A Vermont driver who was prosecuted for “flipping the bird” on a police officer during a traffic stop is suing the officer and the department for violating his First Amendment rights.
Now police dashcam footage has emerged showing Jay Riggen running over Gregory Bombard on a snowy road north of Burlington nearly five years ago.
Riggen let him go after Bombard insisted the officer must have been mistaken, but reprimanded him for disorderly conduct when Bombard did it again as he drove off, calling the officer a “hole” to boot.
The prosecution was eventually dropped, but Bombard initiated a test case in Washington County Superior Civil Court, supported by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“Police are tasked with protecting the public, not their own bruised egos,” said ACLU attorney Jay Diaz.
Vermont State Trooper Sergeant Jay Riggen pulled Gregory Bombard in, claiming he feared the middle finger he had just seen might be a cry for help from Bombard
Bombard initially denied the gesture, but told Riggen: “You have to be very sensitive.”
“It's clear from the footage that the officer wasn't concerned about Greg's safety. “He just wanted to punish him for badmouthing him.”
Sergeant Riggen, a 17-year veteran of the department, told Bombard he stopped him because he feared the finger might be a cry for help.
'You need something?' he asked.
“It looked like you looked right at me and stuck your middle finger in my face.”
Bombard denies the gesture but adds: “You have to be very sensitive.”
The police officer denied being “overly sensitive” and added: “This is the first time in 12 years that I've stopped someone who I saw was messing with me, so I don't like that insinuation.”
“Maybe you didn't, but I think you can agree with me that someone seeking a police officer's attention is likely to get it by giving them such a negative signal. “Are you okay with that?'
“No, I don’t because I don’t understand,” Bombard replies.
Riggen eventually accepted Bombard's denial, but pulled him over again when the driver got out.
“It looks like when he pulled out he called me an asshole and said 'F*** you,'” Riggen radioed. “Flip the bird. I will arrest him for disorderly conduct.'
This time Bombard was ordered out and handcuffed to the hood of the patrol car.
“How does this disorderly behavior come about?” demanded Bombard.
“Although the first interaction may have been a mistake, the second certainly was not.”
“Everyone understands what the middle finger means, so it's completely unreasonable for an officer to stop someone just for that,” Diaz said.
“From the beginning it seemed to me like a completely unnecessary stop and an unnecessary arrest afterwards.” “Here this was in retaliation for someone expressing their feelings to an officer.”
It's not the first time the gesture has been tested in court.
Almost five years after the arrest in February 2018, footage was released showing the case ending up in court and constitutional rights at stake
In 2017, Debra Cruise-Gulyas was pulled over for speeding in Michigan and received a “speeding violation” citation.
That was upgraded to a speeding ticket when she drove off and “made an all-too-familiar hand gesture toward (the officer) without four of her fingers showing.”
Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit insisted the gesture was protected by the Constitution
“Any reasonable public servant would know that a citizen raising her middle finger is making speech protected by the First Amendment.”