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发帖数: 43471 | 1 Owner of truck with vulgar anti-Trump sticker arrested on outstanding
warrant
The owner of pickup truck that drew attention this week because of a profane
anti-Trump sticker was arrested in Houston on Thursday on an outstanding
warrant.
Karen Fonseca was arrested about 2 p.m. on an outstanding fraud warrant
issued in August by the Rosenberg, Texas, Police Department, Fort Bend
County Sheriff’s Office records show.
Mike Fonseca, her husband, posted her $1,500 bond Thursday night and she was
released an hour later, Houston's KHOU-TV reported.
A sheriff’s spokesman didn't respond to a message seeking details about the
warrant.
Previously, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls threatened Fonseca with a
disorderly conduct charge over the decal. However, District Attorney John
Healey said he didn’t think the case would have stood up in court because
of First Amendment protections on free speech.
Fonseca defended her right to keep the sticker on the vehicle.
"It's not to cause hate or animosity," Fonseca, 46, told the Houston
Chronicle. "It's just our freedom of speech and we're exercising it."
Fonseca said the message has been on the rear window of the pickup for
nearly a year and it'll stay there for the time being.
"There's no law against freedom of speech, nothing in the law book here in
Texas," she told KHOU-TV. "I've been stopped numerous times, but they can't
write me a ticket."
Nehls on Wednesday posted a photo of the profane sticker on his Facebook
page, threatening the then-unidentified Fonseca with a misdemeanor charge of
disorderly conduct.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said Thursday that Nehls removed the
post after Fonseca was identified.
"Due to the hate messages he has been receiving toward his wife and children
, the sheriff will not be commenting on the matter further," the spokeswoman
said in an email.
Lynne Rambo, a law professor at Texas A&M University specializing in First
Amendment issues, said Thursday that a 1971 Supreme Court case made two
points clear: the state's attempt to regulate profanity or civil discourse
is not a sufficient reason to justify restricting speech, and profane
language directed at a specific person is different from vulgar content that
's broadly disseminated.
"It's state action to threaten as (Nehls) did and he really ought to know
First Amendment law better than that," Rambo said.
Nehls said he supports freedom of speech but worried that profane messages
could incite others and lead to confrontations that would disturb the peace
he's pledged to keep.
The Fort Bend County district attorney has no plans to file charges over the
sticker, KHOU reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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