The report ran more than two hundred pages.
Five allegations against Rourke were sustained.
Improper escalation.
Unreasonable physical control during a low-level investigative encounter.
Failure to activate body camera in accordance with policy.
Inaccurate statements describing Adrian’s actions before physical contact.
Biased enforcement inconsistent with transit-police policy.
The fifth finding generated the most debate.
Investigators did not conclude Rourke approached Adrian solely because he was Black.
They found race improperly influenced how quickly he interpreted ambiguity as criminality, discounted Adrian’s explanations, and escalated compared with his documented treatment of similarly situated white passengers.
Rourke appealed every finding.
His attorney called the report politically motivated.
He argued investigators began with a nationally embarrassing video and worked backward toward a discrimination conclusion.
That criticism was serious enough that Brighton hired an outside hearing officer with no connection to the transit authority.
The appeal hearing lasted four days.
Rourke testified first.
He remained convinced his initial suspicion was reasonable.
Adrian agreed with part of that when called as a witness.
The hearing officer looked surprised.
“You believe Officer Rourke was justified in approaching you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was conducting surveillance.”
Adrian smiled slightly.
“Surveillance can look suspicious.”
Rourke’s attorney looked pleased.
Then Adrian continued.
“Approaching me wasn’t the problem.”
The room quieted.
“What was?”
“Everything he stopped verifying after he decided what I was.”
The attorney cross-examined aggressively.
“Agent Mercer, you refused to open the newspaper.”
“Yes.”
“You refused to explain your relationship with the other passenger.”
“Yes.”
“You did not immediately identify yourself as FBI.”
“Correct.”
“Those facts increased Officer Rourke’s suspicion.”
“They reasonably increased questions.”
Adrian looked at him.
“They did not answer those questions.”
The distinction became central.
Suspicion justified investigation.
It did not justify assuming the investigation’s conclusion.
The hearing officer watched comparator videos.
A white man had once been seen entering a staff-only corridor while carrying a large backpack.
Rourke approached him.
“Hey, sir, you with maintenance?”
The man said yes.
Rourke asked for his contractor badge.
The man retrieved it from inside a jacket.
Rourke waited.
Verified the badge.
Then joked about the confusing station layout.
Total contact: forty-three seconds.