An Arizona mom is suing the city of Surprise following her arrest at a City Council meeting lastt month.
The complaint filed against the city Tuesday claims her First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated.
Rebekah Massie frequently attends City Council meetings and was at the Aug. 20 meeting to voice her disagreement with a proposal to increase the city attorney’s salary.
About two hours into the meeting, Mayor Skip Hall accused Massie of violating rules for public comment while she was speaking.
“Do you want to be escorted out of here?” Hall can be heard repeating in a recording of the meeting, adding at one point, “Then you need to stop talking.”
“You’re violating my First Amendment rights,” Massie repeated in response.
“She wasn’t over time, she wasn’t shouting, she wasn’t causing a scene,” said Attorney Conor Fitzpatrick. “She was simply there voicing her opinion. And had the mayor let Miss Massie finish her remarks and conclude, none of this would have happened.”
The lawsuit she filed against the city Tuesday said that Massie has frequently criticized Hall and the city government in the past.
“Out of nowhere she’s detained,” said Fitzpatrick, “placed in handcuffs and then detained for two hours, away from her 10-year-old daughter — who she has no idea where she is when she is being detained — all for exercising her First Amendment right.”
Fitzpatrick said the lawsuit means to discourage elected officials from policing public comment.
“It’s how we make sure our leaders are listening to our voices and our opinions,” he said. “For an elected official to so blatantly disregard these really core First Amendment values, really came out of nowhere, and it’s unacceptable.”
