A Tennessee YouTuber says police raided his home several years ago after he publicly criticized an officer. He is suing the police department, alleging the incident violated his First Amendment rights.
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The Man Says the Police "Tried to Intimidate" Him
As reported by the New York Post, Joshua Gibbons filmed a Kingsport Police Department SUV speeding down the road at night without lights or sirens. He then followed the vehicle and confronted the officer at a restaurant drive-thru with a camera.
The officer ignored Gibbons, according to Adam Steinbaugh, a senior attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Gibbons later published another video of an officer on YouTube. This one showed a cop flipping him the bird. After another citizen complained about the officer's conduct, FIRE alleged that the department searched Gibbons' YouTube channel for something to use against him.
The department found the video of the speeding officer. And instead of disciplining the officer, it dispatched a team to arrest Gibbons just nine days after he confronted the speeding officer.
The arrest warrant, obtained by a court clerk instead of a judge, charged Gibbons with speeding, using a cell phone while driving, and disorderly conduct. Footage shows eight officers raiding Gibbons' home and arresting him in front of his mother and daughter.
Gibbons Went Through Two Court Trials
Over four years, Gibbons went through two court trials. In the first, a judge acquitted him of the speeding and cell phone charges. However, the judge said he was "offended" by the way Gibbons spoke to the officer and found him guilty of disorderly conduct.
Then, in June, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee overturned that verdict, finding no evidence that Gibbons' actions "prevented any person from doing any lawful activity."
FIRE filed a suit against Kingsport and its police department on Gibbons' behalf in 2023. It alleges the department violated his First Amendment right to free expression.
"They tried to intimidate me, but I'm not backing down," Gibbons said in a statement. "I can't let this injustice stand, because my family doesn't feel safe anymore. There's no coming back from that raid on our home. They sent eight heavily armed officers to arrest me because I embarrassed them."
