An Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) officer is suing the NFL for social media posts made by the league in the aftermath of the Dreasjon Reed shooting.
According to WISH in Indianapolis:
Officer De’Joure Mercer filed the suit Monday in federal court in Indianapolis. Mercer shot and killed Reed after a police chase in May 2020. Prosecutors and a grand jury declined to file charges against Mercer.
Mercer says the NFL’s decision to include Dreasjon Reed in its Say Their Stories campaign amounts to defamation.
The campaign included victims of police misconduct as part of a push for social justice in 2020.
In December of 2020, Breitbart reported that the NFL had decided to honor Reed by tweeting his story and pic from their official Twitter account as part of their “Say Their Stories” campaign. In addition, a Colts player, Matthew Adams, was planning to wear Reed’s name on his helmet.
Say His Name: Dreasjon Reed
Dreasjon is one of the many individuals being honored by players and coaches this season through the NFL’s helmet decal program.#SayTheirStories: https://t.co/vwi75WmNxr pic.twitter.com/wWaasw6LBp— NFL (@NFL) December 16, 2020
However, Breitbart also reported, that the NFL seemed determined to honor Reed despite the fact that he endangered the public by driving recklessly and shot at the police during the ensuing pursuit.
As Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston reported at the time:
Reed was killed by the Indianapolis police on May 6. An investigation by the Indiana State Police showed that officers began pursuing Reed after he endangered the public through reckless driving. The officers followed at a distance so as to not cause even more danger to innocent pedestrians and motorists. Police pursued Reed on foot after he bailed out of his car.
While it’s unclear who shot first, Reed clearly fired at the police. Investigators found two shell casings from Reed’s weapon and 13 casings from the weapon of the pursuing officer. Video from Reed’s phone shows shell casings flying in two different directions.
The suit does not specify an exact dollar amount in terms of damages. However, the filing does claim that Officer Mercer will Likely lose millions of dollars due to the NFL’s “false and negligent” allegations, WISH reports.
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Breitbart News 2021-06-14 23:06:00
