A Vermont man has filed a lawsuit alleging his First Amendment rights were violated during a traffic stop five years ago.
Gregory Bombard was driving through his hometown of St. Albans on February 9, 2018, when he was arrested by Vermont State Trooper Jay Riggen for allegedly shooting him.
At first, Bombard denied shoving the officer, and to his credit, the officer believed him and let him go. But as he drove, Bombard pulled him back and called him loud as a hole.
Riggen did not take kindly to it.
Watch what happened below:
“An angry Riggen responded by immediately arresting Bombard a second time and arresting him for 'disorderly conduct.'” Bombard was handcuffed, searched, thrown into the back of a police car, imprisoned in a cell in the 'station and forced to be fingerprinted and photographed, which were then distributed to the Vermont media,” according to a press release from the Foundation. for Individual and Expression Rights (FIRE).
“As a final indignity, Riggen told Bombard that his car would be towed because Bombard had stopped in a no-parking zone, even though he did so because the policeman had ordered him to stop there,” continues the press release
At one point in the altercation, Bombard threatened to press charges against Riggen.
“If someone has caught you, what's the citation? What's the crime? That would be considered free speech, so I'm going to press charges against you,” he said.
He definitely meant it, because he is now represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Vermont and FIRE.
LAW: A Vermont man was questioned, arrested and cited by a state trooper.
The alleged crime?
Cursing a cop and giving him the middle finger.
Now FIRE is asking the VT Superior Court to find that Greg Bombard's First Amendment rights were violated. pic.twitter.com/HYZ5SjbW8Z
— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) December 18, 2023
“According to his lawsuit, the local prosecutor twice tried to charge him with disorderly conduct, both times were dismissed, and the case dragged on for nearly a year. Bombard's car was towed because it was pulled over in a no-parking zone and his photograph was distributed by the state police.” reason journal notes.
The lawsuit was originally filed by the ACLU, but FIRE recently joined Bombard's legal team and are now asking the Vermont Superior Court to “recognize [that his] First Amendment rights were violated.”
“Police video of the illegal stop shows that Vermont State Trooper Jay Riggen abused his power in retaliation against Bombard for throwing the bird at him,” FIRE's press release says. “The First Amendment protects the right to engage in rude or offensive speech, including the middle finger, especially when directed at government authorities.”
In a statement of his own, Bombard said: “I respect the police and other first responders. But I respect officers who first respect the Constitution. Those who betray their oath must be held accountable.”
“Police are charged with protecting the public, not their own bruised egos,” added FIRE Senior Counsel Jay Diaz. “From the footage, it's obvious the officer wasn't concerned for Greg's safety. He just wanted to punish him for talking.”
Diaz even defended Bombard's decision to eliminate Riggen after he was first released.
“Bombard is not an activist and he doesn't go around running around with the police. He just reacted to being arrested for no reason,” the lawyer said.
BREAKING NEWS: Vermont resident Gregory Bombard filed a lawsuit this week challenging a February 2018 retaliatory arrest by a Vermont State Police trooper. #vtpoli
https://t.co/0epA8m0ZrV pic.twitter.com/M9Tjg53OnK— ACLU of Vermont (@ACLUVermont) February 4, 2021
The good news for Bombard is that the courts have a history of moving forward with cases like his.
“The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in 2013 in favor of a New York man who sued after he was arrested for disorderly conduct for running over a police officer. The court held that “the old insulting gesture is not the basis for a reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or imminent criminal activity,” notes Reason magazine.
“Other circuits have reached similar conclusions. In 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit denied qualified immunity to a Minnesota police officer who stopped and arrested a man for to have rejected her,” according to Reason.
Also, in 1997, the 6th Circuit upheld the right to yell “fk you” and knock a police officer out of a moving vehicle. This decision was reportedly based on a 1972 Supreme Court decision Cohen v. California in which the high court upheld a man's right to enter a court wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “fk the draft”.
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