Driver arrested after giving police officer the middle finger pays $175,000

A $175,000 settlement has been reached in a Vermont man’s lawsuit that alleged he was arrested for giving a police officer the middle finger, the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday.

The civil rights organization said a state police trooper stopped Gregory Bombard and claimed he made the gesture, which Bombard denied. An argument ensued, and then Bombard actually gave the trooper the middle finger, leading to his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct, according to the ACLU.

“Police must respect the First Amendment rights of all people, including those who commit acts they find offensive or abusive,” said Hillary Rich, attorney for the ACLU of Vermont, in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Vermont and the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) against the police officer and the state of Vermont.

The defendants did not admit guilt, the settlement agreement states.

Bombard will receive $100,000 and the other $75,000 will be used for legal fees, the ACLU said.

The lawsuit accused Bombard of violating the First Amendment protecting free speech and the Fourth Amendment protecting against unreasonable search and seizure.

In a dashcam video posted online by FIRE, the officer can be seen telling Bombard during the traffic stop that as he drove by, “it looked like you were looking right at me, and it looked like you were sticking your middle finger in my face.”

Bombard denied this and said the officer seemed empathetic. “If someone gives you the middle finger, what is the punishment? What kind of crime is that?” he said in the video.

The officer replied that in his opinion such a gesture meant that someone was trying to get his attention and that this was unusual.

The officer tells Bombard to go and walks back to his patrol car. Bombard then drives away and the officer in his car can be heard saying that Bombard used offensive language and “flipped him the bird” and that he is going to stop him and arrest him for disorderly conduct.

A spokesman for the Vermont State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

In a statement released by the ACLU and FIRE, Bombard said he was pleased with the outcome.

“I hope that with this settlement, the Vermont State Police will train their officers not to suppress criticism or conduct warrantless car stops,” Bombard said. “And now I can at least pay my criminal defense attorney to defend me against the false charges and take my 88-year-old mother out to a nice dinner.”