Suit claims city trying to limit Confederate statue protests

FLORENCE, Ala. — An organization that has staged dozens of protests against a Confederate monument in north Alabama filed suit contending the city of Florence is trying to limit the demonstrations in violation of free-speech guarantees. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Project Say Something and its founder, Camille Bennett, claims the city and Police Chief Ron Tyler are trying to clamp down on the protests by telling the group when, where and how it can demonstrate against the monument, located at the Lauderdale County Courthouse. While the group held as many as 175 demonstrations in 2020, it cut back the following year because the city used its noise and parade permit ordinances to discourage them, the lawsuit said. The group held “silent” protests in response to noise complaints after counter-protesters began gathering and yelling racial epithets at demonstrators, it said. David Gespass, co-chairman of the Alabama chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, which was among the organizations assisting with the lawsuit, said it was not up to the city or Tyler to tell people “where and how to protest.” “The First Amendment holds that everywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific and Canada to Mexico is a protest zone,” Gaspass said.