Dabo Swinney ticket led to firing, says police officer

Officer Michael McClatchy pulled over Swinney on Sept. 3 for for going 63 mph in a 35 mph zone in Pickens, SC, located 20 miles from Clemson. As you can see in this traffic video that Jason Kirk posted last week, Swinney was cordial with numerous Clemson fans who swamped the parking lot asking for his autograph during the ten minute traffic stop.

A spokesman for the city of Pickens said that McClatchy was fired for spending an hour and a half posting on a University of South Carolina message board on a police department computer while on duty. However, McClatchy’s lawer and South Carolina trustee Chuck Allen said that there are no city policies that regulates the use of the Internet for active-duty police officers.

McClatchy himself believes that he was wrongfully terminated because he didn’t let one of the biggest names in the area walk away without a ticket, saying in a statement,

“I was wrongfully terminated for doing my job. The computer issue is a red herring,”

Swinney’s ticket was eventually reduced to only a two-point violation and an $82.50 fine on his license instead of the six-point violation and $185 fine violation McClatchy originally cited.

Allen said that he is trying to get McClatchy back on the force with every legal avenue given to him, but he isn’t ready to sue the city.