WINDSOR, Va. — A judge has rejected a former Windsor Police officer's request to drop First Amendment claims in a lawsuit stemming from a traffic stop that sparked national outrage.
Ex-Windsor Police Officer Joe Gutierrez asked the court to dismiss Army Lt. Caron Nazario's First Amendment claims because Nazario was not actually arrested, but a federal judge rejected that request, saying Gutierrez is seen in the bodycam video threatening to arrest Nazario if he chose to argue.
"Threatening to arrest an individual with the aim of suppressing speech is a constitutional tort regardless of whether the threat is carried out," US District Judge Roderick C. Young wrote in his opinion.
It's the latest development in a case prompted by a traffic stop involving Nazario and Windsor Officers Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker.
Body camera video of the traffic stop showed the officers drawing their guns, pointing them at Nazario and using a slang term that Nazario was about to "ride the lightning" to suggest he was facing execution before pepper-spraying him and knocking him to the ground.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.