Current Events > Man gets roughed up by cops, then targeted by city officials for complaining

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://wapo.st/2L3fXFd

Adam Finley had such an interaction with a bad cop. He was roughed up, sworn at and handcuffed. When he tried to file a complaint, he was hit with criminal charges. The local police chief turned Finleys wife against him, which (according to both Finley and her) eventually ended their marriage. The fact that video of the incident should have vindicated him didnt seem to matter.

Finleys trouble first reported by the Jonesboro Sun and Stan Morris at NEA Report began in December 2016 in Walnut Ridge, Ark. Officer Matthew Mercado of the Walnut Ridge Police Department pulled Finley over, near the railroad yard where Finley works. But Finley hadnt committed any traffic infraction. Instead, Mercado apparently suspected that Finley didnt really work for the railroad and therefore was trespassing, or perhaps engaged in some sort of criminal mischief.

The encounter quickly escalated. But as you can see in the video below, the escalation was entirely due to Mercados behavior, not Finleys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRbjc068wts" data-time="

Mercado didnt turn on the audio for his camera until about 30 seconds into the stop. During that time, the video shows Finley handing Mercado both his license and his employee ID from the railroad company. Mercado then asks Finley to get out of his truck. Its here that Mercado then turns on his mic. He asks Finley, Whats with the attitude? Finley, who appears to have done nothing to indicate an attitude, replies, Nothing.

Mercado persists. No, you have an attitude. Whats your problem? Finley responds, I dont have no problem, Im good. Mercado again pushes. I can pull you over if I want. Finley says, Thats fine.

Later Mercado again expresses doubt about Finleys employment again, despite having Finleys employee ID in his own hands. It doesnt look like you were working, he says. As he says this, Finley takes a small step away from the truck. Mercado snaps, If you get up on me again, were going to have problems. Finley, clearly taken aback at the escalation, flashes a nervous smile. Mercado again ratchets up the tension. Im glad you think all of this is a joke, sir. Finley shakes his head and again tells Mercado that he works for the railroad. Mercado again indicates that he doesnt believe him.

Mercado then orders Finley to put his hands behind his back, and says hes going to arrest him for obstructing my operation. Finley, clearly nervous, protests and tries to prove to Mercado that he works for the railroad by showing him some equipment in the back of his truck. At this point the stop turns violent. Mercado grabs Finley and throws him against the truck. Finley puts his hands behind his back. Mercado cuffs him and says, Youre about ignorant. He then again shoves Finley into the truck, this time with enough force to dislodge his own body camera, which falls to the ground.

Over the course of the next several minutes, Mercado repeatedly uses profanity, lectures to Finley as if he were a child and claims that Finley is hostile and aggressive. Throughout all of this, Finley is remarkably calm, insisting over and over that he works for the railroad, and that he doesnt understand why he was pulled over.

Mercado ultimately released Finley without arresting him, likely after finally realizing that Finley really did work for the railroad and had done nothing wrong. But before he does, he issued multiple threats and allegations. At one point he tells Finley, The next time I tell you something, youre going to ride lightning. Hes referring here to a stun gun. Later he warns, Dont later on try to complain that I roughed you up or anything like that, because you know I should take your ass to jail. He also falsely accuses Finley of assaulting a peace officer.

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Fuck the police
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Continued...

But the lessons would keep coming. Finley and his wife later went to the Walnut Ridge Police Department to file a complaint. Instead of taking the complaint, Police Chief Chris Kirksey and Sgt. Matt Cook interrogated and scolded Finley. Cook then wrote Finley two citations for refusal to submit and obstructing governmental operations. Note that Mercado didnt feel compelled to cite Finley. It was only after Finley attempted to file a complaint about Mercados behavior that Mercados supervisors hit him with two misdemeanors. (Note: The Walnut Ridge Police Department declined to comment, citing Finleys lawsuit. A WRPD officer also relayed my request for comment to Kirksey, who also declined.)

At one point during the interaction, Finley left the room, leaving Kirksey alone with Finleys wife, Heather. At one point after Adam Finley left, Kirksey said, From what I saw, hes lucky he isnt going to jail. Heather responded, Who? Adam? For what?

Obstruction of justice.
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Finleys case then went to the office of Third Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce, who assigned it to deputy prosecutor Ryan Cooper. Again, despite the video, Cooper moved forward with the charges against Finley. He took the case all the way to trial. In April 2017, an Arkansas judge acquitted Finley on both counts. Finley filed a civil rights lawsuit in April 2018. The city answered in May with a brief arguing that Finley hadnt made an actionable claim, had missed the statute of limitations and had failed to sufficiently serve the officials he is suing.

When the lawsuit went public, local media outlets filed open-records requests for video of the traffic stop and any records related to it. Morris, a former newspaper reporter who runs what is essentially a one-man operation (NEA stands for Northeast Arkansas), had been particularly dogged in pursuing the story, filing multiple open-records requests, poring through the results on his Web-based program, then asking Walnut Ridge officials to answer for what he had found.

At one point, Morris said, Kirksey called him in to his office and pleaded with him not to publish anything about the incident. He had Mercado in there with him, Morris said in a telephone interview. Mercado said he made a mistake by using the f-word and apologized. But they also told me that the video would show that Finley was wrong just as Kirksey had done with Finleys wife.

Morris later obtained a copy of Mercados police report on the original traffic stop and noted a number of contradictions between the two. Among them:

- Mercado claimed that Finley wouldnt hand over his drivers license when he asked for it, and instead he just waved it front of me. The video shows Finley promptly handing over his license.
- Mercado claimed Finley at one point said this is the stupidest s ever. That isnt depicted anywhere in the audio. Its possible that Finley said this at the outset of the traffic stop, before Mercado turns on his mic, but that seems inconsistent with Finleys language and demeanor during the entire portion of the video for which theres audio.
- Mercado claimed that Finley made an aggressive step toward him. The video doesnt show anything of the kind.
- Mercado claimed that once he restrained Finley, he continued to look for evidence that Finley was an employee of the railroad company. But he had that evidence Finleys ID card from the very first moments of the encounter.

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That cop still has a job!?
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Thought this was another xsquader video
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Blue_Inigo posted...

Fuck police like this guy

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Muffinz0rz posted...

Blue_Inigo posted...

Fuck police like this guy

No fuck that whole department
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At least hes alive.

small town police departments are basically the mafia
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fuck that pig. fuck the pig dept and the pig official protecting them.

scumfucks
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KStateKing17 posted...

Muffinz0rz posted...

Blue_Inigo posted...

Fuck police like this guy

No fuck that whole department

Honestly this. They should all be thrown in jail. What they've done is very criminal.
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i still dont get how this broke up his marriage though
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Still dont get why the divorce?
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So how much longer till the troll accounts show up to rile up this topic?
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TommyG663513 posted...

KStateKing17 posted...

Muffinz0rz posted...

Blue_Inigo posted...

Fuck police like this guy

No fuck that whole department

Honestly this. They should all be thrown in jail. What they've done is very criminal.

Exactly this. I know that not all cops are bad cops like this guy, but part of the reason why bad cops are more prevalent is that there's no accountability. This guy had just about everyone above him on his side protecting him, from the police chief to the prosecutor to the city itself. He never once had to answer for what he did.
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Is Finley alright?
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I'd imagine this to be common practice
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