This story is insane, and disturbing. It's the kind of thing we'd expect to happen in Germany, or the U.K. -- places that do not have robust First Amendment speech protectoins.
But it didn't.
It happened in Connecticut. In America.
Well this is a horrifying story -- a free speech advocate was arrested for saying something she never said, and was falsely accused of racism, until an out-of-control prosecutor finally admitted there was no support for the claim. https://t.co/OmN7KXe1NI
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 15, 2025
More from Lauren Nobel in the New York Post:
I never thought I’d end up in handcuffs and a jail cell for something I didn’t say.
But last May, police in New Haven, Conn., arrested me — because a parking attendant falsely claimed I had used a racial slur against him nearly a year earlier.
I denied it. I asked the cops to check the parking lot’s surveillance video.They didn’t — and the state charged me first with disorderly conduct, then with three counts of breach of peace in the second degree.
It took almost a year, tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and endless stress before the nightmare ended on March 27, when the prosecutor finally dropped all charges.Why? “Insufficient evidence,” “inconsistencies,” “credibility issues,” video that “clearly contradicted” the accuser’s claims — and a possibility that I wasn’t even the right person.
The judge dismissed the case.
If this can happen to me — a First Amendment advocate with resources, legal counsel and a public reputation to defend — it can happen to anyone.
The video evidence that the police didn't bother to check that day showed Nobel never spoke to the parking lot attendant who accused her of racial slurs.
But that's not the point. When did we arrest people for speech?
I was lead at night. Ancillary staff kept leaving her job undone. She was sitting in the unit in a patient room chatting with one of my employees. I asked her to please finish her job before she left. She flipped out. I walked away. She accused me of calling her an N and an…
— ssing (@ssing) May 15, 2025
This is so wrong.
even if you DID say it, this is the US. this is clearly a violation of 1A
— Rani, Last of The Red Hot Boomers (@ShadesOfRani) May 15, 2025
Yep.
This oped misses the point though. The point isn’t that she was innocent, the point is that what she was accused of isn’t a crime.
— K Crary (@Crary76) May 15, 2025
Authorities in Connecticut tried to make it a crime, charging her with disorderly conduct and 'breach of peace.'
What will the guy who falsely accused her be charged with?
Because falsifying police reports is, in fact, a crime.
Troubling. Time for her to sue everyone who lied which in this case is a long list.
— Dan Ditzler (@longgonedaddy) May 15, 2025
Yep.
Although the police and prosecutors probably have immunity.
The ultimate goal of the left = criminal prosecution for wrongthink.
— Percival Cox, MD - Garbage (@PerryCoxMD) May 15, 2025
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz made it very clear that was part of their agenda, had they won the presidency.
“… a system that didn’t bother to check basic facts before putting someone’s life through a meat grinder.”
— Richard Beckman (@RichardBeckman8) May 15, 2025
The process is the punishment - the Left’s typical application of lawfare.
Bingo.
Again - get rid of absolute immunity and strip qualified immunity back to a barely usable nub. This would end tomorrow.
— Michael Chaney (@MichaelDChaney) May 15, 2025
I also have no idea why she says "the police", "the prosecutor", etc. Name them. Every. Single. One.
This.
And to the second point: she might be pursuing legal action, and can't name them. But that's just this writer taking a guess.
This should frighten everyone. A manufactured accusation of using a racial slur resulted in criminal charges and tens of thousands in legal bills before a the case was dismissed due to the exculpatory evidence that had always existed but no one bothered to examine. https://t.co/HbfxLNIkEL
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) May 15, 2025
It's terrifying.
Do we really have free speech in the USA when a false accusation can take a year to be proven false? Or even if you can be arrested for speaking to someone who is “offended” by what they claimed you said? https://t.co/INJtFAWp4s
— 2A Patriot CyberNorris - Defensive Use of Firearms (@DUF2A) May 15, 2025
We do not.
whee! I'm loving the part of our culture where we jail people for things they didn't say https://t.co/NhvMl0LtJt
— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) May 15, 2025
The next step will be, 'Well, she may have thought racist things!'
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