Three Idaho citizens arrested and charged of breaking COVID-19 rules last fall have also filed a lawsuit over city authorities' violation of their first and fourth amendment rights.
Gabriel Rench, Sean Bohnet, and Rachel Bohnet sued the city government of Moscow, Idaho including its prosecutor, police chief and two more police officers for arresting them for not wearing masks. Their suit was filed by the Thomas More Society. Michael Jacques, the Society's attorney, said that Moscow has violated its own ordinance because of the unlawful arrest and detainment of his clients.
Back in late September, Moscow Report said that Rench and the Bohnets were arrested for "violating the city's recently extended mask mandate" and for refusing "to show their ID to the police when asked." The three were among the 300 people in attendance to the outdoor event organized by Christ Church -a known evangelical congregation in the area, to protest against Moscow Mayor Bill Lambert's extended mask mandate by singing hymns outside the city hall.
Rench explained to The Daily Wire that a police officer first approached his mother during the singing. He was beside his mother, and placing his arm around his friend, told the officer that he's also with him. That's when he was asked for his ID which Rench refused. He and the Bohnets were then handcuffed and led to the police car.
"Violating the face mask and social distancing order" were the cited reasons for their detainment of several hours at the country jail.
Per the Daily Wire, "State Law does not require Idaho residents to identify themselves to law enforcement if they are not driving." Furthermore, both Rench and Sean Bohnet attest the apparent selective enforcement of their cited violations during their jail time.
"We thought a city that would premeditatively break the law in order to detain and jail those lawfully not wearing masks would at least offer one to incarcerated people," Bohnet said. "However, we were in good company. Staff at the jail occasionally had no issue with letting their faces freely shine too."
In his talk on his radio show after his release, Gabriel Rench also noted the lax enforcement of the mask mandate inside the country jail.
"And as they were de-booking me, or whatever they call it, I'm walking out and I go by their office, which is right next to where I'm getting booked out. And there's three deputies in the officer, and two of them aren't wearing masks and sitting right next to each other. And I said, 'hey, should they get arrested?'" said Rench as quoted by Breitbart.
Daily Wire also noted that on matters of public health emergency orders, city's codes allow exemptions including "any and all expressive and associative activity protected by the U.S. and Idaho constitutions, including speech, press, assembly, and/or religious activity."
Thomas More Society counsel Michael Jacques said that the arresting officers "failed to follow the mandatory exemptions listed in the city ordinance" and that they have "demonstrated reckless indifference to the defendants' First Amendment rights."
The counsel added that when city officials recklessly deprive its citizens of their constitutional rights, the same 'ignorance of the law is no defense' - the motto which they have gleefully used to prosecute civilians particularly church people, will not let them off the hook.
