A $175,000 settlement has been reached in the lawsuit against a Vermont man who said he was arrested after giving a police officer the middle finger, the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday.
The civil rights group said a state police officer stopped Gregory Bombard and claimed he made the gesture, which Bombard denied. An argument ensued and Bombard then gave the officer the middle finger, leading to his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct, the ACLU said.
“Police must respect everyone’s First Amendment rights, even for things they find offensive or offensive,” Hillary Rich, staff attorney at the ACLU of Vermont, said in a statement.
The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Vermont and the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, against the officer and the state of Vermont.
The suspects have not admitted any guilt, according to the plea agreement.
Bombard will receive $100,000 and the remaining $75,000 will go toward attorneys’ fees, the ACLU said.
The lawsuit alleged violations of Bombard’s protections of free speech under the First Amendment and its protections against unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.
Dashcam video posted online by FIRE showed the officer telling Bombard during the traffic stop that as he drove by, “it looked like you were looking right at me, and it looked like you were sticking your middle finger in my face.”
Bombard denied it and said the officer seemed sensitive. “If someone rejected you, what’s the quote? What is the crime?” he said in the video.
The officer responded that he thought such a gesture meant someone was trying to get his attention, and that was unusual.
The officer says Bombard is free to go and walks back to his patrol vehicle. Bombard then drives away and the officer in his car is heard saying that Bombard used an offensive expression and “flipped the bird”, and that he was going to pull him over and arrest him for disorderly conduct.
A spokesperson for the Vermont State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
Bombard said in a statement released by the ACLU and FIRE that he was pleased with the outcome.
“With this settlement, I hope the Vermont State Police will train its troops to avoid stifling criticism or making unwarranted vehicle stops,” Bombard said. “And now at least I can pay my criminal defense attorney to defend against the false charges and take my 88-year-old mother out for a nice dinner.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
