An Arizona mayor had a woman arrested at a recent city council meeting after she spoke out against a city attorney in apparent defiance of meeting rules.
On Tuesday, Rebekah Massie, 32, attended the city council meeting in Surprise, Arizona, a city of some 143,000 residents just outside Phoenix. When her turn came to speak during public comments, Massie — described by the Sinclair National Desk as a “Libertarian activist” — took the opportunity to criticize Surprise city attorney Robert Wingo and a raise he had reportedly been given.
‘Do not put your hands on me!’
According to Massie, Wingo engaged in “numerous violations, or alleged violations, and in blatant disregard … for not only the Arizona revised statutes, the state Bar rules of professional conduct, but also the Arizona state Constitution, and the Bill of Rights at the federal level.”
Massie then referenced previous election integrity issues and insisted that Wingo “did nothing” about them.
Shortly thereafter, Mayor Skip Hall warned Massie that, by “attacking the city attorney personally,” she was apparently violating one of the rules governing public comments. The rule says:
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 name or by any other reference that tends to identify him/her.
Massie countered that she was sharing only “factual information” and that the rule itself is “unconstitutional.”
“That’s a violation of my First Amendment rights,” she said calmly.
Massie further asserted that she could stand at the podium and shout curse words at Hall for three minutes and that speech would still be “protected” by the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent.
At that point, Hall became exasperated and threatened to have Massie escorted out of the chamber. While Massie acknowledged that meeting rules forbade her from publicly criticizing city officials, Massie once again argued that the rule was unconstitutional.
“That’s your opinion,” Hall insisted.
Massie was flabbergasted that Hall would threaten to have her hauled out of the room in front of her 10-year-old daughter, who was in attendance, simply because she had exercised her “First Amendment rights.” She also indicated that Mayor Hall may have violated meeting rules about debate.
After more back and forth, a security officer walked over to the podium and attempted to walk Massie out. When she refused, the officer began putting her hands behind her back.
“Do not put your hands on me!” Massie railed.
“Are you kidding me?” she continued. “Why am I being detained? Under what charges?”
The officer then dragged Massie out of the meeting by force as she screamed, and another meeting attendee — perhaps Massie’s daughter — quickly left as well, video of the meeting showed.
Massie was later cited for alleged trespassing, a class 3 misdemeanor, as well as for allegedly resisting arrest and obstructing government operations, both class 1 misdemeanors.
Massie claimed that she was never read her Miranda rights and not permitted to contact an attorney, according to Not the Bee. She also accused the arresting officer of throwing her on the ground and against a wall.
“I’m not resisting, my daughter is here, I don’t know what’s going on, you say I’m being detained, but I don’t know what for,” Massie said, according to Not the Bee.
The city claimed Miranda rights were not warranted in Massie’s case because she had not been interrogated, only cited and released. City officials “remain strong in their stance that the anti-free speech policy isn’t a violation of the First Amendment,” Not the Bee said.
The entire meeting can be seen here. Massie appears at about the 1:58:04 mark.
H/T: Libs of TikTok
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!