A Vermont man was awarded a $175,000 settlement after he was arrested for giving a cop the middle finger.
The ACLU and the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed the lawsuit against the Vermont State Police, claiming Gregory Bombard’s First Amendment rights were breached in 2018, when State Trooper Jay Riggen pulled him over for an “unnecessary traffic stop and retaliatory arrest,” per a statement from the ACLU.
“Police need to respect everyone’s First Amendment rights—even for things they consider offensive or insulting,” Hillary Rich, staff attorney with the ACLU of Vermont, said in the release.
The lawsuit also alleged that Bombard’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure were violated.
According to NBC News, dash cam footage from the incident showed Riggen telling Bombard, “It looked like you looked right at me, and it looked like you stuck your middle finger up in my face.”
Bombard responded, “If someone flipped you off, what is the citation? What’s the crime?” Riggen said that he thought Bombard used the gesture to draw attention to himself.
When Bombard denied that he had shown the officer the middle finger, the pair argued, Bombard cursed, and then ended up flipping off Riggen. The interaction led to Bombard’s arrest for disorderly conduct. The defendants have maintained their innocence.
Bombard will receive $100,000, with the rest of the money going to attorney’s fees. He issued a statement, sharing that he’s happy with the case’s conclusion.
“With this settlement, I hope the Vermont State Police will train its troopers to avoid silencing criticism or making baseless car stops,” Bombard said. “And at least now I can pay my criminal attorney for defending me from the bogus charges and take my 88-year-old mother out for a nice dinner.”
