Indianapolis Police Officer Suing NFL For Defamation Over Social Justice Campaign

The NFL has been pushing the "Inspire Change" campaign for some time now, which is supposed to highlight the stories of people who have been shot and killed by police across the country. That campaign includes Dreasjon Reed, who was shot by Indianapolis police officer De'Joure Mercer last year.

Now Mercer is hitting the NFL with a defamation lawsuit, saying the "Say Their Stories" video from the league has caused him to suffer "tortious injury" in the city of Indianapolis. Here is a snippet from that lawsuit:

The lawsuit argues that the state's police investigation into the matter proved Mercer acted within IMPD's use of force policies. Back in November of 2020, a grand jury ruled there wasn't sufficient evidence to indict Mercer, and that he did not violate state law in his handling of the incident.

The NFL should have probably seen this sort of action coming after the series of online posts and videos -- and who knows, maybe they did. But it shouldn't be surprising to see the police officers involved with these shootings fighting back, especially if they feel their livelihoods are being affected after being cleared of wrongdoing.

Mercer's lawyer is calling him a hero for taking action against the NFL.

"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," Relford said in the statement, via Fox News. "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.

"While we support NFL Enterprises’ efforts to address social justice issues, Officer Mercer is taking a stand for the many, many good cops on duty across America. He is standing up for his friends and colleagues and sending a message that before you accuse a decorated police officer of misconduct in a national campaign, you had better get your facts straight."

Get your popcorn ready. This might just be the beginning.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.