Judge Throws Out Charges Against Arizona Mom Arrested for Criticizing Officials at a City Council Meeting

From “Reason Magazine“:

A judge on Wednesday threw out a criminal charge against an Arizona mother who was arrested at a city council meeting for criticizing a public official, calling her arrest “objectively outrageous.”

Maricopa County Judge Gerald Williams dismissed with prejudice the trespassing charge against Rebekah Massie. On August 20, the mayor of Surprise, Arizona, ordered a police officer to arrest Massie during the public comment section of a city council meeting after Massie criticized a proposed pay raise for the city attorney. The mayor claimed she was violating a rule prohibiting complaints against city officials during public comment, and when she refused to stop speaking, he had her forcibly removed and arrested.

“No branch of any federal, state, or local government in this country should ever attempt to control the content of political speech,” Williams wrote in his dismissal order. “In this case, the government did so in a manner that was objectively outrageous.”

At the micro level, I wish the judge had opened a door toward a civil suit on the basis that the mayor had violated the woman’s civil rights.  I would love to see some compensatory and punitive damages here.

At the macro level, it will be interesting to see where legal matters like these go over the next four years.  I’m worried that another Trump administration will not look kindly on the free speech of individuals who are critical of the incoming president.

As I wrote in my recent post, Is America “Back?”, we’re soon to have an FBI director (pictured above) who has sworn to exact revenge against Trump’s enemies.  That doesn’t sound like the America we grew up in.