Last year, a Black man was violently detained by a vengeful upstate New York police officer for honking his horn at him when the officer refused to move when the light changed to green. The individual was accused of resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, and unlawfully using a horn by Troy police officer Taylor Gamache. These retaliatory charges were ultimately dropped.
Matthew N. Edwards sued the patronizing police officer earlier this month, alleging that he had committed assault, battery, wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution, purposeful infliction of emotional distress, and many constitutional rights violations.
Gamache also impounded Edwards’ car for parking more than 12 inches from the curb in front of his house, according to the body camera footage from the arrest, which is included below.
When Edwards came up, he noticed that two garbage cans were obstructing his parking spot. To correctly park, he got out of his car and moved the cans to the side of his house. Gamache, however, refused to give him a chance and insisted on arresting him for daring to honk the horn at him while he was sitting at the signal, maybe texting, which is illegal in New York.
According to the lawsuit filed on July 3 by Troy-based attorney Arthur R. Frost:
As a result of Defendant Gamache’ actions as described above, Plaintiff sustained great bodily injury so that he became sick, sore, lame, wounded, disabled, disordered, embarrassed, emotionally distraught and disfigured and will so remain permanently; has been and will be prevented from attending to his usual duties; has suffered lost lifetime earnings; incurred expenses for, among other things, care and treatment; has and continues to suffer pain; that Plaintiff has been injured permanently externally, internally and otherwise, all to his damage.
Gamache was waiting for a red light to turn green at an intersection on July 19, 2024, when the incident occurred. On his way home from work, Edwards was in the car behind him. He honked his horn to let the police know that the light was green, which is a legal action.
Fyi, a stop and arrest In Troy NY is making the news. Officer Taylor Gamache stopped Matthew Edwards for honking his horn. Stop was probably bad, but citizens can’t just refuse if when stopped. Proper way is go through process and then file complaint. pic.twitter.com/nS1sEBLmco
— The Raven’s Call (@astheravencalls) July 30, 2025
However, Gamache supposedly circled the neighborhood to find Edwards already parked at home to exact revenge on him for honking his horn at him after turning left through the junction and observing that Edwards continued straight through it.
When Gamache pulled up in front of Edwards’ house, he stated, “This is harassment.” “Are you aware of what constitutes harassment?” The gaslighting police officer replied. “That isn’t harassment.” Edwards persisted in saying, “I did not commit a crime,” and he kept requesting that Gamache bring a supervisor to the scene, but the officer refused.
Rather, the officer summoned assistance, and a Rensselaer County sheriff’s deputy showed up to assist Gamache in apprehending Edwards. A Black lady who seemed to be Edwards’ companion was subsequently taken into custody for attempting to take things out of his car before it was removed.
According to the footage, Edwards was furious over the illegal arrest and told the officer that “You are working for me” because he was a taxpayer. “That isn’t how it operates,” Gamache said, reports Atlanta Balck Star.
Officer Taylor Gamche arresting citizen for being honked at‼️
Troy PD, NY pic.twitter.com/Uar9WlPOVw
— Nightcap Crimes (@NightcapCrimes) July 31, 2025
The city of Troy posted on Facebook that Gamache was employed in 2021 and gave a link to a video of the swearing-in event, in which he vowed to follow the Constitution. At the time, Troy’s mayor, William Patrick Madden, said, “You are not just beginning a new job, you are answering a calling, a calling to serve.” “You are going to join one of the best police departments today.”
But in the same year, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Troy Police Department for not disclosing its officers’ misbehavior records. “Troy residents have the right to know the substance and volume of complaints made against their officers, and the Troy Police Department cannot remain steadfast in ignoring requests for misconduct records made on behalf of the constituents they have sworn to protect and serve,” said Melanie Trimble, capital region chapter director at the NYCLU.
Officer Taylor Gamache is a cowardly bitch who violated his oath. That’s treason and should be treated as such.@TroyCityHall #BackTheBlue #UntilItHappensToYou
Driver Honks at Cop Car Idling at Green Light, Gets Arrested 5 Minutes L… https://t.co/LfHowGi2Io via @YouTube
— John (@GothamJohnDoe) July 30, 2025
“No police department can shirk its responsibility to be transparent any longer. We will fight resistance to accountability wherever we see it and continue working to end the secrecy shrouding evidence of police misconduct across New York state.” John H. Bryan, an attorney from West Virginia, runs a police accountability YouTube channel called The Civil Rights Lawyer, and he shared the footage and his analysis on his page.
“We all know that Matthew did not commit a honking crime,” he said in his YouTube video about the case. “Gamache knew that,” Bryan continued. “Matthew knew that. The witnesses knew that. The judge who dismissed the criminal charges knew that. And you damn sure know that the leadership at the Troy Police Department knows that. You know the mayor knows that.”
This incident was a sham, period. These officers were wasting their time feeding the ego of Gamache, while crimes were being committed elsewhere in the city. Gamache stated that the witness, the white woman in the vehicle behind Mr. Edwards ALSO blew her horn. IF the honking of the horn was the crime that caused him to initiate this supposed traffic stop, why was she not stopped and detained. And when Gamache drove around the block and FOUND Mr. Edwards, he was already outside of his car moving the trash cans, which means that he didn’t have the chance to properly park his vehicle. Also, most officers would have asked the girlfriend to park the car properly to avoid the need to tow it, but because he already had a lame excuse to detain this man, he was hoping to find something in his car to substantiate stopping Mr. Edwards. And as we know, having it towed gave him a lawful reason to search it. If this is what officers do all day, try to make up stuff to detain people, than there is little reason to question the rampant crime in any city. There aren’t enough police officers for them to perform like this when actual crimes are being committed. The first thing that an officer needs to learn and practice is to get over themselves and out of their own heads. If something this minute causes one of them to act like this and drag their colleagues down with them then they need psychiatric help.