 7:43 pm
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