Little Rock official alleges retaliation over testimony

wireready_04-24-2020-19-02-03_00061_topcop

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A Little Rock police official filed a lawsuit claiming that his police chief has been retaliating against him in response to his testimony in an officer-involved shooting last year.Hayward Finks, an assistant police chief at the Little Rock Police Department, has accused Chief Keith Humphrey of being involved in a “campaign of retaliation” against him, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Thursday.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Finks alleges that the retaliation stems from him testifying that Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. rushed an internal investigation into a fatal shooting by a white officer who killed a black man suspected of stealing a car.

On Feb. 22, 2019, Officer Charles Starks, who’s white, fatally shot 30-year-old Bradley Blackshire, who was black, during a confrontation in Little Rock. Police said Starks was responding to a call after a detective confirmed the car Blackshire was driving was stolen. Starks was fired for violating protocols but has been reinstated after he appealed.

Finks, 50, testified before the city’s Civil Service Commission last year that that he believes the internal investigation into the shooting was incomplete and “rushed” at “inappropriate” speed because Scott’s pressure.

In the lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, Finks accuses Humphrey of intentionally attempting to make him look bad because of the way police handled a protest by Blackshire supporters, which resulted in 10 arrests and misdemeanor charges that were later dropped.

“Finks told nothing but the truth regarding the investigation into Officer Starks’ shooting of Blackshire,” the lawsuit says. “This testimony contradicted Chief Humphrey and cast his leadership in a bad light.”

Finks says in the lawsuit that he believes Scott isn’t aware of Humphrey’s alleged conduct toward Finks.

In a statement released Wednesday, City Attorney Tom Carpenter said the city is aware of the lawsuit, but that Humphrey and the city didn’t receive it. Neither commented on the lawsuit.

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