Jeremiah Payne posted a new video to his YouTube channel claiming that “A lawsuit has been filed waiting on a court date update will come as they are available,” from an incident that apparently happened last year outside of a McDonalds in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Payne, wife Samantha, and their then 5-year-old daughter were protesting on the sidewalk near a busy intersection in Clarksville when they were approached by a Clarksville police officer. The officer said he was following up on a welfare check request on Payne’s daughter as a motorist saw her running in the grass without her parents around.
The officer asked the trio to move off the sidewalk as staying stationary on the sidewalk was a code violation as it was considered blocking the sidewalk. Samantha Payne initially agreed to move their wagon and belongings off the sidewalk and onto the grass, explaining that she thought they would have gotten in trouble from McDonalds for sitting in the grass.
As Samantha was complying, the officer said he was just warning them and wasn’t going to issue a citation for blocking the sidewalk. Jeremiah mumbled under his breath that it was a double sidewalk, and no one had any problems getting around them. The officer questioned what Jeremiah said, Jeremiah repeated it loudly and the officer asked for Payne to identify himself.
The usual situation with Payne then played out, with the officer and Payne exchanging words, Payne refusing to show ID, Payne threatening that the video is about to “go viral,” the officer explaining that if he needs to arrest Payne, he’ll also have to call Child Protection Services, and Payne demanding a Sergeant on scene.
New to the script was the officer, now backed by several more officers, including one who used his PA system to say, “be sure to like, share and subscribe” as he apparently recognized Payne, claiming that Payne didn’t have the first amendment right to ask for a Sergeant… as his Sergeant appeared on scene.
Dismissing his officers, the Sergeant politely talked through the situation with Paynes and said he was not going to issue Payne a citation for what happened. Payne clearly embellished his side of the story as the Sergeant took his information for the complaint Payne was attempting to file and the situation ended with the two men shaking hands and briefly discussing Clarksville’s pending Riverfest event.
As the Riverfest event was retired in 2023 and is no longer being held, along with Payne referring to his daughter as “5-years-old,” the video is clearly from 2023.
Payne did not indicate where the lawsuit has been filed, what he is suing for, or what outcome he is seeking as of press time.
