Man arrested and charged with felony terrorism for COVID joke in 2020!
Court rules it was protected speech under First Amendment.
ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana (PNN) - August 30, 2023 - Waylon Bailey was arrested and charged with felony terrorism in March 2020 for posting a COVID joke to his Facebook page.
Bailey’s post was an obvious joke. He even referenced “World War Z,” a 2013 zombie apocalypse movie starring Brad Pitt.
“SHARE SHARE SHARE !!!!” Bailey wrote in a Facebook post. “JUST IN: RAPIDES PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE HAS ISSUED THE ORDER, IF DEPUTIES COME INTO CONTACT WITH ‘THE INFECTED’ SHOOT ON SIGHT… Lord have mercy on us all.”
Within hours, a dozen SWAT officers in bulletproof vests from the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office showed up to Bailey’s Alexandria, Louisiana home and arrested him without a warrant.
Bailey was arrested and charged with felony terrorism for posting a joke on his Facebook page.
He was released on a $1,200 bond and the District Attorney decided not to prosecute him. Still, the news of the arrest upended his life, so he decided to pursue legal action against the Sheriff.
In September 2020 Bailey filed a lawsuit accusing Detective Randell Iles and Sheriff Mark Wood for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights.
In July 2022, Fascist Police States of Amerika District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana, David Joseph, dismissed Waylon Bailey’s claims and ruled the Sheriff was protected under qualified immunity, which shields government officials from liability unless it can be proven they violated the Constitution.
Bailey appealed the judge’s decision and on Friday, the FPSA Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled his COVID joke was indeed protected speech under the First Amendment.
“The post did not direct any person or group to take any unlawful action immediately or in the near future,” the judges wrote. “… at worst, his post was a joke in poor taste, but it cannot be read as intentionally directed to incitement.”
The appellate judges ruled Detective Randell Iles had no right to arrest Bailey.
