Sparks police officer sues city for $1 million after suspension for social media threats

Sparks police officer sues city for $1 million after suspension for social media threats (msn.com)

Sparks police officer George Forbush is suing the city of Sparks and three individual city staff members for $1 million in alleged damages related to being placed on administrative leave and suspended without pay last year.

Forbush was placed on administrative leave by the city on Aug. 18, 2020 for social media posts threatening members of the Black Lives Matter movement. His lawsuit argues the disciplinary action violated his First Amendment rights.

When, where and why did this misconception about the 1st Amendment begin? The Constitution does not protect police officers from getting suspended. Period.

There is a growing belief that the 1st Amendment protects us from any and all repercussions resulting from our speech. It's sure to fail in court.

Here's some of what he said:

Under the Twitter handle "@Punisher8205," Forbush tweeted, "...I'm going to build a couple AR pistols just for BLM, Antifa, or active shooters who cross my path and can’t maintain social distancing."

In one post, Forbush wrote, "I would be a helper and throw a lot of gasoline in their direction as they held their lighters and they say oops as I walked away,” after seeing a post of individuals trying to set fire to an American flag, according to the lawsuit.

Standards of behavior extend beyond working hours. Sparks PD was proper in its suspension, which was light to begin with.

The 1st Amendment is under attack, but not by the left.

 

Has anyone noticed the people that keep screaming the constitution protects them or that they are fighting for the constitution have either not read it or are too ignorant to understand it...

Strange times we live in

 

You can't yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Etc...

The 1st Amendnent is not absolute.

 

Well....he works for the govt so it’s the govt who is punishing him for speech....he might have an argument here. Except it’s already been argued so he doesn’t lol

The Supreme Court held “that when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.”

 

Where's the confusion? Idiots are gonna idiot.

 

That doesn't seem to apply to colleges and schools.

 

What do you mean? I would think it would make a difference if it's a private or public educational system.

 

Examples please

 

Ward Churchill

 

You’ll have to be more specific. He got fired.

 

He was fired for plagiarism, not his insensitive comments.

 

he was fired for “research misconduct”.
He sued and won. Then lost when CU appealed and lost at the CO SC. The SCOTUS declined to hear the case meaning he lost his job and got no money.

 

How does that apply to this case?

 

I'm not familiar with that ruling, but Forbush's threats were made off duty, as a private citizen. I'm not sure what the constitutional law says in these cases.

It would seem apparent that the city acted within the law, and according to its contract with the union. He served his suspension, so obviously the union didn't save him. I just don't see a free speech issue here. Forbush can scream idle threats to BLM anytime he wants, just not anywhere he wants, and not as a Sparks police officer (or many other jobs I'm sure.)

 

Forbush made threats, not insensitive comments.

The problem so-called conservatives are having isn't censorship of speech. It's censorship of speech that promotes violence. Really simple. Forbush can express his opposition to BLM without threatening to pour gasoline on them and watch them burn.

 

The city has been silent about its investigation since last October.

Sparks officials mum on probe into accusations against police officer (rgj.com)

The department's code of conduct prohibits staff from acting in a way that brings the department into "disrepute" or engaging in conduct unbecoming on- or off-duty.

Forbush, whose salary was listed as more than $100,000 in 2019, made more than $177,000 including overtime and other pay the same year, according to Transparent Nevada. Forbush could not be reached for comment.

Not bad. No wonder he's pissed about four days.

One of the public complainants is spot on:

Meghan Simons is one of a handful of people who filed a complaint against Forbush in August, and she hasn't heard back from the Sparks Police Department or city officials since.

"I wanted him to be held accountable for (what he said)," said Simons. "If you or I ever made statements like that in my or your capacity, we would be fired, and we would expect to be fired."

Simons made the complaint after stumbling upon Forbush's remarks when information about her was posted on an anonymous Twitter account that was sharing photos and personal information about protesters in Reno. The account appears to have been deleted since Simons wrote an opinion piece on the matter for This is Reno.

"He’s in a position where he can exact lethal violence. He’s in a position where he could kill someone for not listening to him, or for disagreeing with him or disobeying him," said Simons.

"When he’s out there publicly saying that he wants to cause public harm, and he’s congratulating others for doing so, that is absolutely a matter of public safety," said Simons. "Cleared or not, put it out there. The police always tell us if you’re not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to be afraid of. Well, if they’re not doing anything wrong then they have no reason to be afraid of the public."

 

what an idiot, no one should be a cop that posts that stuff online

"Under the Twitter handle "@Punisher8205," Forbush tweeted, "...I'm going to build a couple AR pistols just for BLM, Antifa, or active shooters who cross my path and can’t maintain social distancing." "

 

After a photo circulated of a Portland protester who was shot in the forehead with a projectile while protesting with the "Wall of Moms," the Twitter account under Forbush's name wrote, "Cheers to the marksman who turned her into a cyclops."

 

sad and pathetic, this is exactly the type of people that should nto be cops

 

It wasn’t the constitution that prevented it

 

I think he has a decent case. The consequences that people experience from free speech can't come from government. The first amendment says so. The question is whether or not his words were the only reason he was fired. If they were then his firing was unconstitutional. If he was fired because what he said was something that reflected badly on his police department then that could have been actionable. Did the people reading his post know he was a member of that police department? Was there an employment agreement that he would be held responsible for stupid things he might say on his own time? It isn't a clear situation based on what I read here.

On the plus side, the department was able to get rid of a foolish idiot that didn't have the sense to stay off of Facebook. I rather hope they get away with the firing.

The first amendment is under attack by those with political power on both sides of the fence with lots of attacks coming from the left.

 

Simply not true when the government is your employer, as anyone that has ever been in the military knows.

 

The first amendment covers everybody. The government often ignores it. It often ignores the law in general. That ignorance is much of the reason that our federal government is as corrupt as it is. I was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967.

 

He was suspended for four days without pay, not fired. This happened last summer so he's been preparing the law suit for awhile.

I agree the articles are short on detail, but the city hasn't released the report, so we don't know much. I don't see it as a 1st Amendment issue. Police departments have policies like any private company. That they are public entities should not be a factor.

 

Yes it does.

It is not ignored, it is waived when you sign your contract. you agree to follow certain rules which includes limits on what you can say. If you break that agreement you get punished.

It is not complicated.