A man from Louisiana who was arrested for making a joke at the beginning of the pandemic has only just seen the charges dropped by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Waylon Bailey was arrested by a SWAT team with weapons and bulletproof vests on March 20, 2020, after he posted a joke on Facebook, reading “JUST IN: RAPIDES PARISH SHERIFFERS OFFICE HAVE ISSUED THE ORDER, IF DEPUTIES COME INTO CONTACT WITH ‘THE INFECTED’ SHOOT ON SIGHT…Lord have mercy on us all. #Covid9teen #weneedyoubradpitt.”
Local authorities suggested that his post amounted to a “terrorist threat.”
Now, over three years later, judges have found that his post was neither a threat nor an incitement to violence. Instead, the court said Bailey’s First Amendment rights were violated and that there was no legitimate purpose for his arrest. One judge stated:
“The post did not direct any person or group to take any unlawful action immediately or in the near future… at worst, his post was a joke in poor taste, but it cannot be read as intentionally directed to incitement.”
Bailey subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Rapides County Sheriff’s Office in September 2020. The case was, however, dismissed in July last year on the grounds of qualified immunity, used to protect government officials from civil liability unless they violate a constitutional right.
Bailey has since appealed the decision and is awaiting a verdict next month.
