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Man who flipped off cop speaks about incident

Posted at 10:24 PM, Jan 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-20 09:07:22-05
UPDATE: The man who flipped off a police officer and then cited for using an improper hand signal spoke to Action News Tuesday.
 
Kris Luce tells Action News he's still fired up over the incident that happened almost two months ago.
 
Luce made it clear he has no regrets for flipping off the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer. He said he would even flip off another officer if he felt it was necessary. He stands by his opinion that he was just exercising his First Amendment right.
 
"I was mad," he said. "I was angry that he almost caused an accident and I made sure that he saw it for sure. It's an abuse of power I feel. He didn't pull me over because I did something wrong. He pulled me over because I flipped him off and he couldn't handle that."
 
Sgt. Jeff Clark tells Action News, his officer would not pull over Luce without a valid reason.
 
"Per Fourth Amendment for Search and Seizure, we can't just stop somebody because they angered us," said  Clark.
 
Luce and his attorney hope the judge will dismiss his case.
 
"If the officer was wrong or the court doesn't see it his way, then so what," said Clark. "Then they issue a 'not guilty' and it's done."
 
ORIGINAL STORY:
 
A man says Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officers nearly caused him to wreck, resulting in him giving the cops the middle finger. Now, Kris Luce is cited with improper use of a hand signal. 
 
Luce recorded the entire interaction with the cop, following the incident, on camera.
 
The video starts off with the unnamed Las Vegas police officer saying, "All right sir, under citation, you have two violations. The first one is signal by hand or arm. Second one is for owner/operator without insurance....your expired insurance card."
 
Luce then says, "What is the charge? For flipping you off or giving you the middle finger like this?"
 
The officer replies, "I don't know why you would want to do that."
 
Luce says, "Cause you jumped in front of me, you slammed on both your brakes. Your two bikers. You slammed on your brakes. Both you and your partner split me one side and the other. In heavy traffic, you slammed on your brakes. I almost ran into you and then I flipped you off and you're pulling me over for that!"
 
Luce proceeds to tell the officer he has no right to pull him over for exercising the freedom of speech. He yells explicit language at the cop.
 
The cop and Luce spend another minute or so arguing about whether Luce gestured his middle finger inside the truck or outside the truck. The officer insists he gestured outside the truck, hence citing him for an improper hand signal.
 
We were unable to reach out to Las Vegas Metro Police Department for comment Monday due to the holiday.
 
Luce and his attorney have agreed to an on-camera interview on Tuesday.
 
Channel 13 Action News Crime and Safety Expert Randy Sutton weighed in on the incident. Sutton is retired from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. He says the judge will most likely dismiss the case.
 
Below, you can watch the full video. Warning: The video has explicit language.