A Tennessee man described by his attorneys as mentally disabled spent nearly two weeks in jail for posting a fake photograph on social media two men urinating on the grave of a police officer killed while on duty in 2018. Now, he is suing the city and law enforcement officials involved in his arrest, saying they knew all along that crude, tasteless, or even offensive criticism of police is not a crime.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Joshua Garton in January posted a mosaic featuring the cover of “Pissing on Your Grave,” a 2009 album from the hardcore band The Rites. Crudely superimposing the fallen officer’s headshot on the desecrated gravestone, Garton posted his creation on Facebook with the caption, “Just showing my respect to Deputy Daniel Baker from the #dicksonpolicedepartment.”
A joint task force comprised of officers from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and Dickson Police Department launched an investigation into the meme, despite the underlying conduct being clearly protected by the First Amendment.
The newly assembled meme task force quickly fingered Garton, who was arrested on harassment charges and held in jail for ten days on $76,000 bond. During his preliminary hearing in February, Dickson County Judge Craig Monsue dismissed the case, noting that victims of harassment have to show there was a “threat of harm” which was absent in Garton’s case.
Garton, who was left homeless due to his allegedly unlawful incarceration, then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee claiming that multiple government officials conspired to violate his constitutional rights to retaliate against his protected speech.
I hope he wins big!
The first amendment explicitly covers free speech even as tasteless as this.