Kentucky Cops Arrest Man for Shouting at Them
"Speaking from a balcony isn't a crime," the man's lawyer says. "And just because a cop was offended because of some language doesn't give him the power to arrest you."
A Kentucky man is suing the police, claiming he was arrested in retaliation for shouting at a group of officers from an apartment balcony. In a complaint filed last month, Brandon Rettig alleges that he was arrested on bogus public intoxication charges after he angered the officers, who violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights.
According to the lawsuit, on June 8, 2024, Brandon Rettig was at his girlfriend's apartment in Newport, Kentucky, when a team of police officers responded to an unrelated incident outside the building. From the balcony, Rettig shouted at the officers. In a later interview, Rettig claimed to have shouted "go get 'em boys" at the officers. The lawsuit insists that while the officers were angered by the comments, "Rettig did not utter fighting words or threatened to harm anyone."
The suit claims that soon after Rettig made the comments, Officer Ronald Lalumandier shouted up to him, "Keep it up, I'll take your ass to jail," adding "I got keys to your apartment." Three police officers, including Lalumandier, then entered the apartment building using a key card, which Lalumandier had access to as a former tenant.
According to body camera footage, the three officers confronted Rettig in the hallway of the apartment building and arrested him after a short argument.
"Are you serious? I live here," Rettig told the officers.
"Yes, 100 percent. We told you out there, you didn't listen," responded one of the officers. "You shouldn't be doing what you're doing…doesn't mean you can act the way you were acting."
Rettig was taken into police custody and charged with public intoxication, despite the fact that—as the suit notes—the hallway was not public property. Although the charges were later dismissed, Rettig filed a lawsuit against the officers in December, arguing that his arrest was not due to public intoxication, but because he angered the officers by shouting at them.
"Rettig allegedly made critical statements to the Officer Defendants that those officers did not appreciate. This critical speech is protected by the First Amendment," the complaint states. "In response, Defendants retaliated against Rettig, seized him, and arrested him in retaliation for protected speech."
"Speaking from a balcony isn't a crime. Drinking a beer in your living room isn't a crime," Robert Thompson, Rettig's attorney, told WCPO 9 News, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based local news station. "And just because a cop was offended because of some language doesn't give him the power to arrest you."
