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ACLU Of Connecticut Suing Stamford Police For Violating Protestor's Rights

A Stamford, Conn., police officer arrested a man for allegedly warning drivers about a cell phone sting. The officer is now facing a lawsuit from the ACLU of Connecticut.

A Stamford resident named Michael Friend made a cardboard sign reading COPS AHEAD to warn drivers about police waiting to issue tickets for texting while driving. The lawsuit says a Stamford police officer took Friend’s sign and arrested him when he wouldn’t stop recording them with his phone.

Friend was charged with interfering with a police investigation.  

However, Dan Barrett with the ACLU said, “It’s not interference if you’re standing on the sidewalk holding a sign warning people there are police ahead. That’s not the way the law works.”

Prosecutors have since dropped the interference charge against Friend. The ACLU is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

Davis Dunavin loves telling stories, whether on the radio or around the campfire. He started in Missouri and ended up in Connecticut, which, he'd like to point out, is the same geographic trajectory taken by Mark Twain.