{"id":18383,"date":"2023-07-28T16:21:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T20:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=18383"},"modified":"2024-08-12T11:46:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T15:46:24","slug":"veteran-files-third-lawsuit-after-being-cited-for-god-bless-the-homeless-vets-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/07\/veteran-files-third-lawsuit-after-being-cited-for-god-bless-the-homeless-vets-sign","title":{"rendered":"Christian Activist Wins Legal Battle Over ‘God Bless Homeless Vets’ Sign"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Lacy Jessica Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Georgia city will revise its panhandling laws and pay $55,000 following the arrest of a man who carried a sign reading “God Bless the Homeless Vets” was arrested.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army veteran and retired truck driver Jeffrey Gray was standing outside city hall in Port Wentworth, GA holding a sign that said \u201cGod Bless the Homeless Vets\u201d when a police officer arrested him. Gray, who began filming police interactions in 2011 as \u201ccivil rights investigations\u201d and posted them to his\u00a0YouTube<\/a> channel, filmed the interaction. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which is representing Gray yet again for this third suit, shared that the police were called, \u201cBecause [the sign] made city employees uncomfortable, a police officer told him that the sidewalks were private property and asked that he leave.\u201d FIRE added \u201cWhen Jeff began to film the encounter and asked if he was trespassing, the police officer detained him. When Jeff refused to identify himself, saying he would rather leave, he was arrested for refusing to provide identification.\u201d Gray has filed his suit against Port Wentworth Police Lt. Robert Hemminger in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Savannah Division.<\/p>\n

The settlement<\/a> stipulates that the city will revise its panhandling rules to ensure they protect First Amendment rights. Additionally, law enforcement officers will receive training to respect these rights.<\/p>\n

As part of the agreement, Alpharetta will pay $55,000 to cover legal fees and other costs. Of this amount, $41,250 will go to Gray, while the remaining will be allocated to The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the organization that represented him.<\/p>\n

The settlement requires Gray to dismiss all claims related to the lawsuit, and Alpharetta agrees to release any claims against Gray related to the case. This agreement effectively resolves the legal dispute, emphasizing the city’s commitment to upholding free speech rights.<\/p>\n

Gray expressed gratitude towards FIRE for challenging the local ordinance, stating that Alpharetta infringed on his free speech rights and would have succeeded without FIRE’s intervention. He praised FIRE for teaching Alpharetta that free speech rights extend to everyone, including the poor and homeless, and described his experience working with FIRE as one of the best in his life.<\/p>\n

FIRE filed two previous lawsuits for Gray. The first was against Blackshear, GA\u2019s police chief Chris Wright. Wright issued a criminal citation against Gray for holding his sign outside city hall without a permit. FIRE argued in that case that the city hall\u2019s ordinance was unconstitutional and similar to one struck down in 1969 by the Supreme Court. The city of Blackshear ultimately rescinded the ordinance and paid $1,791 to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. 1791 is the year the First Amendment was ratified. The second lawsuit filed was against Alpharetta, GA and is still pending. \u201cI have been harassed, trespassed, handcuffed, and arrested countless times for peacefully exercising my First Amendment rights,\u201d Gray said<\/a>\u00a0at the time. \u201cMy intention is to ensure that all Americans, from the wealthiest millionaire to the poorest homeless person, can exercise these rights without fear of consequence from our government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Georgia city will revise its panhandling laws and pay $55,000 following the arrest of a man who carried a sign reading “God Bless the Homeless Vets” was arrested. U.S. Army veteran and retired truck driver Jeffrey Gray was standing outside city hall in Port Wentworth, GA holding a sign that said \u201cGod Bless the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":18407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChristian Activist Wins Legal Battle Over 'God Bless Homeless Vets' Sign<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/07\/veteran-files-third-lawsuit-after-being-cited-for-god-bless-the-homeless-vets-sign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christian Activist Wins Legal Battle Over 'God Bless Homeless Vets' Sign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Georgia city will revise its panhandling laws and pay $55,000 following the arrest of a man who carried a sign reading “God Bless the Homeless Vets” was arrested. U.S. Army veteran and retired truck driver Jeffrey Gray was standing outside city hall in Port Wentworth, GA holding a sign that said \u201cGod Bless the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/07\/veteran-files-third-lawsuit-after-being-cited-for-god-bless-the-homeless-vets-sign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T20:21:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-12T15:46:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/07\/Homeless-Vets_credit-Courtesy-of-Lacy-Jessica-Photography-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christian Activist Wins Legal Battle Over 'God Bless Homeless Vets' Sign","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/07\/veteran-files-third-lawsuit-after-being-cited-for-god-bless-the-homeless-vets-sign","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christian Activist Wins Legal Battle Over 'God Bless Homeless Vets' Sign","og_description":"A Georgia city will revise its panhandling laws and pay $55,000 following the arrest of a man who carried a sign reading “God Bless the Homeless Vets” was arrested. U.S. Army veteran and retired truck driver Jeffrey Gray was standing outside city hall in Port Wentworth, GA holding a sign that said \u201cGod Bless the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/07\/veteran-files-third-lawsuit-after-being-cited-for-god-bless-the-homeless-vets-sign","og_site_name":"Beliefnet News","article_published_time":"2023-07-28T20:21:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-12T15:46:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/07\/Homeless-Vets_credit-Courtesy-of-Lacy-Jessica-Photography-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cecilia 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