A Rhode Island councilman who is also the chairman of his county’s Republican Party found himself in an awkward position this week when cops pulled up to his parked vehicle, where they found him passed out and in possession of a crack pipe.
The man, Matthew Reilly, 41, was arrested on Monday by officers who were tipped off by a concerned citizen who witnessed Reilly “choking” as he either slept soundly or passed out inside his vehicle. As they went to see him, they found the Cranston Councilman in a rather compromising position, waking him up so they could examine the vehicle and figure out what was going on.
In the video below you can see when the officer reviews Reilly’s identification and the reaction he had when he realized who, in fact, he had found passed out with a crack pipe in the middle of the day.
Dude, where’s my crack pipe?
“No way, man, really?” blurted out the officer realizing he was arresting a serving city councilman. For crack.
Reilly from there tried to convince the officer to let him go by pleading that he suffered from sleep apnea, which would explain the passerby describing what he considered “stuffy.” But the officer realized what he was trying to do, warned Reilly that he was being caught on body camera and that the crack pipe in the video gave him probable cause to search Reilly’s vehicle and people.
From there, Reilly folded and admitted the truth — that he relapsed and was dealing with a recent divorce.
Investigators searched his vehicle and found a substance that tested positive for crack. Reilly was arrested once the on-site test came back positive.
Reilly, while charged with possession of crack cocaine, could be heard in the video stating that once this news broke it would become a media frenzy. Well he’s right that’s why you shouldn’t do crack, especially if you’re an elected official, and even more so if you’re a Republican because only Democrats can get away with doing crack, seems he.
#SHOW: ‘Mad…’
Cranston Councilman Matthew Reilly’s mother was left speechless over her son’s drug possession accusation.
Reilly was found unconscious with a pipe, crack and fentanyl in his car by police on Monday. @ABC6 pic.twitter.com/eKXvLsXVjB
— Daniel Coates (@danielcoates_6) May 16, 2023
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He’s a Crackhead, but he’s Our Crackhead
Doing crack is wrong, okay? However, being caught with crack once does not necessarily mean that your life is over.
Since his arrest this week, Reilly has resigned as Cranston’s Republican Party chairman and now faces a judge on June 15. Since he’s on camera to admit it, he’ll likely face jail time for possession. of drugs.
Does this incident mark the end of his political career? Well, only if he remains a Republican. Democrats are used to putting party loyalty beyond crack addiction, and this could be the opportunity of a lifetime if he plays his cards right, starting now.
Andrew Gillum, former mayor of Tallahassee and candidate for Democratic governor of Florida in 2018, was caught naked in 2020 with a prostitute while he was using methamphetamine and the prostitute was suffering from a drug-induced heart attack. The media tried to make it appear that the Democrats wanted to make this man their 2020 presidential candidate, claiming that he had brought “Obama” levels of excitement. They might still try to do it someday if he’s not in jail for the 17 felonies he was recently charged.
Democratic political donor Ed Buck was everyone’s friend until 2021, when he was found guilty to attract homosexuals to his home, where he would then inject them with methamphetamine and have sex with them. Obviously a character flaw on Ed’s part, but Democrats will certainly forgive and forget if he steps out when they need him to write a campaign check.
Finally, if Reilly needs a Rocky Balboa throwback story, all he has to do is remember DC’s former political giant, Marion Barry, who while mayor of Washington DC, was arrested by the FBI for buying crack cocaine, served a few years in prison, started a comeback race to get on city council, and if that wasn’t enough, ran for mayor again and won with the slogan “He n may not be perfect, but he’s perfect for DC”
Maybe if Reilly plays his cards right, he can rise through the ranks of the Democrats and go sit on the board of directors of a Ukrainian oil company and party in China with Hunter Biden. Time will tell us.
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