Driver arrested for middle finger at cop wins lawsuit

Nearly one third of people have admitted to flashing their middle finger in a fit of traffic-induced anger ( per a 2020 report from Audacy ). Many may think little of it, but doing so could be a gamble.

For example, Vermont State Trooper Jay Riggen stopped motorist Gregory Bombard in 2018 because he believed Bombard gave him the middle finger, according to the state’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union . This week, the chapter announced it settled a lawsuit related to the incident and that Bombard has been awarded $100,000 in damages and $75,000 in legal fees.

Per Dictionary.com , an obscene gesture of contempt made by pointing this finger upward while folding the other fingers against the palm. As of 2012, “the finger” had been considered a rude gesture for more than two millennia, the BBC reported .

While Bombard denied “flipping the bird”, he was allegedly detained by Riggen for questioning. Then, after the initial traffic stop was over, he did actually curse and display his middle finger. At that, Riggen arrested Bombard for disorderly conduct.

“He was jailed for over an hour, cited to criminal court, and forced to navigate criminal proceedings for nearly a year before the charge was dismissed,” said the ACLU.

In 2021, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on Bombard’s behalf. It asserted that the initial traffic stop violated his rights to be free from unreasonable seizure and false arrest.

Additionally, the suit argued that giving the middle finger to protest a police officer’s actions is free expression protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article Thirteen of the Vermont Constitution. NPR reported in 2019 on another case involving the middle finger where a court found that police can’t pull people over for making the gesture.

Jay Diaz, senior attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said that lawyers learned that the Vermont State Police did not have a general First Amendment policy or training for its officers. According to the ACLU, research also shows that the department stops drivers at a higher rate than the national average.

“While our client is pleased with this outcome, this incident should never have happened in the first place,” said Hillary Rich, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Vermont. “Police need to respect everyone’s First Amendment rights – even for things they consider offensive or insulting. State legislators need to do more to prevent unnecessary and unjustified police interactions like the one Mr. Bombard experienced – by downsizing the footprint and broad authority of police in our communities.”

As for Bombard, he’s planning to relax with a nice meal after dealing with the impact of the traffic stop for more than five years.

“With this settlement, I hope the Vermont State Police will train its troopers to avoid silencing criticism or making baseless car stops,” he said. “And at least now I can pay my criminal attorney for defending me from the bogus charges and take my 88-year-old mother out for a nice dinner.”