Date of Offense
Official Statement
Arkansas State Police Trooper Christopher Weatherly should be reviewed for Brady/Giglio disclosure based on the May 24, 2026 incident in which he allegedly used his patrol vehicle to run over and kill goslings while responding to a roadway wildlife call near mile marker 15 on Highway/I-57 between Cabot and Jacksonville, Arkansas. Published reporting states that Weatherly was dispatched after geese and goslings were reported in the roadway, with barriers on both sides making removal more difficult. Civilian video reportedly showed the first gosling being struck, and FOIA-obtained Arkansas State Police dash-camera footage reportedly appears to show Weatherly later backing up and running over a second gosling after the civilian video ended.
This conduct presents a serious public-trust, judgment, temperament, and abuse-of-authority concern. The available video evidence raises a legitimate question whether Weatherly’s actions were accidental, tactically necessary, lawfully authorized, or instead reflected deliberate cruelty, reckless disregard, or an excessive and unnecessary use of state authority against vulnerable wildlife. Even accepting the Arkansas State Police explanation that motorists were slowing or stopping and that the trooper was attempting to protect traffic safety, the apparent use of a patrol vehicle to kill goslings remains highly relevant to assessing the officer’s discretion, restraint, proportionality, and fitness to exercise coercive governmental authority.
The credibility concern is heightened because the public explanation and the video evidence appear to create a material factual dispute. Arkansas State Police stated that the trooper made efforts to coax the geese from the roadway and that “two goslings perished,” while the dash-camera footage reportedly appears to show a second act in which Weatherly backed up and ran over another gosling. Any official report, testimony, internal explanation, or agency statement minimizing, omitting, or mischaracterizing the intentionality of that second act would be directly relevant impeachment material under Brady, Giglio, and their progeny.
The incident may also implicate state and federal wildlife-law concerns. Arkansas law provides that cruelty to animals includes knowingly subjecting an animal to cruel mistreatment, and each alleged act against more than one animal may constitute a separate offense. If the birds were Canada geese or otherwise protected migratory waterfowl, federal law is also relevant because the Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the unauthorized taking, including killing, of protected migratory bird species, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife materials identify Canada geese as federally protected migratory birds.
This complaint does not require a criminal conviction or formal disciplinary finding to create a Brady/Giglio concern. The issue is whether the conduct, video evidence, and any related official explanations bear on Weatherly’s credibility, candor, moral judgment, temperament, abuse of authority, and reliability as a government witness. Prosecutors relying on Weatherly’s reports, arrests, investigations, or testimony should disclose this incident to criminal defendants where his credibility, discretion, use of force, judgment, or truthfulness may be material. The Arkansas State Police and all prosecuting agencies using Weatherly as a witness should preserve the full unredacted dash-camera footage, CAD records, radio traffic, supervisor communications, Arkansas Game and Fish communications, internal memoranda, and any disciplinary or administrative review materials related to this incident.
Bottom line: Chris is an asshole!
