A jury decided last week that Lieutenant Benjamin Moore of the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) did not violate the First Amendment rights of two demonstrators who refused to disperse from a 2019 “Lights for Liberty” protest against ICE. Activists Phil Martinez and George Soria sued Moore and the City of Phoenix in July 2021, alleging that they were arrested in retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights to engage in free speech critical of the police, with Martinez stating that it caused him a panic attack. The pair and others were arrested for obstructing the highway, public thoroughfare, and unlawful assembly.
Moore’s defense attorney, John Masterson of Jones Skelton & Hochuli PLC, explained in his closing argument to the jury that the reason Moore didn’t arrest most of the other protesters is because they left when the police asked them to disperse. He noted that Martinez’s and Soria’s attorney Mart Harris admitted that Martinez and Soria refused to leave, and that there had been over 100 warnings to disperse.
Masterson said the videos showed the police arresting numerous protesters. He said they revealed that some of the protesters who got in the officers’ faces screaming hateful things at them weren’t arrested, which was evidence Martinez and Soria weren’t arrested for saying hateful things.
He said Martinez claimed he didn’t hear the police order him to leave, despite the fact the police issued over 100 warnings, so it was up to the jury to decide whether or not Martinez heard any of the warnings.
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