Louisiana Man Wins $205,000 in Damages After Arrest Over Joke on Facebook

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In Louisiana in March 2020, a cavalcade of heavily armored sheriff’s deputies descended upon the home of Waylon Bailey. Arrested under the intimidation of guns, Bailey was subjected to what looked like a militarized raid often reserved for violent offenders. But Bailey’s alleged “crime” was simply a post he made on Facebook. The arrest was all because of a seemingly harmless jab at the pandemic he made on Facebook, a joke that compared COVID-19 to a zombie apocalypse. This arrest landed Bailey with a felony charge and him staring at a possible 15-year imprisonment before he won his case. A federal jury was cognizant of the unwarranted trauma inflicted on Bailey and responded by awarding him $205,000 in compensation for this wrongful arrest. The case, which was presented by the Institute for Justice, played a significant role in the jury siding with Bailey. The onset of the pandemic was a turbulent time; in the spur of the moment, Bailey attempted to lighten the gravity of the situation with a playful Facebook post. Jokingly comparing the onset of the Covid pandemic to a zombie apocalypse, Bailey satirically claimed that anyone found infected should be shot at sight. Unfortunately, local officials interpreted this humor as a call for violence, which led to Bailey’s subsequent arrest. Despite Bailey indicating that his post was thoroughly humorous and devoid of ill intentions, Detective Randell Iles, who helmed the investigation,…Louisiana Man Wins $205,000 in Damages After Arrest Over Joke on Facebook