City leaders in Cranston, Rhode Island are urging City Council member Matthew Reilly to resign after video footage of his arrest released by police, shows the disgraced politician in the middle of a crack and fentanyl when he was arrested. 

On Monday police found Matthew Reilly passed out in his car. The video shows officers attempting to wake Reilly, taking a few shakes to do so. 

Republican City Council member Matthew Reilly of Cranston, RI was arrested after he was found behind the wheel passed out holding a crack pipe with crack and fentanyl in the car. pic.twitter.com/8TK6YlZWso

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 18, 2023

Reilly eventually jars awake and an officer tells him, “You were literally choking in your sleep. Someone was flagging me down about it.”

“I have sleep apnea. I’m sorry,” Reilly said.

“Well, you have a crack pipe in your hands,” the officer said.

When Reilly asks if he is going to be arrested, the officer asks him if there are any drugs in the car, and Reill responds, “No, nothing.”

According to the police report, officers found crack laced with fentanyl. Later admitted he had purchased $100 worth of crack the previous day.

“It was a relapse. Just went through a really bad divorce recently.” Reilly told the officer. “I’ve been clean for 13 years. I just got back into this.”

Reilly was eventually arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine.

City leaders including Mayor Ken Hopkins are urging Reilly to resign from City Council. According to Hopkins, Reilly has already stepped down as chairman of the city’s Republican Party and is receiving treatment for his drug addictions. 

“I hope he is able to find a path to recovery and the help that he needs,” Hopkins told WPRI.

When the mayor was asked about Reilly’s potential resignation from the city council, he responded, 

“I feel that’s in the best interest of the city, his constituents, I also feel that personally, it’s in his best interest for him for his family’s privacy and for the constituents of Ward 6, Hopkins said.

City Council President Jessica Marino told the Boston Globe that she requested Reilly resign his position, “for his sake, for that of his family and for the city as a whole.”

“Anyone that is going through the situation, my thoughts of his overall well-being as a human is first and foremost, and that of his family,” Marino told the Globe. “Politics should not be a priority in the situation that he’s currently facing.”

Reilly is on his second term representing the residents of Ward 6.

“By relieving himself of his elective duties, Matt will have time to focus his attention on his personal well-being. It will allow him to focus on his family, away from the important responsibilities and spotlight of public office,” said Mayor Hopkins.

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