Fired Pickens officer to talk about Swinney ticket

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — A Pickens police officer fired for posting his version of events around the speeding ticket he issued to Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney is speaking out.

Michael McClatchy has scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Thursday at his lawyer’s office in Anderson.

McClatchy clocked Swinney driving 63 mph in a 35 mph zone Sept. 3 and wrote him a ticket while the coach waited in a grocery store parking lot to do his radio show.

Pickens Police Chief Rodney Gregory has said that McClatchy behaved properly in giving Swinney a ticket, but was fired because he used a police department computer to post his version of events on a message board for South Carolina fans.

McClatchy’s lawyer is University of South Carolina trustee Chuck Allen.