{"id":2020190,"date":"2023-09-02T11:11:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T15:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mans-covid-joke-sparked-swat-raid-but-now-a-judge-has-allowed-him-to-execute-powerful-retaliation\/"},"modified":"2023-09-02T11:15:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T15:15:44","slug":"mans-covid-joke-sparked-swat-raid-but-now-a-judge-has-allowed-him-to-execute-powerful-retaliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mans-covid-joke-sparked-swat-raid-but-now-a-judge-has-allowed-him-to-execute-powerful-retaliation\/","title":{"rendered":"Man&#8217;s COVID joke led to SWAT raid, but judge permits powerful retaliation."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmans-covid-joke-sparked-swat-raid-but-now-a-judge-has-allowed-him-to-execute-powerful-retaliation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2020190&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Man&#8217;s COVID Joke Sparked \u2062SWAT Raid, \u200dBut\u200b Now a Judge Has Allowed Him to Execute \u2064Powerful Retaliation<\/h2>\n<p>In March of\u200d 2020, Facebook\u2064 user Waylon Bailey was sitting in \u200chis house, blissfully\u200b ignorant\u2063 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-texas-becoming-very-hot-area-for-heavily-armed-cartel-gangsters-to-cross-police\/\" title=\"Police say South Texas is becoming a prime location for heavily armed cartel gangsters to cross.\">heavily armed members<\/a> of the Rapides Parish, Louisiana,\u200b Sheriff\u2019s\u200c Office were just about to pound down his \u200cdoor and arrest him for daring to make a joke about the COVID-19 pandemic on\u200c social media.<\/p>\n<p>Now, \u200bmore \u200dthan three years\u200b later,\u2063 a court \u200chas handed him a huge victory.<\/p>\n<p>Bailey instantly went from a social media-using citizen\u200c joking about zombies and viruses to an accused criminal facing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/entire-u-s-senate-invited-to-meet-virtually-with-zelensky-on-saturday\/\" title=\"Entire U.S. Senate Invited to Meet Virtually With Zelensky on Saturday\">15-year prison term<\/a> at the hands\u2064 of these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sen-josh-hawley-demands-ag-garland-answer-3-questions-swat-style-raid-arrest-pro-life-activist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">out-of-control<\/a> officials.<\/p>\n<p>The joke that sparked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fbi-kills-yet-another-american-home-time-100-disabled-veteran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SWAT-style raid<\/a> on his\u200d home was an\u200c allusion \u2064to the 2013 film \u201cWorld War Z,\u201d in which\u200c government officials mowed down infected zombies with machine-gun\u200c fire.<\/p>\n<p>The Louisiana man joked \u200bthat the Rapides Parish Sheriff\u2019s Office had told deputies to mow\u2063 down \u201cthe infected\u201d on sight, adding: \u201cLord have mercy on us\u200b all. #Covid9teen #weneedyoubradpitt,\u201d according \u200cto <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2023\/08\/30\/a-ruling-against-a-man-arrested-for-a-covid-19-joke-highlights-the-influence-of-a-pernicious-analogy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reason Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Soon \u200dafter, \u2064RPSO Detective \u2064Randell \u200bIles determined that the joke\u2062 violated a state\u2064 law (<a href=\"https:\/\/legis.la.gov\/legis\/Law.aspx?d=78514\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RS\u2064 14:40.1<\/a>) against \u201cterrorizing\u201d the \u200cpublic. And\u2063 on that claim, officers went to \u2062Bailey\u2019s home and arrested him without a warrant, armed with weapons and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mans-covid-joke-sparked-swat-raid-but-now-a-judge-has-allowed-him-to-execute-powerful-retaliation\/\" title=\"Man's COVID joke led to SWAT raid, but judge permits powerful retaliation.\">wearing bullet-proof vests<\/a>. They justified their act by claiming Bailey was a possible\u200d terrorist.<\/p>\n<p>He was \u200darrested and booked, \u200cbled \u2062of $1,200 for bond, and\u2064 released later that day, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2023\/08\/30\/covid-joke-terrorism-court-ruling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington Post<\/a> reported. \u200bUltimately, while Bailey sat home worrying for months, the state decided not to prosecute him and dropped the case. But \u200che still felt compelled\u200d to delete all his social media to avoid \u2064the attacks \u2014 robbing him of his free\u2064 speech \u2014 and lost friends who believed\u2064 the initial reports \u200bthat he was \u200da nascent terrorist\u200c on the very of endangering \u200cthe \u2063community.<\/p>\n<p>He also says that he now fears the government and his local\u2064 police alike.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, Bailey filed\u200d a lawsuit in September\u2062 of 2020, claiming that Detective Iles\u200d and Sheriff Mark \u2064Wood violated his First and Fourth Amendment\u2062 rights with the arrest, according to \u200cthe Post.<\/p>\n<p>Bailey waited for \u2062two \u200dyears before U.S. District Judge for the\u2062 Western District \u200bof Louisiana David\u2064 Joseph\u200d dismissed Bailey\u2019s case, claiming that the police officers had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/unopposed-scotus-decision-delivers-devastating-news-blm-police-will-rejoice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cqualified immunity,\u201d<\/a> \u200b which \u200bshielded them from being\u200c held accountable.<\/p>\n<p>Qualified\u2063 immunity is meant to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-police-chief-corrects-msnbc-host-live-on-air-after-she-says-defunding-the-police-wont-hurt-law-enforcement\/\" title=\"WATCH: Police Chief Corrects MSNBC Host Live On Air After She Says \u2018Defunding The Police\u2019 Won\u2019t Hurt Law Enforcement\">protect police officers<\/a> from being arrested \u200cafter performing their \u200clegal duties and \u200bhelps prevent them from being charged by every last junkie or perp who thinks they\u2019ve been wronged. It is not supposed\u200b to cover every infraction a police officer perpetrates while in uniform, but it does \u200boffer a lot of\u2062 protection.<\/p>\n<p>Bailey quickly filed an appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the U.S. Court\u2064 of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has handed him a victory.<\/p>\n<p>The court \u200bnot only ruled that Bailey\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/smoking-gun-jim-jordan-releases-facebook-files-revealing-damning-internal-emails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> post was free speech,\u200d but\u2064 that the sheriffs had no right to arrest him. The \u200dappeals court\u200b also ruled that nothing he wrote on Facebook amounted to any threats of violence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe post did not \u200cdirect any person or group \u200dto take any \u200dunlawful action immediately or in the near future,\u201d the judges added. \u201d \u2026 at worst, his post was a joke \u200cin poor taste, but it cannot be read as\u200b intentionally directed \u200dto incitement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Post\u200b added that the judges wrote there \u201cwere no facts that\u2062 would lead a reasonable person to believe that Bailey\u2019s post caused sustained fear.\u201d The ruling continued, saying,\u200c \u201cNo members of the public expressed any type\u2064 of concern. Even if\u2063 the post\u200d were taken seriously, it is too general and contingent to be a \u200bspecific\u2062 threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Without a doubt, Bailey said that the appeals\u200b ruling was \u2064a \u201chuge weight\u201d off his shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a really good feeling knowing that the superior judges thought it was silly, too,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cIt just [reassured me about] all\u200b of the thoughts\u200d and stuff I had these past three years about if\u2062 I\u2019m overreacting, if it\u2019s \u2064even\u200c worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben\u2062 Field, Bailey\u2019s attorney, celebrated the victory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great victory for Waylon and for the Constitution,\u201d the attorney said. \u201cIt clearly\u200b lays out that police have to respect First Amendment rights online, and that they can\u2019t wantonly arrest \u2063people \u200bwho make jokes about\u200b them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bailey \u200cfeels \u200cvindicated, \u201cI woke up with a much more blissful feeling knowing the right decision was made.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What Bailey had to go\u2063 through is all too typical of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/police-carry-illegal-raid-news-outlet-seize-everything-report-local-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abuse<\/a> of power we\u200b are witnessing all across \u200dthe nation. Americans \u2014 \u200bespecially those who violate \u200bthe left\u2019s agenda \u2014 \u2063are finding out-of-control\u200b government operatives descending on too many of them, \u2064causing them to suffer steep financial burdens, societal \u200bostracization and loss of freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mans-covid-joke-sparked-swat-raid-now-judge-allowed-execute-powerful-retaliation\/\">Man&#8217;s\u200b COVID Joke Sparked SWAT \u2063Raid,\u200b But Now a Judge\u2062 Has Allowed Him to Execute\u2063 Powerful Retaliation<\/a> appeared\u2062 first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In March 2020, Waylon Bailey, a Facebook user, had no idea that armed members of the Rapides Parish Sheriff&#8217;s Office were about to arrest him for a COVID-19 joke on social media. Over three years have passed since that incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":2020191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2020190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2020190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2020191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2020190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2020190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2020190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}