A Texas woman is suing the local sheriff’s office because she said she was forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh — in a police car on her way to jail.
Bridgett Nickerson Boyd, who is black, was arrested in Harris County last year for driving on the shoulder.
She said a white sheriff’s deputy made her listen to Limbaugh “make derogatory comments about black people” in the squad car, according to Houston radio station KTRH.
Even though a judge dismissed the driving charges, Boyd is alleging “defamation, false imprisonment and emotional distress” in a federal suit against the county.
Troy Pradia, Boyd’s attorney, told KTRH his client shouldn‘t have had to listen to Limbaugh’s “racial” comments.
“If there is a white person that is arrested by a black officer and that officer is listening to the Black Panther radio network and certain things are said…I think the white person in the back of the police car they would feel something’s wrong too,” Pradia told the station’s Matt Patrick.
Although Pradia said he thinks the suit is “being blown out of proportion” and that it was originally filed over the arresting charges, he added that if you’re a police officer, “your political views shouldn‘t play a part in when you’re making an arrest for the citizens of Harris County or Huston.”
Patrick asked how Boyd could be so sure the arresting officer agreed with Limbaugh’s statements.
Pradia didn’t answer directly, only saying “it‘s a difference when you’re a public servant.”
Listen to the full interview below, courtesy of KTRH:
The station reached out to the Harris County Sheriff‘s Office and found there isn’t a policy regarding whether or not a deputy is allowed to have the radio on while there’s a suspect in the car.
“It’s the officer’s choice even if the radio’s on. Most of the time the radio will be turned off,” Robert Goerlitz of the Harris County Deputies Organization said.
Gerald Treece, associate dean of the South Texas College of Law, told KTRH he doesn’t think Boyd has a case.
“The fact the radio‘s on doesn’t mean that people are forced to listen to it, so my thinking is that while I understand her personal discomfort I don’t think it comes to the level of a federal civil rights violation,” he said.
