Nevada Police Officer Suspended for Tweets Seeks $1M
A Sparks, Nev. police officer who is accusing the city of violating his free speech rights is seeking $1 million in damages after he was suspended for four days for making comments on his private social media account that the city says constituted threats to Black Lives Matters activists and others.
The City Council voted Monday to hire independent counsel to defend Sparks against the federal lawsuit filed last month by George Forbush, a bomb squad technician who has served 19 years on the force.
It alleges the city violated his First Amendment rights when it punished him “because of his particular viewpoint of his political opinions as expressed on his personal social media.”
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SPARKS, Nev. A veteran police officer in Sparks, Nevada who was disciplined last year for controversial social media posts has sued the city, claiming they violated his First Amendment rights. George Forbush was suspended for four days without pay by Sparks police after the city reviewed more than 700 Tweets from his account. The review was initiated due to an anonymous complaint about Forbush’s behavior online.
“I have 6 AR 15 rifles. I always thought having an AR 15 0r AK47 pistols was pointless because of lack of shouldering, but now 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,” Forbush reportedly wrote from his personal account in June 2020, according to News 4.
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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.
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.