A vindictive upstate New York cop violently arrested a Black man last year for tapping his horn at him after the cop failed to proceed when the traffic light turned green.
Troy police officer Taylor Gamache charged the man with unlawful use of a horn, obstruction of governmental administration, and resisting arrest – retaliatory charges that were all dismissed.
Earlier this month, Matthew N. Edwards filed a lawsuit against the condescending cop, accusing him of assault, battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violating several of his constitutional rights.
Body camera video of the arrest, posted below, shows Gamache also towed Edwards’ car for parking more than 12 inches from the curb in front of his home.
But Edwards had parked that way because a pair of garbage cans were blocking his parking space when he pulled up, so he stepped out of the car to move the garbage cans to the side of his house in order to park properly.
But Gamache never gave him a chance, insisting on arresting him for daring to toot the horn at him as he sat at the light distracted, perhaps texting, which is against the law in New York.
According to the lawsuit filed on July 3 by Troy-based attorney Arthur R. Frost:
As a result of Defendant Gamache’ actions as described above, Plaintiff sustained great bodily injury so that he became sick, sore, lame, wounded, disabled, disordered, embarrassed, emotionally distraught and disfigured and will so remain permanently; has been and will be prevented from attending to his usual duties; has suffered lost lifetime earnings; incurred expenses for, among other things, care and treatment; has and continues to suffer pain; that Plaintiff has been injured permanently externally, internally and otherwise, all to his damage.
Retaliatory Arrest
The incident took place on July 19, 2024, when Gamache was in his patrol car at an intersection waiting for a red light to turn green.
Edwards was in the car behind him on his way home from work and tooted his horn to alert the cop the light was green which is not against the law
But Gamache, after turning left through the intersection and noticing Edwards continued straight through it, apparently circled the neighborhood to find Edwards already parked at home to retaliate against him for tooting his horn at him.
“This is harassment,” said Edwards after Gamache had pulled up in front of his home.
“Do you know what is harassment?” responded the gaslighting cop. “It is not harassment.”
“I did not commit a crime,” Edwards insisted, repeatedly asking Gamache to send a supervisor to the scene, which the cop refused to do.
Instead, the cop called for backup, and a Rensselaer County sheriff’s deputy arrived to help Gamache arrest Edwards.
They then arrested a Black woman, who appeared to be Edwards’ partner, for trying to retrieve items from his car before they towed it.
The video shows Edwards was very angry over the unlawful arrest telling the cop that he was a taxpayer and that “you are working for me.”
“That’s not how it works,” Gamache responded.
Gamache was hired in 2021, according to a Facebook post by the city of Troy, which included a link to a video of the swearing in ceremony where he swore to uphold the constitution.
“You are not just starting a new job, you are answering a calling, a calling to serve,” said William Patrick Madden, who was mayor of Troy at the time.
“Today you will join a police department that ranks among the best.”
However, that same year, the Troy Police Department was sued by the New York Civil Liberties Union for refusing to release misconduct records of its officers.
“Troy residents have the right to know the substance and volume of complaints made against their officers, and the Troy Police Department cannot remain steadfast in ignoring requests for misconduct records made on behalf of the constituents they have sworn to protect and serve,” said Melanie Trimble, capital region chapter director at the NYCLU.
“No police department can shirk their responsibility to be transparent any longer. We will fight resistance to accountability wherever we see it and continue working to end the secrecy shrouding evidence of police misconduct across New York state.”
The Civil Rights Lawyer, a police accountability channel on YouTube run by West Virginia attorney John H. Bryan, posted the video on his page with his analysis.
“We all know that Matthew did not commit a honking crime,” he said in his YouTube video about the case.
“Gamache knew that,” Bryan continued. “Matthew knew that. The witnesses knew that. The judge who dismissed the criminal charges knew that. And you damn sure know that the leadership at the Troy Police Department knows that. You know the mayor knows that.”
Great Job Carlos Miller & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
