HEWITT, Texas – A Texas motorcyclist arrested with 176 others after a melee at a restaurant that left nine dead says a federal civil rights lawsuit he filed is about seeking justice for what he considers his unlawful arrest.
Matthew Alan Clendennen said Monday that the suit adds possibly unwise publicity to pending charges against him of engaging in organized criminal activity, but there "needs to be accountability."
The 30-year-old former firefighter says his image has been "dragged through the mud," jeopardizing his landscape lighting business.
He says he took cover in a hallway inside Twin Peaks, the Waco restaurant where the motorcyclist meeting was to take place, and had nothing to do with the violence that ensued.
Clendennen was released from jail after his bond was reduced from $1 million to $100,000.
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