SULPHUR SPRINGS -- A Noel (Mo.) man addressed the Sulphur Springs council on Thursday night alleging that the police department had violated his First Amendment rights at Sulphur Springs' June 27 celebration in the city park when they threatened him with arrest for distributing pro-life tracts in the city park.
In a written statement handed out to the council members by John Fitts, he alleges that part-time police officer Shane Weber and police chief Duke Brackney approached him in the city park on June 27 and told him that Weber had received three complaints stating Fitts was forcing people to take the materials he was distributing there.
Fitts, age 70 and a soft-spoken and small man, said he never forced anyone to take the materials, but was passing them out to anyone willing to take a copy.
"On June 27, 2015, I, John Fitts ... was at the Sulphur Days event in the park distributing the attached tracts," Fitts' statement said. "I was approached by Shane Weber, who stated he was the park's administrator, city councilman and a city police officer. Weber was accompanied by the police chief. Weber stated that he had three complaints that I was forcing people to take the subject tracts."
According to Fitts, he asked Weber if the city had an ordinance against him passing out tracts in the park, and Weber said there was no ordinance prohibiting the activity but then told him he would ask him to leave if he "heard one more complaint."
Fitts said he asked Weber if he was aware of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and Weber referred him to the police chief.
According to Fitt's statement, Chief Brackney told him, while "fondling the grip of his holstered pistol," "You will be arrested for 'disruptive behavior.'"
According to Fitts, Weber stated he had "evicted" Fitts from the park last year, but Fitts said he was not evicted but left on the second day of the event because of a rainstorm.
Fitts wrote, "For the second time the police chief stated that I would be arrested for 'disruptive behavior' while toying with the grip of his sidearm."
Fitts further wrote, "Knowing your chief's past history, this irritated me. I then left the park."
Fitts told council members that, due to phone calls he had received from Sulphur Springs residents, council members had likely violated the Freedom of Information Act by discussing his complaint among themselves outside of a regular called meeting.
Fitts' statement also outlined some background information on his prior service as a U.S. Marine, a Navy Seal and reserve deputy with the San Diego County (Calif.) Sheriff's Department, as well as holding a bachelor's degree in law enforcement from the University of California, San Diego.
No action was taken at the council meeting regarding the complaint, and the city's attorney, Bryan Vernetti, cautioned the council against questioning Weber or Brackney about the event during the public meeting. He told the council members that he wasn't telling them they couldn't question Weber or Brackney in the meeting, but he cautioned against it since it could be a matter of evaluating an employee's performance and wasn't the normal way the council handles comments from the public.
Vernetti told council members they could study the complaint and take it up at the next meeting if they like, adding the stern warning that the law prohibited them from discussing the matter with each other or the mayor outside of the public meeting, though they could individually speak to the police chief about it, or Fitts, if they chose to do so.
Following the meeting, Brackney said Weber had received complaints that Fitts was taking people by the arm and insisting people take his tracts. Brackney discounted parts of Fitts' statement as untrue and alleged that Fitts was possibly guilty of assault and disorderly conduct.
Fitts, both in his statement and in a telephone conversation on Friday, denied ever touching anyone or demanding that people accept his tracts.
"I never did touch anybody," Fitts said, adding that he has often distributed tracts at similar types of events in McDonald County (Mo.) and in Northwest Arkansas with no complaints or confrontations with police.
Fitts said it would be conterproductive to try to force anyone to take his tracts since they would just discard them in the nearest trash receptacle.
This reporter, while taking photographs, also observed Fitts quietly passing out tracts at the Sulphur Springs event and received a tract from him. He was not seen to be touching anyone or forcing people to accept his tracts.
The tract distributed by Fitts was printed on an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet of paper and addressed to pro-life advocates. The tract suggested granting "personhood" status to unborn children to gain for the unborn constitutional protections. The tract included one passage of the Bible, Jeremiah 1:5, and asked pro-life advocates to pray for those seeking "personhood" status for the unborn, to copy the letter and pass it on to other pro-life advocates, to support the cause with contributions and pray for the unborn. It included contact information for Personhood USA.
General News on 07/15/2015