Vermont Man Arrested for Cursing at State Trooper Awarded $175,000 in Settlement

Gregory Bombard. Courtesy of Kevin Goddard Photography

A Vermont man who was pulled over, arrested, and locked up for swearing and giving a state trooper the middle finger was awarded $175,000 in a settlement after suing for violation of his First Amendment rights.

Gregory Bombard, of St. Albans will receive $100,000 in damages and $75,000 in attorneys’ fees under the settlement signed June 26 with the Vermont State Police (VSP) and State Trooper Jay Riggen.

In February 2018, Mr. Riggen pulled Mr. Bombard over for mistakenly thinking he gave him the middle finger. The police dashcam caught the encounter, and the footage showed Mr. Bombard challenging Mr. Riggen.

“If someone flipped you off, what is the citation? What’s the crime?” Mr. Bombard asked the officer. He added later, “​​That would be considered freedom of expression.”

When Mr. Riggen pulled away, Mr. Bombard then did flip the officer the bird and cursed at him. Mr. Riggen then pulled Mr. Bombard over a second time, handcuffed him, and arrested him for “disorderly conduct.”

Mr. Bombard was fingerprinted and jailed, and his mugshot was distributed to local media.

He was defended by the ACLU of Vermont and by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an advocacy group that describes itself as has “the nation’s leading defender of fundamental rights on college campuses.”

“Cursing at cops isn’t a crime,” said FIRE senior attorney Jay Diaz in a June 26 press release, “Calling it ‘disorderly conduct’ isn’t a get-out-the-Constitution-free card that allows police to silence speech they don’t like.”

VSP Spokesman Adam Silverman told The Epoch Times via email that “Jay Riggen retired from VSP effective May 31, 2024. We have no additional comment on this case.”

Mr. Bombard said in the news release that he hopes VSP will train its troopers better.

“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,” he said.

Aside from arresting him, Mr. Riggen had Mr. Bombard’s car towed for being in front of a “no parking” sign after Mr. Bombard pulled over.

After Mr. Bombard filed the lawsuit, FIRE released the police dashcam video of the encounter in December 2023.

The VSP then received calls from the public complaining about the violation of Mr. Bombard’s rights.

The VSP then sent a sheriff to Mr. Bombard with another citation for disorderly conduct on Christmas Day, blaming him for the phone calls, FIRE said.

Mr. Diaz said FIRE got all the records for that second citation and Mr. Bombard did not make any of the calls to the police.