A Florida man was arrested for displaying an obscene bumper sticker on the back of his truck, one that either expressed his sexual preferences, or his love for a four-legged animal.
After Dillon Shane Webb was told the sticker was “derogatory,” he claimed his freedom of expression was violated, and the deputy’s office asked if he was using his free speech to express his desire of “eating a donkey.”
Keep reading to learn why Webb was arrested over a bumper sticker!
In 2019, a Columbia County sheriff’s deputy was driving behind a pickup truck when he noticed a vulgar sticker plastered on the middle of the rear window.
Dashcam footage shows Deputy Travis English stopping his cruiser in a parking lot behind the brown pickup, operated by Dillon Shane Webb, 23, with the bumper sticker in clear view.
The letters on the sticker – printed in bold white – reads, “I EAT A**.”
In the video, the deputy approaches the passenger side of the truck and after saying, “hello gentleman,” he explains that he pulled the car over due to “the derogatory sticker” displayed on the back of his truck.
In Florida, law prohibits “any sticker, decal emblem or other device attached to a motor vehicle containing obscene descriptions, photographs or depictions.”
“How’s it derogatory?” Webb asks from inside the car.
The officer replies, “How’s it not derogatory?”
“Some 10-year-old kid sitting in the passenger seat of his momma’s vehicle looks over and sees ‘I eat a**’ and asks his mom what it means,” English says. “How is she going to explain that?”
Sniping back, the driver provides the wrong answer: “That’s the parent’s job, not my job,” Webb says before he’s asked to present his driver’s license and registration.
After stepping out of the vehicle, Webb is searched, and the deputy tells him the sticker is a “misdemeanor violation of Florida’s obscene materials law.”
“I have four kids…if my 6-year-old was to look at me and like, ‘dad what does I eat a** mean?…he’s curious…and the way [you] handled this situation, I’m not pleased with,” English said before offering Webb the opportunity to explain his sticker to the court system.
Next, the deputy suggests Webb remove one of the letters from the word “A**” to read “AS.” But Webb refused, citing his constitutional right to free speech.
A few minutes later, things take a nasty turn for Webb.
After confirming with his supervisor that he had reasonable rights within the law, English steps out of his cruiser and approaches Webb, who’s leaning against his car, looking at his cellphone.
“All right Mr. Webb. Place your hands behind your back,” Webb is told. When he asks “why?” he learns “because you’re going to jail.”
Asking “for what?” English explains that he was given “the option to take that off” the window, but he “refused.”
He was then arrested and charged with the additional offense of “resisting an officer without violence.”
‘Perverted mind’
“They’re just words,” Webb later told First Coast News. “If that’s how they feel, if they have a perverted mind, that’s on them.”
But according to Sergeant Murray Smith of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, it wasn’t just the words on the sticker that Deputy English determined was illegal.
“It was the obscene phrase depicting what the deputy thought was a sexual act, which is obscene by definition,” said Smith. “What would a reasonable citizen think? Is the guy eating a donkey or is he doing a sexual act?”
The incident captured the attention of a lot of social media users, the majority who defended Webb.
“So what if he eats donkey. What’s the big deal?” asks one netizen. Another, referring to English speaking of his child’s potential reaction to the sticker, says, “Since when are a cop’s feelings deserving of an arrest?”
“I live here and as soon as we heard he got arrested we all went and got the sticker and put it on [our] trucks,” pens a third.
Another adds, “He better keep his kids off the internet. They will see far worse than this.”
The State Attorney’s Office cited the First Amendment and the charges against Webb were dropped. Later, Webb sued for alleged violations of his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights, but U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the Middle District of Florida ruled that the arrest was “arguably justified under Florida’s obscenity law,” giving the officer and his supervisor “qualified immunity,” which means they are protected from the lawsuit.
This case underscores the ongoing debate in the U.S. over free speech and its boundaries, especially around expressions some might find offensive or derogatory. It also reflects how the First Amendment remains a contentious issue, with some insisting their right to free expression is under threat, while others argue for consideration that certain messages will have on the population.
What are your thoughts on this story? Please share your thoughts with us and then share it with your friends so we can get the conversation going!
FANS OUTRAGED: MARIAH CAREY’S RED CARPET OUTFIT SPARKS CONTROVERSY AT 54!
Mariah Carey is one of the most famous singers of her time. She is 54 years old now and recently got a lot of attention for an outfit she wore. Let’s see why people are talking about her clothing choice…
Mariah Carey caught many eyes at a big event full of well-dressed celebrities. People noticed her because she wore a very bold outfit.
At the third annual Recording Academy Honors, Mariah wore a dress that some people thought was unusual. It was a cream-colored dress that fit her body closely. The dress had a corset with sheer caramel-colored tulle details. It looked very good on her.
The dress also had a deep neckline that showed off her figure in a way some people thought was not appropriate.
While many fans loved Mariah Carey’s look, with one saying, “I like it,” and another saying the dress seemed to be “MADE for her,” not everyone felt the same way.
Some people thought the dress was not appropriate for someone her age. One person commented, “Maybe in the early ’90s, Mariah, but that’s not really something you should be wearing at 54.” Another person added, “At a certain age you just need to cover it up,” and a third said, “Someone needs to remind her that she’s 54, not 24.”
Mariah Carey is used to getting critical comments online. People often leave judgmental messages on her social media. In 2017, she posted pictures of herself with her then-boyfriend Bryan Tanaka on Instagram and got many mean comments about her weight.
One person wrote, “Mariah, you need to lose some weight because you’re starting to look like a whale.” Others said she looked “like a tease” and told her to “cover those airbags” or that she “looked gross.” Mariah has received many unfair comments like these over the years.
People always have a lot of opinions about what celebrities wear. However, what really matters is how the celebrity feels in their clothes. Mariah Carey has every right to wear a dress that some people might not like.
Leave a Reply