Arizona mother defends herself after being arrested for questioning local government in front of her 10-year-old daughter.

Last month, an Arizona mother was taken out of a city council meeting in handcuffs while her 10-year-old daughter watched, and is now suing the city of Surprise and its mayor for violating her First Amendment rights.

Rebekah Massie, 32, has been an active participant in government meetings and has previously spoken out about zoning changes. On Aug. 20, she raised concerns about the city attorney's salary.

Mayor Skip Hall interrupted Mayor Skip Hall mid-speech, accusing her of attacking the city attorney personally, and informed her that criticizing any municipal employee or council member, regardless of name, violated council policy, referring her to a note on the back of the agenda.

"I could swear at you for three straight minutes and it would be protected speech, as seen in a video of the incident," Massie retorted.

You've got to stop talking," Hall told her, "or do you want to be escorted out of here?

Surprise Police Officer Steven Shernicoff was called by Hall to escort Massie out of the building after she reiterated that the policy is unconstitutional. When Massie resisted, the officer placed her in handcuffs and removed her from the room.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was detained for at least two hours, given a "pretty invasive pat down" and fingerprinted, which violated her Fourth Amendment rights, said Massie's attorney, Conor Fitzpatrick with the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Fitzpatrick stated that her daughter did not accompany her to police headquarters and was not informed about her daughter's location during the entire incident.

The charge of trespassing against her is unclear.

"According to Fitzpatrick, public officials are elected to serve the public, not silence them. While they may disagree with the public's opinions, there is no law that requires them to comply with every request. However, they must listen to the public."

FIRE, originally established to challenge colleges and universities for infringing on their students' First Amendment rights, has expanded its scope to defend individuals against mayors and chairs who abuse their power to suppress and penalize those who speak out at public meetings. According to Fitzpatrick, such incidents are more frequent than they should be.

The coalition successfully removed Eastpointe's former mayor, Monique Owens, after she repeatedly silenced constituents who criticized her during public comment periods. As a result, the Detroit suburb agreed to end their unconstitutional restrictions on citizens' free speech, passed a resolution apologizing to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit, paid each plaintiff over $17,000, and established Sept. 6 as the community's "First Amendment Day," as reported by FIRE and the Detroit Free Press.

In Massie's case, Fitzpatrick stated that FIRE had not witnessed anything to the same extent.

Another Surprise resident, Quintus Schulzke, is named in the lawsuit and frequently speaks out at council meetings.

Fitzpatrick told Planet Chronicle Digital that the rule affecting people beyond Rebekah, like Quintus, who usually participate, saw what happened to Rebekah and now see the rule being enforced as casting a pall. This leads people to self-censor and say, 'I'm not going to a city counsel meeting, I could leave in handcuffs,'

"The First Amendment must be upheld at city council, as a government cannot impose a rule that requires praise in order to be heard," he emphasized.

"Fitzpatrick stated that every American should feel free to attend their city council and school board meetings and become involved. He emphasized that the law is there to protect individuals like Rebekah, and the First Amendment will support any American who wants to participate in government meetings."

Neither Hall nor Shernicoff could be reached for comment on the impending lawsuit.