RENO (AP) — A Sparks police officer is seeking $1 million in damages after he was suspended for four days for making comments on his private social media account that the city says constituted threats to Black Lives Matter activists and others.
The City Council voted Monday to hire independent counsel to defend the city against the lawsuit filed last month by George Forbush.
The lawsuit says the city violated his constitutional right to free speech when it punished him because of views expressed on his personal social media.
One of his posts last summer said he planned to "build a couple AR pistols just for BLM, Antifa or active shooters who cross my path and can't maintain social distancing."
