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.
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The current appearance of Jim Carrey’s 33-year-old daughter.
Some well-known actors said that they developed celebrity sickness following their first significant success. Not everyone was able to get over it. People lost their fame, families, and careers. Some were eventually able to realize that they needed to put fame aside and focus on their careers.
Jim Carrey, a well-known actor, was unable to resist celebrity fever at the beginning of his career. His marriage was devastated by it. Jim had a child by this point as well.
Jim Carrey became well-known thanks to “Ace Ventura.” Not just in his home nation but also outside of it, people became aware of him. The actor’s fame did not last forever. He started to indulge in outrageous behavior.
Jim’s wife initially put up with his pranks while working to calm down her famous husband. Kerry remained unchanged, and things continued to become worse.
His wife divorced him. Both the actor and his wife found the divorce procedure to be quite difficult. The fact that the couple had a young daughter added complications to everything. They chose to carry out their joint parenting duties rather than subject the kid to psychological harm.
The performer, who had many fans, did not experience loneliness for very long after a public divorce. He remarried, but the union did not endure very long. Jim Carrey chose to maintain his coveted single status.
The actor was able to comprehend that a small person existed in his life. He started supporting his daughter’s artistic ambitions. She started writing novels after developing a love for music.
Despite moving in with her mother following the divorce, the girl’s connection with her father is the finest. They like working together and have a good understanding of one another.
The girl dislikes discussing who her father is in conversation. She does not want to be known just as the actor’s renowned actor’s kid.
Jim Carrey, on the other hand, reportedly became weary of his stardom. The actor’s lack of a social media account is at least one indication of this. His sole publicly accessible profile was on Twitter. Jim than just did it to keep an eye on his daughter’s life. Father and daughter are unable to speak as frequently as they would like because of their constant busyness.
The girl has developed into a genuine beauty and is no longer like the chubby youngster she once was.
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