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on May 16, 2024
A Tennessee man arrested over a social media post of two people urinating on the grave of a slain sheriff's officer is suing law enforcement officers for $1 million claiming they violated his First Amendment rights.
Joshua Andrew Garton, 28, was arrested in January after posting a faked photograph that depicted two people urinating on a gravestone with a photo of a Dickson County sheriff's officer Daniel Baker, who was fatally shot in 2018.
The post was captioned, 'Just showing my respect to deputy Daniel Baker from the #dicksoncountypolicedepartment.'
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) was called in at the request of District Attorney Ray Crouch.
Investigators determined the photo was taken from an album cover for The Rites' 2009 album Pissing On Your Grave with a copy of Baker´s official work portrait 'crudely' edited onto the grave, court documents show.
Nonetheless, Garton was charged with harassment and jailed for nearly two weeks on a $76,000 bond until a Dickson County judge dismissed his charges February 4.
Joshua Garton, 28, left, posted a fake image of two people urinating on the grave of slain sheriff's officer Daniel Baker, right. The fake image was taken from an album cover of the The Rites' 2009 album Pissing On Your Grave
The fake image was taken from an album cover of the The Rites' 2009 album Pissing On Your Grave, with Baker's face photoshopped onto the gravestone
Documents released under a public records request filed by Garton's attorney, Daniel Horwitz, show investigators believed the post could be perceived as threatening or intimidating to Baker´s surviving relatives - even though he did not send it to them.
'The trolls will do what trolls do. It appears they and the lawyers forget that there are surviving family members who have rights as well,' TBI Director David Rausch said in a text conversation included in the records.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville on Tuesday argues Garton was the victim of 'false arrest and malicious prosecution' with authorities 'incarcerating him for weeks and broadcasting his mugshot and the fact of his arrest to news media and the public in retaliation for disrespecting police.'
Garton posted the photo to a private page but it then was shared by others.
According to the lawsuit, Garton is disabled and suffers from mental illness.
Garton is suing Crouch, Rausch, other TBI officials, a Dickson police officer, and the city of Dickson over his treatment.
The lawsuit argues the arrest was a malicious prosecution and violated his constitutional right to freedom of expression.
The TBI and Crouch's office declined to comment.
Baker was fatally shot in the line of duty while investigating a suspicious vehicle in May 2018.
His alleged killer Steven Wiggins has been charged with first degree murder and is expected to be tried in a federal death penalty case in October 2022. His trial has been delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.