In a big legal victory for political free speech, a conservative man fined multiple times for flying anti-Biden flags on his truck has won compensation for legal fees and damages from the town’s administration.
Ross Brunet of Cut Off, Louisiana, sued the town of Grand Isle, nearly an hour from Cut Off, early this year after he was ticketed there multiple times for flying flags that carried the insulting “Fuck Joe Biden” slogan on his truck. According to Washington Examiner, Brunet was ticketed at least seven times for the flags and he successfully defended himself against these fines in the court of law.
Grand Isle then passed an ordinance banning vehicles from displaying language offensive, vulgar, and/or containing words describing a sex act. But instead of complying by the ordinance, Brunet sued the town for violating the constitutional right to free speech protected under the First Amendment. His lawsuit named the mayor of Grand Isle, the town’s police chief, town attorney, a magistrate judge, and the officer who cited him for flying the flags as defendants.
The Associated Press reported on Friday (September 15) that the town of Grand Isle has reached a settlement with Brunet whereby the town will repeal its “anti-obscenity” ordinance by October 20 as well as pay Brunet $40,000 in damages and legal fees. In return, Brunet will drop his lawsuit against the town. The settlement acknowledges that Brunet was “wrongfully cited for engaging in constitutionally protected speech of flying flags with political messages.”
The story says that the agreement is now up for approval from a federal judge.
Conservatives hailed the news of the settlement in favor of Brunet as a First Amendment Victory.
Lawsuit Settlement a First Amendment Victory!🇺🇸
Grand Isle tried to silence a patriot, Ross Brunet, for speaking out against Biden, but they've had to backtrack. #LetsGoBrandonhttps://t.co/6lDgEskUfr
— Only Right Click (@OnlyRightClick) September 17, 2023
👏👉Louisiana island town to repeal ordinance, let driver fly vulgar anti-Biden flag https://t.co/yXOVz8eO3V
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) September 17, 2023
The Gateway Pundit hailed the settlement as “good news” and pointed to the double standards at play in the case of the so-called “anti-obscenity” ordinance, which came into existence to defend Biden:
When Trump was president, celebrities and members of the media said vulgar things about the president every day. It was inescapable. Why the sudden outrage now?
Left-leaning media has called flags and signs with the “Fuck Joe Biden” slogan vulgar and profane. In summer 2021, the borough of Roselle Park in New Jersey dropped its order against a Trump-supporting woman to remove signs with the “Fuck Joe Biden” slogan from their front yard. The liberal neighbors of the woman had filed complaints against the sign as “obscene” while a local ordinance prohibited obscenities.