NY Cop Accused Of Harassing Black Man For Honking Horn

Matthew Edwards, black man arrested for honking horn at police — Source: Troy Police Department (TPD) / Troy Police Department

In today’s episode of Cops Have Too Much Power To Have Egos This Fragile, a Black man in Troy, New York, is suing the Troy Police Department and one of its officers for violating his civil rights after the cop in question violently arrested him, allegedly, because he beeped his horn after the officer failed to drive forward once the traffic light turned green.

According to WNYT 13, the traffic stop took place in July 2024 on 3rd and Madison, not far from the home of Matt Edwards, who filed his lawsuit in early July against TPD and Officer Taylor Gamache, who can be seen in bodycam footage approaching Edwards as he is moving his trash cans from in front of his home. Gamache appears to be citing how far Edwards’ car is parked from the curb in front of his home as the reason for the stop—which, even if that reason were legitimate, it still wouldn’t explain the arrest.

From Newsweek:

The lawsuit says the vehicle, driven by Gamache, had failed to proceed even though the light had turned green. After a brief pause, Edwards says he gave a light horn tap to alert the officer. Gamache then made an unsignaled left turn—seemingly reacting to Edwards’s active left turn signal, according to the lawsuit.

To avoid conflict, Edwards had canceled his signal and continued straight, choosing a different route home, said his attorney. He added that upon reaching his residence, Edwards temporarily parked his vehicle about 12 inches from the curb, got out and began moving his garbage bins away from the sidewalk into an alleyway in order to fully park. Moments later, Gamache, whom the lawsuit says had followed Edwards, arrived in his marked patrol car with his body camera recording.

The lawsuit then states: “[Gamache] initiated a purportedly legal traffic stop of [Edwards] for allegedly violating NY Vehicle and Traffic Law—including unlawfully using his vehicle horn to alert Gamache that the traffic signal had turned green, and that Edwards was parked more than 12” from the curb when he temporarily stopped his vehicle while retrieving his garbage cans.

On the bodycam footage, Edwards can be heard saying repeatedly he has committed no crime and asking Gamache: “Can you please call your superior?”

Assisted by additional Troy Police officers and a Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Deputy, Gamache detained Edwards, ultimately wrestling him to the ground and placing him under arrest, while Edwards says several times: “You’re on my pelvis, bro, you’re on my pelvis… You’re violating my rights.”

“I know I was targeted. I know there was times where this could have been de-escalated, and instead, it escalated,” Edwards told WNYT.

In the video, Edwards can be heard telling Gamache, “This is harassment,” after the officer pulled up to his home. Gamache responded by asking rhetorically, “Do you know what is harassment?” and then answering his own question, saying, “It is not harassment.”

But isn’t it though?

If everything Edwards claimed happened in his suit is true, a cop got so upset that a civilian honked his horn at him that he spun the block, followed the motorist to his home, and purported to approach him because of how he was parked temporarily in front of his own home while clearly moving his trash cans out of the way. Was Edwards followed, approached and ultimately arrested because he was a danger to society? No. By his account, accompanied by what we can see on camera, all of this happened to Edwards because he bruised a cop’s fragile blue ego, and that cop used the power of his position to exact instant revenge.

One might argue that it’s not smart to honk at an officer, especially knowing their propensity for this kind of harassment. And, of course, a bootlicker will argue that Edwards got himself arrested by being combative. But cops shouldn’t be able to arrest someone just for talking back — especially when they’re being harassed in front of their own home and then gaslit about that harassment — and they shouldn’t be able to make retaliatory stops over a thing motorists do in traffic every single day.

“The end game, honestly, recognition, I guess, to show people that this is unjust,” Edwards told WNYT when asked what he hopes to accomplish with his lawsuit. “Just beeping your horn at a cop to let him know the light’s changed? We do this all the time as American citizens.”

According to Newsweek, Edwards, who said he suffered physical injuries, emotional distress, and financial losses due to the arrest, “is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, claiming multiple constitutional violations including false arrest, excessive force, and malicious prosecution.”

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