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An Arizona mother has sued the city of Surprise for violating her First Amendment rights during a city council meeting last month.

Rebekah Massie, 32, appeared at an Aug. 20th city council meeting to speak out against certain zoning changes and also criticize the city attorney’s salary. It was the latter complaint that got her into trouble.

Responding to the complaint, Surprise Mayor Skip Hall interrupted Massie and accused her of violating a council policy by “attacking the city attorney personally.”

“That’s all fine, well, and good, but that’s a violation of my First Amendment rights,” Massie fired back.

Listen:

Massie and Mayor Hall continued to argue, with Hall at one point telling her to “stop talking,” until the mayor ordered a police officer to escort her out of the meeting. When she refused to leave, the officer then arrested her on the spot in front of her daughter.

“Is that necessary?” she asked at the time. “In front of my 10-year-old daughter, you’re gonna escort me out for expressing my First Amendment rights?”

According to Massie’s attorney, Conor Fitzpatrick with the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), she was subsequently detained for two hours, given a “pretty invasive pat down,” fingerprinted, and charged with trespassing, all while being unaware of her daughter’s whereabouts.

“If she is convicted in court, Massie could face up to one month in jail and up to $500 in fines,” according to the Washington Post. “Her arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 25.”

Fast-forward to Tuesday, when Massie filed suit against the city, the mayor, and the arresting officer.

“[The] lawsuit aims to permanently stop enforcement of the city policy used to silence Rebekah and obtain damages,” according to a press release from FIRE.

“I wanted to teach my children the importance of standing up for their rights and doing what is right — now I’m teaching that lesson to the city,” Massie said in a statement.

“It’s important to fight back to show all of my children that the First Amendment is more powerful than the whims of any government official,” she added.

“No American should be told to ‘stop talking’ or go to jail simply for speaking their minds at a city council meeting,” FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh said in a statement. “Public officials are elected to serve the people — not silence them.”

“If the First Amendment protects anything, it protects criticizing government officials,” Fitzpatrick added in his own statement. “Arresting government critics might be how the world’s repressive regimes operate, but it has no place in America.”

Massie’s lawsuit reportedly also names another local resident, Quintus Schulzke, who regularly speaks at Surprise’s council meetings.

“The rule here affects people beyond Rebekah — people like Quintus who usually participate, they saw what happened to Rebekah,” Fitzpatrick told Fox News. “They see this rule that is being enforced to cast a pall… It leads people to self-censor, to say, ‘I’m not going to a city council meeting, I could leave in handcuffs.’”

“We’re showing the entire community of Surprise that the First Amendment needs to prevail at the city council. A government cannot have a rule that says ‘In order to be heard, you must come to us with praise.’ That is not what the First Amendment is,” he added.

Knowing FIRE’s track record, Massie will likely win her suit.

“Earlier this year, the organization sued the mayor of Eastpointe, Mich., alleging that she violated four residents’ First Amendment rights by refusing to let them speak at a city council meeting,” the Post notes.

FIRE ultimately won with that suit, with Eastpointe eventually agreeing to nix the policy that had been used to prevent the four from speaking.

Vivek Saxena
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