Last season, the NFL went into full social justice warrior mode "to honor victims of systemic racism, victims of police misconduct, and social justice heroes" as part of their campaign called "Inspire Change: Say Their Stories."
One was those “honored” by the league was Dreasjon Reed, a 21-year-old black man who was shot and killed by Indianapolis police "following a high-speed vehicle pursuit and a foot chase".
The officer who killed Reed, De'Joure Mercer, was cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury.
Officer Mercer also happens to be black and he has now filed suit against the NFL.
Here’s one of the NFL tweets cited in the case:
In the suit, Mercer says the NFL’s campaign:
“...gives rise to the inference, implication, and imputation that Mercer committed occupational misconduct and even criminal acts during the May 6 (e)ncounter with Reed, similar to that which were inflicted upon George Floyd. This inference, implication, and imputation is false because Mercer committed no such acts...
The truth of the matter is that Mercer committed no misconduct... and was publicly cleared of all alleged wrongdoing. Despite a highly-publicized investigation and other information that clearly exculpated Mercer of all wrongdoing, all of which was publicly available and was in fact possessed by and known to one of the National Football League's teams, the Indianapolis Colts, the NFLE published several online statements accusing Mercer of police misconduct. As detailed below, the NFLE published its false statements of fact negligently and with a reckless disregard of the truth; the NFLE's statements are defamatory per se and have caused Mercer to suffer severe emotional and reputational injury in his personal and professional capacities.”
"De'Joure Mercer is a hero. He tracked down a very dangerous criminal wanted by the police, who was a threat to the citizens of Indianapolis.
He put his life on the line and was nearly killed in that effort. He was completely exonerated after an exhaustive investigation into the death of Mr. Reed. For NFL Enterprises then to suggest he was involved in police or racist misconduct is totally false, defamatory and unacceptable. What happened here has nothing to do with racism."