A jury decided last week that Lieutenant Benjamin Moore of the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) did not violate the First Amendment rights of two demonstrators who refused to disperse from a 2019 “Lights for Liberty” protest against ICE. Activists Phil Martinez and George Soria sued Moore and the City of Phoenix in July 2021, alleging that they were arrested in retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights to engage in free speech critical of the police, with Martinez stating that it caused him a panic attack. The pair and others were arrested for obstructing the highway, public thoroughfare, and unlawful assembly.
Moore’s defense attorney, John Masterson of Jones Skelton & Hochuli PLC, explained in his closing argument to the jury that the reason Moore didn’t arrest most of the other protesters is because they left when the police asked them to disperse. He noted that Martinez’s and Soria’s attorney Mart Harris admitted that Martinez and Soria refused to leave, and that there had been over 100 warnings to disperse.
Masterson said the videos showed the police arresting numerous protesters. He said they revealed that some of the protesters who got in the officers’ faces screaming hateful things at them weren’t arrested, which was evidence Martinez and Soria weren’t arrested for saying hateful things.
He said Martinez claimed he didn’t hear the police order him to leave, despite the fact the police issued over 100 warnings, so it was up to the jury to decide whether or not Martinez heard any of the warnings.
Masterson said Martinez admitted he didn’t know who Moore was before the arrest, so Moore couldn’t have targeted him based on his previous actions like speaking to the city council.
He said Martinez has a police scanner which he uses to discover incidents involving police responses, and shows up at them. Masterson said Martinez didn’t worry about his safety, nor the fact he’d had a panic attack due to the arrest, instead Masterson said he continued to attend more protests. Masterson said it wasn’t the first time Martinez had engaged in that type of behavior. “In Maryvale he went to a protest and was blocking a roadway and resisting arrest,” he said. In Chandler, police told Martinez to leave the street and he refused, so he was arrested.
At one of the incidents that occurred after the Lights for Liberty arrest, “[w]hen asked by an investigating officer why he was interfering, he called the officer a motherf***** and told him to shut the f*** up.”
Another time Martinez showed up at an incident, he said to an officer, “F*** you, you short motherf*****.”
Masterson said Martinez’s story changed over time, at one point saying he feared the police, then stating that he didn’t. “So he testified that calling police officers white supremacists and f****** Nazis makes for a great show to his YouTube viewers,” Masterson said.
After suing Phoenix Police, Martinez filed a similar lawsuit against the City of Chandler. “He says he was targeted,” Masterson said. “Sound familiar? Apparently he’s targeted everywhere. But in Chandler, guess who wasn’t there? Lieutenant Moore.”
He went on, “Does it sound like a guy who thought he was going to die? Would go out and do the exact same things he says caused that panic, that caused that fear of death.”
Masterson said other than cussing out a different officer at the ICE protest — and there was “no evidence Lieutenant Moore heard about that” — Martinez didn’t appear to say much, nor was he sporting any anti-police gear, so Moore couldn’t have arrested him for his free speech.
In regards to Soria, Masterson noted that Soria admitted he heard the dispersal orders. Soria carried a sign that said police are baby killers or child killers, and a Soviet flag. Masterson said Harris talked extensively about allegedly false accusations of aggravated assault, but it was a “red herring” since it wasn’t what Soria and Martinez were arrested for.
Masterson pointed out that the DOJ issued a report about the incident, which falsely stated that only the two were arrested. He said the DOJ also falsely stated that Martinez said he was “well-known to the lieutenant,” which contradicted Martinez’s testimony. Masterson instructed the jury to take into consideration the false information in the DOJ’s report.
The DOJ issued a report in June alleging that the PPD violated the rights of suspects based on racism. However, an attorney for the Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs released videos refuting the report. A longtime PPD officer told The Arizona Sun Times that “the report was full of inconsistencies and fabrications.” He said any of the incidents they list can easily be debunked.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Phoenix Police Officers” by Phoenix Police Department.
