Of The Somers Record
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| Jon Gibson kneels in the spot where his sign was removed by police. What remains of the black stake that held up the sign can be seen. Photo credit: Bryan Fumagalli. |
Somers made national news this past week after a homeowner’s sign was removed from his lawn by a Somers police officer after the officer determined the sign was on Town property.
The removal of the sign, which reads “Protect the 2nd Amendment,” has the homeowner claiming his right to free speech has been violated due to his support of the Second Amendment. The Town, however, contends the sign was removed due to a violation of Town code, and not because of its message.
“I put the sign up primarily because I oppose the SAFE Act and how it was passed,” Lake Lincolndale resident Jon Gibson said, referring to New York’s newest gun control law. “I figured this was a way for me to do my part to raise awareness of the actions of our elected leaders.”
Gibson claims the removal of the sign violates his First Amendment right to free speech as well as his Fifth Amendment right to due process.
“The proper way to handle this would have been to give a citation to him and have him appear in front of a Town judge,” said Gibson’s attorney, Richard Bombardo. “It is unfathomable that his sign was taken down by the police without first giving him notice or the right to go before a judge. I think it is clear that they targeted the message of the sign.”
Bombardo also said that permanent structures are not allowed in the right of way, but signs and fences are, and as a result, his client’s private property rights were also violated.
Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy, however, said the sign’s message had nothing to do with the actions the police officer took, and no rights were violated. She said the Town controls the right of way, which extends about 15 feet into Gibson’s yard from the street. The extent of the right of way is not the same for every property in Somers. The right of way is often used by the Town during road repairs, for example.
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| Somers Police Officer Larry Collura exits his vehilce prior to removing the sign. Photo Courtesy of Jon Gibson. |
The matter was first brought to the Town’s attention after a complaint from Julia McCormack, who lives across the street from Gibson on Acacia Drive. McCormack said that not long after she watched the July 11 Town Board meeting where Assistant Building Inspector Thomas Tooma addressed the issue of signage and litter laws, Gibson put up the sign. She said she called the building department because she believed Gibson was in violation of Town code.
“It had nothing to do with the content of the sign,” she said. “We live in a town with laws and I hope people respect the Town code.”
Gibson received an Aug. 5 letter from the Town building department, alerting him to the fact that the sign may be in violation of Town code. Attached to the letter was a copy of the code. After consulting with Bombardo, Gibson called Building Inspector Efrem Citarella and informed him that his attorney said he had a Constitutional right to post the sign on his lawn under the First Amendment. Gibson said that Citarella told him to keep the sign up until he was told otherwise.
Then, Gibson said, the sign disappeared. He put up a replacement and that one disappeared as well. The sign, which was replaced three times, originally said, “Repeal the NY SAFE Act.”
“Efrem [Citarella] did actually say it was OK to leave it up until he got back to me, which never happened,” Gibson explained. “In fact, after the first one went missing, I called him to ask him if his people removed it and he said absolutely not. So that is why I suspected a neighbor and never the Town.”
Citarella was on vacation last week, and five calls to his office went unreturned by press time Monday night.
Gibson said he got the idea of installing a trail camera after discussing the situation in a forum on NYFirearms.com—a website dedicated to the ownership, laws and politics of firearms and weapons in New York State. The members of that site donated over $200 to Gibson, and he purchased and installed the camera.
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| Photo credit: Bryan Fumagalli. |
Three separate still shots from the camera—taken at 12:43 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 23—show Somers Police Officer Larry Collura exiting his vehicle, kicking the sign down and then putting it in his police car.
“The officer acted properly,” said Somers Chief of Police Michael Driscoll. “The sign was not on private property and the neighbors had complained about it. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with it.”
Driscoll said that Collura had removed the sign once before when he first responded to McCormack’s complaint.
The story was picked up by The Blaze, which contacted Gibson through the firearms forum. The Blaze, which is a news, information and opinion site created by conservative commentator Glenn Beck, published an article on its website late in the evening on Sept. 23. The article showed the still shots of Officer Collura taking the sign and gave Gibson’s side of the story. The article quickly went viral, and the story made national and even international headlines. That article did not give the Town’s side of the story.
For Gibson, interview requests from outlets like News 12 and Fox News Channel quickly followed.
For the Town of Somers it meant media attention, and then some.
“We have been getting calls for two days,” Driscoll said last Wednesday afternoon from his desk at the Somers police station. “Calls are coming in from all over the country and many are venomous. One person even threatened to kill a cop.”
Calls and emails also poured into Town Hall. As of last Friday afternoon, Supervisor Murphy said her office received about 200 emails, and even the Town Clerk’s office had received calls about the sign.
Driscoll said that no extra security measures had been taken in the wake of the phone calls.
“I take these calls very seriously and I know that most of them are law abiding citizens,” Driscoll said. “I am a Marine and spent 20 years in NYPD. I sympathize with these people, but this is inappropriate.”
Gibson agreed with Driscoll, and said that he is usually a supporter of the police and has friends in law enforcement. He cautioned that some of the people who made threats may have been anti-Second Amendment, and out to make gun owners look bad.
Bombardo said that within 30 days, a lawsuit against the Town will be filed on behalf of his client, claiming, as stated above, that Gibson’s rights to free speech and due process were violated. Specifically, the suit is expected to allege that the following criminal acts occurred:
• Criminal trespassing for the officer going onto private property;
• Larceny for taking the sign;
• Vandalism for knocking the sign down and breaking it;
• Improper government action for the way the entire thing was handled, violation of his First and Fifth Amendment rights.
According to Bombardo, subjects listed in the suit will most likely include the Town of Somers, Mary Beth Murphy, the building department, police department and individual officer(s) involved.
Gibson’s wife, Yamily, said that she is proud of her husband for taking a stand, and that residents have been supportive.
“We are not seeking the spotlight, but I think it is worth it,” she said. “The neighbors are backing us and even our friends who have different views see this as a fight for the rights of all of us.”
Bryan Fumagalli is the editor of The Somers Record and can be reached at fumagalli@halstonmedia.com or 845-490-1115.
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