PRESS RELEASE

Law Offices of Howard Friedman 90 Canal Street Boston, MA 02114 (617) 742-4100 Fax: (617) 303-3938

For Immediate Release

Date:
December 8, 2014
Contact:
David Milton
Phone:
(617) 742-4100
Man Sues Fall River Police Officer Who Arrested Him for Videotaping the Officer
BOSTON, MAToday, George Thompson of Fall River filed a civil rights lawsuit against
Fall River police officer Thomas Barboza, alleging that Barboza falsely arrested Mr. Thompson for
exercising his First Amendment right to record the officer in public.
On January 6, 2014, Mr. Thompson was sitting on his front porch when he observed Officer
Barboza, who was working a traffic detail, loudly talking and cursing repeatedly during a personal
call on his cellphone. When Mr. Thompson asked Officer Barboza to watch his language, Officer
Barboza cursed at Mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson took out his smartphone and began openly
filming Officer Barboza, who continued to talk on the phone and curse.
Officer Barboza became enraged when he saw Mr. Thompson recording him. Barboza
charged into Mr. Thompsons yard and arrested him. Barboza then brought baseless criminal
charges against Mr. Thompson, including a violation of Massachusetts wiretap law. The Bristol
County District Attorneys Office later agreed to drop all charges against Mr. Thompson.
Officer Barboza also confiscated Mr. Thompsons smartphone during the arrest. While the
phone was in police custody, all of its contents were deleted, including the video Mr. Thompson had
recorded of Barboza. Fall River police initially tried to blame Mr. Thompson, but an independent
forensic investigation later confirmed that the Fall River police were responsible for deleting the
contents of the phone.
Mr. Thompson said: There was no excuse for Officer Barboza to arrest me. His actions
showed a blatant disregard for my constitutional right to videotape police officers in public. Police
officers need to be held accountable when they violate the law.
Thompsons attorney, David Milton, said, Recording the police is a critical, well-established
First Amendment right. Officer Barbozas unhappiness that he was being recorded does not make
Mr. Thompsons exercise of this fundamental right a crime. Mr. Milton, along with Howard
Friedman and the ACLU of Massachusetts, represented Simon Glik in the landmark 2011 lawsuit
Glik v. Cunniffe, in which the federal appeals court in Boston affirmed that recording public officials
in a public space is protected by the First Amendment.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Boston, seeks money damages for violations
of Mr. Thompsons rights under the federal Constitution and Massachusetts civil rights law. The
lawsuit is called George Thompson v. Thomas Barboza (C.A. No. 14-14355).
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