A federal judge has allowed key claims to proceed in the civil rights lawsuit filed by Rebekah Massie, a Surprise, Arizona, resident who was arrested after criticizing a city attorney’s salary during a city council meeting.
According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Judge Roslyn O. Silver of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona ruled this week that Massie’s First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Arizona Open Meeting Law claims will move forward into discovery. The lawsuit stems from an August 2024 city council meeting in Surprise, where Massie was removed, arrested, and charged with trespassing after criticizing the pay of a government attorney during public comment. She was later taken to a detention center.
LAWSUIT: With FIRE’s help, an Arizona mom is suing the City of Surprise, AZ., after the mayor ordered her arrest for questioning a pay raise for a city official.
In America, the last thing citizens should fear when they attend public meetings is leaving in handcuffs. pic.twitter.com/ox6EyEiVAW
FIRE said the city did not challenge Massie’s federal constitutional claims in its motion, allowing those claims to proceed. The judge also permitted Massie’s Open Meeting Law claim to move forward, noting that Arizona law places express limits on how government bodies may regulate public comment during meetings.
Several state law claims were dismissed, according to FIRE, after the court determined they were duplicative of the constitutional claims and barred under Arizona’s notice-of-claim statute.
FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh said the organization will continue pursuing the case.
“We’re going to continue to fight not only to vindicate Rebekah’s constitutional rights, but to ensure that all Arizonans are free to speak their minds. All of us have the right to criticize our government without being arrested.”
The ruling marks the latest development in a case that has already prompted changes from the City of Surprise.
In September 2024, the Surprise City Council voted to repeal its policy prohibiting criticism of public officials during meetings following public backlash and the filing of the lawsuit. The following month, a judge dismissed the criminal trespassing charge against Massie, calling the government’s suppression of her speech “objectively outrageous.”
According to FIRE, body-camera footage later released showed a Surprise police officer responding to Massie’s complaint that she had been thrown to the ground during her arrest by saying, “That’s what happens when you’re resisting arrest.”
The civil lawsuit against the City of Surprise and individual officials remains ongoing as the case enters the discovery phase.
According to the Mesa Police Department, a man has been taken into custody in connection with a suspected arson at a Mesa Tesla dealership earlier this week. On Monday, officers were summoned to the scene following reports of an explosion where they found a flaming Cybertruck. Mesa PD told reporters that “additional callers reported smoke and flames coming from an area near the building, which ultimately was found to be a brand-new Tesla Cybertruck.”
The Fire Department arrived soon after and found the fire was limited to the vehicle. “As crews began their attack on the vehicle fire, additional crews made entry to the building to check the interior for smoke and heat,” police said. “The fire was contained to the vehicle on the exterior of the building.”
The outlet also reported that the misspelled word “thief” was also spraypainted on the side of the building.
Mesa officials stated the fire is being investigated as possible arson. The Mesa PD announced later in the day that they had arrested a 35-year-old male suspect identified as Ian Moses who is facing charges of arson of a structure and property.
Detectives noted that during the course of their investigation, a suspicious van was observed parked nearby near the intersection of Southern and Rowan, not far from the dealership. Investigators noted a bicyclist, identified as Moses, approached the van and opened its door.
Surveillance footage from the dealership was able to capture an image of the suspected arsonist and police were able to match the image to Moses, police said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, and investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives is investigating alongside the Mesa Fire and Medical Department, Gilbert Fire and Rescue, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Charges against Rebekah Massie, the Surprise mother who was arrested while exercising her First Amendment rights at a city council meeting, were tossed out by North Valley Justice Court Judge Gerald Williams last week. As previously reported by AZ Free News, Massie was to be tried for trespassing after she criticized the Surprise City Attorney during a city council meeting. Judge Williams agreed when defense counsel moved that the trespassing charges against Massie be dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled, and called the charges “objectively outrageous.”
Massie’s attorney Bret Royle, explained, “Rebekah should never have been detained, let alone criminally charged, for speaking her mind. That’s the kind of thing that happens in tyrannical countries, but should never happen here. No American should face jail time for exercising their freedom of speech, and we’re relieved the court agreed.”
Just one day after hearing from attorneys representing Massie and the city, Judge Williams released a scorching three-page ruling, pointedly noting that the city has since rescinded the policy Massie was arrested under, which prohibited the public from criticizing city officials during council meetings.
He wrote in part, “No branch of any federal, state, or local government in this country should ever attempt to control the content of political speech.” He added, “In this case, the government did so in a manner that was objectively outrageous.”
“The Defendant should not have faced criminal prosecution once for expressing her political views,” Williams added. “The Court agrees that she should never face criminal prosecution, for expressing her political views on that date at that time, again.”
JUSTICE: A judge just THREW OUT the criminal charge against an Arizona mom who was arrested and frog-marched out of a city council meeting for criticizing a city attorney’s pay.
The judge slammed the government’s suppression of her free speech as “objectively outrageous.” pic.twitter.com/G9eAgXaRMt
In the unusual case, Surprise city prosecutors recused themselves, citing a conflict of interest, and Massie’s charges were handled by the City of Phoenix Prosecutor’s Office. The Phoenix Prosecutors argued that the case should be dismissed without prejudice allowing the city to potentially re-file charges.
In court documents, Royle argued that the charges against Massie should be dismissed with prejudice based on a lack of evidence to support Massie’s arrest to begin with.
“Ms. Massie was not ‘remaining unlawfully’ as she was within her rights to remain in the chamber despite being asked to leave by Mayor Hall and Officer Shernicoff,” Royle told the court. In his ruling, Williams concurred, observing that Massie’s arrest, originating as it did from city council policy, regulated political speech and “would trigger scrutiny,” under constitutional legal analysis.
A lawsuit against the city by Massie, represented by FIRE is ongoing. In a press release from the FIRE, Massie said, “For more than two months I’ve been living with the threat of punishment and jail time — being taken away from my kids, even — for doing nothing more than criticizing the government. Free speech still matters in America, and I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have people on my side standing up for our rights with me.”
FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick said in a statement, “This is an incredible win for Rebekah and an important message to government bureaucrats around the country that the First Amendment bows to no one. The fight goes on in Rebekah’s lawsuit against the City of Surprise, Mayor Hall, and Officer Schernicoff. We want to make it crystal clear to governments across the United States that brazenly censoring people and betraying the First Amendment comes with a cost.”
As recently reported by AZ Free News, KFYI’s James T. Harris released internal video he obtained of Surprise Police Chief Benny Piña seeming to defend Massie’s arrest, telling officers, “What happened last week in a council meeting resulted in what I think everybody in the world is calling an illegal arrest and a violation of someone’s First Amendment rights. That’s clearly not what we’re about, and that’s not what happened.”
In a statement emailed to AZ Free News after Judge William’s ruling, FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh said, “The police chief says their conduct exemplifies the ‘mission’ and ‘philosophy’ of the Surprise Police Department. A judge said their conduct was ‘objectively outrageous.’ We agree with the judge, and the Surprise Police Department should do some soul-searching.”
Surprise Police Chief Benny Piña has found himself once again taking wide criticism stemming from the arrest of a mother who defied the city council while exercising her First Amendment rights. Along with the initial arrest, the Chief is now at the center of a firestorm after an internal department video from a week after the incident was obtained by KFYI’s James T. Harris. The video features Piña giving officers “a few things to avoid when confronted by a 1st Amendment auditor,” and defending the woman’s arrest.
Rebekah Massie, a mother from Surprise, was arrested in front of her 10-year-old daughter after criticizing the Surprise City Attorney Robert Wingo in August in a now-viral video. Massie and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) subsequently sued the city, and the council eventually reversed the policy that led to her arrest.
In the Surprise Police Department video created a week later, Piña is seen telling officers, “What happened last week in a council meeting resulted in what I think everybody in the world is calling an illegal arrest and a violation of someone’s First Amendment rights. That’s clearly not what we’re about, and that’s not what happened.”
Curiously, the Chief advised officers not to be completely open or truthful to what he called “First Amendment Auditors.” “[There are a] few things to avoid when confronted by a First Amendment auditor,” Piña said.
Piña introduced Sgt. Jamie Rothschild and suggested that the criticisms against him and the department are the work of “trolls and bots.” He responded to calls to fire Steve Shernicoff, the arresting officer.
The Chief told officers, “We took action that night to complete what we normally would do which is a use of force report. We took real quick action to make certain that we were in line with what our policy is and what our philosophy is, which is to take next steps to make certain that we were in a position of power to show that we, specifically Officer Shernicoff, acted with absolute speed to carry out the mission as directed that evening.”
He added, “When something doesn’t look right, or something doesn’t look popular, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
Footage of the meeting and of Massie being led out as her child cried quickly went viral within days of the arrest. Bodycam footage was later released by Surprise PD.
The footage shows that Piña was present during the arrest and did not intervene. Massie was charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, and obstructing government operations. Following the uproar in response to the incident, State Senator John Kavanaugh publicly called for Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate the arrest.
“In Arizona statutes, we have a provision that specifically says, ‘[a] public body may make an open call to the public during a public meeting, subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, to allow individuals to address the public body on any issue within the jurisdiction of the public body,’” said Kavanagh.
“Protecting freedom of speech, especially in public government settings, is incredibly important to our democracy. Regardless of where they stand, members of the public deserve the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns to city leaders.”
AZ Free News has reached out to Massie via her representation from FIRE for comment. As of this report no response has been received.
A Republican state House member is calling on the U.S. military to increase its fire safety standards for Arizona communities.
Earlier this week, Arizona State Representative David Cook submitted his comments for the U.S. Air Force’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), asking the military branch “to ensure the use of flares is prohibited on days where local, state, and federal agencies have put fire restrictions in place.”
Cook said, “While Arizona is an important state for conducting strategic military training operations, the Air Force needs to take every precaution to protect people and land from preventable disasters, including wildland fires. Releasing flares during times when fire restrictions are in place poses an unnecessary risk to residents. The military must recognize the danger these flares pose to Arizona communities and ensure that no flares are deployed on days when state or local fire restrictions are active.”
In his comments, Cook wrote that, “Although the Draft EIS states that the possibility of wildfires ‘would be remote considering the release altitude under the Proposed Action,’ history has shown that flares have been tied to wildfire occurrences, including the 2021 Telegraph fire, which burned over 180,000 acres and for nearly a month. While ‘the DAF believes it is unlikely that the fire was caused by flares,’ the cause of the Telegraph fire has not been fully resolved, and the Draft EIS does not rule out the possibility that flares were responsible for the fire.”
Cook added, “I believe the best way to reduce the risk of fire caused by flares is to implement a dual approach that includes both minimum altitude restrictions and operational constraints that correlate with local, state, and federal fire restrictions. Accordingly, I respectfully request the DAF update its Final EIS and Proposed Action to prohibit the use of flares on days where local, state, or federal agencies have put fire restrictions in place.”
Members of the public may submit their own comments in support or opposition to the proposal up until October 9.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
