Do you want to be escorted out of here? Do you want to be escorted out of here? >> Violating my first amendment rights talking. >> This woman was stopped during public comment, pulled out of a city council meeting, and arrested. It happened last year. It was a big deal then. It made national headlines. And it's why the city of Surprise is now facing a lawsuit. >> Welcome to Surprise, Arizona, where the public comment period comes with a silent asterisk. On August 20th, 2024, a woman attended a city council meeting. She waited her turn. She approached the podium. She spoke during public comment. And for that, she was arrested. Yes, arrested. At a city council meeting for speaking. Thin blue lies, baby. The speaker was Rebecca Massie, a regular attendee of city council meetings. Not a trespasser, not a protester storming the deis. She criticized a city official. Apparently, that crossed the line between democracy and detention. Surprise had a policy banning speakers from badmouthing city employees because nothing protects fragile governance like outlawing criticism. Um, so I'm going to take this time. Um, >> Rebecca Massie is still making sense of what happened after she walked up to this podium. >> Is it kind of hard to believe what happened and where we're at now? >> I honestly don't have words to describe it to be honest because it's I know that it happened, but it just it still seems very like fake like it like it can't be real life. For much of last year, she was a fixture at city council meetings, often speaking and criticizing officials. >> So, you were well known to them. >> Yes. >> And on this day, the mayor seemed ready. >> There are numerous public records requests that I have open right now that are quote pending legal review that I am entitled to request. >> I've got to interrupt you here because >> Okay. Are you going to stop the timer? >> This is the public meeting forum that you agree to when you speak. And I want to read this to you that um there are oral communications during the city council meeting may not be used to lodge charges or complaints against any employee of the city or members of the body regardless of whether such person is identified in the presentation by the name or by any other reference that tends to identify him or her. >> That's all fine, well, and good, but that's a vi violation of my first amendment right. >> So that's Well, this is your warning. Okay. A warning for what? >> A warning for attacking the city attorney personally. >> Um, this is all factual information. >> It doesn't matter. >> For the next minute, they argued about the policy. Rebecca repeatedly telling him it's unconstitutional. Here's the part city officials always pretend is complicated. Public comment is a limited public forum. Yes, meetings have rules. No, those rules don't include protecting government feelings. You can limit time. You can limit order. You cannot limit viewpoints. Criticizing public officials is not disorderly conduct. It's literally the point. >> Chief, could you have somebody come down here and and escort Miss Massie? >> Really? Is that necessary? >> Yes. I think >> in front of my 10-year-old daughter, you're going to escort me out for expressing my First Amendment right >> She can go with you. >> I'm not leaving. >> Well, >> I need you to step out with me. >> Um, I'm No, >> I'm expressing my Do not touch me. Do not put your hands on me. >> Can you just step out with me? >> Do not put your hands on me. >> Come on out. [snorts] >> Do not put your hands on me. >> Come out with me now before you get arrested. Do you understand >> this? Are you detaining me? >> Yes. Do you understand? >> Why are you being detained? Under what? >> Under what? >> Police were ordered in not to stop a fight, not to address a threat, but to remove a woman with an opinion. She was arrested inside city hall and charged with criminal trespassing, which is impressive considering she was invited, lawfully present, and actively participating in the meeting. But when speech becomes inconvenient, definitions get flexible. >> Was any of this necessary? Anything that happened? >> No. >> How how much time do you get to speak at a city council meeting? >> 3 minutes and I had just under 60 seconds left. So literally all the mayor needed to do was shut up for less than a minute and I would have been out of his hair. >> Rebecca was arrested, taken to a police holding facility, then released. She was charged with trespassing. Two months later, a judge dismissed the charge and his ruling was scathing. Quote, "No branch of any federal, state, or local government in this country should ever attempt to control the content of political speech. In this case, the government did so in a manner that was objectively outrageous." That criminal case didn't age well. A judge dismissed the charge with prejudice, meaning it's dead forever. And the judge didn't mince words. He called the arrest objectively outrageous, which is judicial language for what were you thinking? >> Do you want to be escorted out? >> You're violating my first amendment rights. >> They are so bold to be so wrong. >> Well, I think both the video and the the policy itself are both shocking. Attorney Adam Steinbaw is with Fire, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. They're part of the legal team that's picked up Rebecca's case, and they filed a lawsuit against the city. When it comes to First Amendment type cases, would you say this is about as clear-cut of one as it gets? >> I I think you can watch the video and if you don't come away from that thinking, you know, this is a violation of the First Amendment, then, you know, maybe you don't know what the First Amendment means or don't care. In their lawsuit, they cite an internal video recorded by police chief Benny Pena days after the arrest. He praised what they did. >> You know, what happened last week in a council meeting resulted in what I think everybody um in the world is calling an illegal arrest and a violation of someone's first amendment rights. Uh that's clearly not what we're about and that is not what happened. Officer Shernikov, you know, acted in um with absolute speed to carry out the mission as directed that evening. >> If that is the mission of your police department, if that is the culture of your police department, then you need to do a real gut check. >> Now, here's a story we exposed about surprise two years ago. >> Last week, the city set to bring in fired former prosecutor April Sponsel to train officers on how to testify. If that name rings a bell, it's because we've reported on her a lot. >> Sponsel worked with Phoenix police to invent a gang, then falsely charged protesters as members of that fake gang. It was an attack on the First Amendment that snowballed into one of the biggest police scandals in Valley history. Surprise's decision to host April Sponsel makes sense to Rebecca's attorneys. >> If suppressing people's speech is part of their mission, then I'm not surprised. >> And it's not just Rebecca and her attorneys pushing for answers. We obtained letters showing the conservative legal group Judicial Watch also requested that the state police board investigate the chief for violating Rebecca's rights. Quote, "The footage clearly shows that the arrest of Miss Massie involved Pina and the arrest was based on Pena's orders to patrol officers." >> So, we'll pause it there. >> This is where it gets really hard. >> Yeah, I understand. We'll pause it there. >> Rebecca didn't want to watch the video of her arrest with us. But looking back, she does wonder if it was planned. >> I need you to step out with me. I would be remiss if I didn't have to unfortunately admit that that was a possibility and a very distinct one. Was this not only pre-planned for the mayor to confront me, but did they go in knowing that force was a possibility >> for the city of Surprise? Do you feel like there's been any accountability so far? >> Absolutely not. >> So, Massie filed a federal civil rights lawsuit and the city tried to make it go away quietly. They filed a motion to dismiss, hoping the judge wouldn't notice. The judge noticed key parts of the lawsuit will now move forward. Welcome to Discovery. >> And tonight we're back with an update. A judge just ruled most of that woman's lawsuit against the city will move forward. Now, to quickly recap, this is what happened at a city council meeting in 2024. During public comment, Rebecca Massie raised questions about the city attorney. >> This is your warning. Okay. >> A warning for what? >> A warning for attacking the city attorney personally. Chief, could you have somebody come down here and and escort Miss Massie out? >> Really? Is that necessary? >> Yes. I think >> in front of my 10-year-old daughter, you're going to escort me out for expressing my First Amendment with you. She can go with you. >> I'm not leaving. >> Well, I need you to step out with me. >> Um, I'm No. >> I'm expressing my Do not touch me. Do not put your hands on me. >> I need you to step out with me. >> Do not put your hands on me. >> Come on out. Do not put your hands on me. >> Come out with me now before you get arrested. Do you understand >> this? Are you detaining me? >> Yes. Do you understand? >> Being detained under what charges? >> Under what target? >> Massie sued Surprise after her arrest and the city tried to get a major part of her federal lawsuit dismissed, saying their actions did not violate Arizona's open meeting law. But this week, a judge just knocked the city's argument down and denied the city's motion to dismiss. That means almost all of the lawsuit continues and discovery begins. >> Discovery means emails. Discovery means internal messages. Discovery means sworn depositions where I don't recall gets used like punctuation. And discovery means explaining under oath why police were deployed as speech moderators. The judge did however dismiss a few state level claims for assault, battery, and emotional distress. In a statement about the court's new ruling, Rebecca's attorney says, "We're going to continue to fight not only to vindicate Rebecca'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." All of the criminal charges against Rebecca Massie were dismissed. a judge calling the case objectively outrageous. As for surprise, the city declined to comment for this update. >> Public meetings are not safe spaces for government officials. They are accountability spaces for the public. And when criticism is met with handcuffs, the Constitution tends to respond. Surprise wanted silence. Instead, they got a lawsuit. Fin Blue lies, baby.