Newton resident Noah Petersen poses outside the Jasper County jail. Petersen is suing the City of Newton after he was twice arrested for violating a policy against "derogatory comments" during city council meetings.
Newton resident Noah Petersen poses outside the Jasper County jail. Petersen is suing the City of Newton after he was twice arrested for violating a policy against "derogatory comments" during city council meetings.
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Newton wrongly arrested man who called officials 'fascist,' judge says

Newton city officials violated a resident’s rights when they refused to let him speak, arrested him and filed criminal charges against him “motivated by animus toward protected speech,” a federal judge has ruled.

Noah Petersen sued the city in 2023 after clashing repeatedly with Newton Mayor, Michael Hansen and the city’s police department in the preceding year. Petersen had attended City Council meetings in 2022 and attempted to make statements criticizing Newton police during public comment periods, only to be told his statements violated a “derogatory comments rule.”

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He was arrested after insisting on finishing his remarks at an Oct. 3, 2022, meeting, and again that Oct. 24 after he took the podium to call Hansen and Police Chief Rob Burdess “fascists.”

Petersen was charged with disorderly conduct, but a trial judge acquitted him, finding his statements were protected by the First Amendment. Petersen subsequently sued the city, claiming violations of his rights to free speech and equal protection and freedom from unreasonable seizure.

On Monday, Feb. 23, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose granted Petersen summary judgment on nearly all counts, finding the city’s rule and its application to Petersen clearly violated his constitutional rights. Rose’s order does not address damages, which will be determined in a later trial or settlement.

“The constitutional principles governing this case have been settled for generations,” Rose wrote, adding that Petersen was “not navigating uncertain terrain.”

“Petersen’s arrests were the deliberate product of officials who mistook their authority to maintain order for a license to suppress criticism — and of a city that ratified their conduct rather than correct it,” she wrote. “The Constitution does not permit that outcome.”

In a news release, Petersen’s lawyers called the ruling “a clear warning” to officials seeking to retaliate against critics.

“From small towns to federal agents, government officials don’t get to use the power of arrest to punish protected speech,” said James Knight, an attorney with the Institute for Justice who represented Petersen. “The First Amendment doesn’t allow public meetings to become praise-only zones — and it certainly doesn’t allow officials to weaponize the police against dissent.”

Why was Noah Petersen criticizing Newton officials?

Petersen’s history with the city is intertwined with another controversial case, in which a Newton police officer arrested a college student after an August 2022 traffic stop. A police body camera video of the arrest went viral on YouTube and led to widespread criticism.

The man detained in that case also sued the city after a court found the officer lacked probable cause to arrest him. The case currently is set for trial in June.

At the first council meeting Petersen addressed, he made a statement describing the police department as “violent” and “pro-domestic abuse,” referring to court records showing a domestic violence restraining order taken out against the arresting officer. Hansen, presiding over the meeting, interrupted Petersen and ordered Burdess to remove him from the meeting. Petersen was arrested after finishing his statement.

Although Newton has had a longstanding rule against “derogatory comments” at its meetings, nobody had ever been arrested for violating it, Rose noted in her ruling. The rule also was enforced unevenly. At that same meeting, multiple people made statements harshly criticizing a city rental inspector ― comments Hansen allowed despite saying the allegations were untrue.

At the second meeting where Petersen spoke, he called Hansen and Burdess “fascists” who “need to be removed from power.” Hansen suspended the meeting and ordered Petersen to leave; an officer arrested him on his way out.

Afterward, an audience member recorded Hansen telling attendees to “go do your activism somewhere where somebody cares.”

The subsequent criminal complaint against Petersen said he was arrested for “speaking negatively towards the Mayor of Newton and the Police Chief.”

Judge finds city’s actions unlawful ‘beyond debate’

In Monday’s order, the judge found the city’s actions far exceeded what the law permits.

While Newton argued Petersen’s statements were defamatory, Rose wrote that his statements were either protected opinion or, in the case of the domestic abuse allegations, “substantially true.” She also noted that several of the comments directed at the city’s rental inspector were arguably far closer to actual defamation, but were permitted without objection.

“The record demonstrates that the Rule was enforced against Petersen not because his speech was actually defamatory, but because it criticized government officials in a manner they found objectionable,” she wrote.

Because Hansen’s order for Petersen to stop speaking was not lawful, Petersen’s arrests for refusing to follow that order likewise lacked a legal basis, she wrote.

The court also denied qualified immunity to both Hansen and Burdess as public officials, citing numerous cases holding actions like Petersen’s were protected by the Constitution. And she ruled the city itself can be held liable, noting that the mayor, city administrator and chief of police planned in advance what to do about Petersen’s comments and that the City Council, rather than reprimanding them, allowed the city to proceed with criminal charges.

“This was not a rogue decision by a single actor,” she wrote. “It was a coordinated strategy developed by the City’s chief executive, top administrator, and police chief.”

No date has been set for the trial to determine Petersen’s damages. Attorneys for the city did not respond to messages Monday seeking comment on Rose’s decision.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Newton wrongly arrested man who called officials ‘fascist,’ judge says

Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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