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!
This kitchen is where the big dog is hiding. Can you find it?
This kitchen is where the big dog is hiding. Can you find it?
It’s interesting how optical illusions and other images that mess with your mind can almost change the way you think.
Lots of pictures like this can be found on the web and in old books, but this one is real.
There’s a “invisible” person in this picture, but it’s not a sneaky thief or intruder…
The thing that everyone is looking for is a dog.
This picture is so tricky that even people who are good at seeing optical illusions get it…
The big dog is right in front of you. Can you see it? Look at the picture below!
(Don’t stress if you can’t find it right away. We’ll show you how to do it until you understand…
7 News Perth says that a woman named Christina Suvo was the first person to share the picture.
Christina said she saw a dog in the picture.
But a lot of people were not sure. There don’t seem to be any living things in the picture. But believe me, that’s a dog.
The whole kitchen can be seen here. Now you can see the dog.
Don’t worry if you can’t find him. We also didn’t see it at first.
We’ll solve this optical illusion the way most people do: by cutting the picture up into squares.
Start with the top left square and work your way down.
Have you yet found the dog? He’s in box four, which is a clue.
Click on the picture below to find out exactly where the dog is!
Even though it’s still hard to see him, you can probably make out the difference between his lighter stomach and the black carpet.
In the picture above, the arrows point to the dog’s eyes, ears, and stomach.
Yes, the black dog is still hard to see on the black carpet, but he’s there.
It’s easy to see that his stomach is lighter and the inside of his ears are pink.
You can see the dog better in the picture above if you’re still having trouble. This time, he’s getting extra attention.
Now you should be able to see the dog’s face very well. We love his big eyes and long nose. One of his ears looks like it’s backwards.
The dog is a black Labrador adult. That big of a dog was able to hide in this picture! Labradors usually weigh between 65 and 75 pounds (30 to 35 kilos).
Did the dog show up the first time?
This article is great for people who like optical illusions and clever Where’s Waldo pictures. Please share it on Facebook with your friends and family!
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