A man named Nicholas R. Mercier recently took to Facebook to leave a thoughtful, intellectual, Pulitzer-worthy comment that simply read: “Kevin Mathewson sucks.”

And honestly? He’s probably right — at least from his perspective.

If I spent years getting arrested, accused of beating women, driving drunk, violating bond conditions, stealing alcohol, and allegedly dragging a woman out of a moving Jeep hard enough to split her head open and require staples, I probably wouldn’t like the guy writing about me either.

That’s kind of how journalism works.

There’s a vocal minority in Kenosha that absolutely hates me and Kenosha County Eye. I know that. I accept that. Most normal people understand that when you expose criminals, domestic abusers, drunk drivers, and repeat offenders, those people are probably not going to become paying subscribers or send you Christmas cards.

But what I don’t want is for the public to think these people dislike me because I’m dishonest, unfair, or somehow picking on innocent citizens. In many cases, the loudest critics are people I’ve written about because of their own alleged behavior and criminal conduct.

Nicholas Mercier appears to fit squarely into that category.

According to court records and criminal complaints spanning years, Mercier has racked up a long history of arrests and criminal allegations, including domestic violence, felony bail jumping, drunk driving, operating after revocation, reckless endangerment, and theft-related offenses.

And before anybody starts screaming, “Were all of these convictions?” — I don’t have the time or desire to spend my life auditing every plea bargain, amendment, dismissal, or negotiated resolution this guy ever had. These are the allegations and charges that were formally filed against him in Kenosha County courts over the years. What I do know for certain is that Mercier is a convicted felon and was convicted in at least one felony domestic violence-related case involving substantial battery against a partner.

One of the more disturbing complaints involved Mercier’s partner. Prosecutors alleged Mercier became enraged during an argument, put the woman in a choke hold, threw her into a wall, fractured her elbow, bruised her nose, and allegedly confined her in a laundry room while she cried and begged for help. Officers reportedly found her bruised, crying, and “timid,” while she allegedly told police, “he put me in here and didn’t let me leave.”

That case resulted in a felony substantial battery charge as a repeater domestic abuse offender.

But that wasn’t the only violent allegation involving women.

In another criminal complaint from 2014, Mercier was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety after police alleged he accelerated his yellow Jeep while a partner was still climbing into the vehicle. According to the complaint, the woman fell backward onto the pavement, struck her head hard enough to require five staples, and allegedly had the Jeep’s tire run over part of her leg. Witnesses reportedly saw a “small blonde girl forcefully fall to the ground” as the Jeep sped away.

Police said the woman was left bleeding heavily in the street while Mercier allegedly drove off.

Again, if a journalist publishes allegations like that about you, you’re probably not going to be thrilled.

Court records also show Mercier later picked up felony bail jumping cases after allegedly violating bond conditions that prohibited him from drinking alcohol. In one case, deputies allegedly found him inside Somers House Tavern drinking beer while out on bond in the reckless endangerment case. Officers reported Mercier admitted he knew he was not supposed to be consuming alcohol.

Weeks later, he was charged again after police stopped him driving a yellow Jeep while allegedly intoxicated. Officers reported Mercier crossed the center line, smelled strongly of alcohol, nearly fell while exiting the vehicle, failed field sobriety tests, and desperately pleaded for leniency because he had “just paid a large amount of money to an attorney.”

Long before all of that, Mercier was already getting charged in theft cases. Back in 2006, police said he admitted going into Jewel-Osco with another man specifically intending to steal alcohol. According to the complaint, Mercier told investigators: “It was our intention to go there and steal some alcohol.”

There are also older driving-related cases involving operating after revocation tied to prior OWI-related revocations.

So yes, Nicholas Mercier thinks I suck.

A convicted felon and alleged repeat woman-beater thinks I suck.

I’m okay with that.

Many people in this community appreciate what Kenosha County Eye does. They appreciate transparency. They appreciate seeing criminal allegations, court proceedings, and public records brought into the light instead of quietly buried. They appreciate that somebody is willing to publish the ugly details that others often ignore.

But the criminals? The abusers? The drunk drivers? The repeat offenders? The people who get exposed?

Yeah, a lot of them probably hate me.

And that’s perfectly fine.

Because I’m still going to keep doing my job.