Vermont has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit on behalf of a man who was charged with a crime for giving a state trooper the middle finger in 2018.

Vermont has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit on behalf of a man who was charged with a crime for giving a state trooper the middle finger in 2018, the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by the ACLU of Vermont on behalf of Gregory Bombard, of St. Albans. It says Bombard’s First Amendment rights were violated after an unnecessary traffic stop and retaliatory arrest in 2018.

Trooper Jay Riggen stopped Bombard’s vehicle in St. Albans on Feb. 9, 2018, because he believed Bombard had shown him the middle finger, according to the lawsuit. Bombard denied that but says he did curse and display the middle finger once the initial stop was concluded.

      • bolexforsoup
        294·
        4 months ago

        Ah got it. Unfortunately makes me think of 88 so I probably won’t adopt it.

        • SoleInvictus
          90·
          4 months ago

          I think of it as “taking number substitution back”, or 20-14-19-2. We can’t let fascists, Nazis, and general scum bags ruin everything.

          • explodicleEnglish
            102·
            4 months ago

            I’m still trying to take “libertarian” back.

              • Viking_Hippie
                30·
                4 months ago

                Counteroffer: it continues to mean asshole in Italy and now also the rest of the world.

                • lost_faith
                  10·
                  4 months ago

                  Well, it can continue to mean that there but it used to mean ok here. Now the only 2 groups that can use it here are scuba divers(while diving) and white supremacists. I am neither.

          • bolexforsoup
            60·
            4 months ago

            I get that but I am not particularly attached to number substitution as social messaging personally lol like no disrespect to yall who want to use it, I just live in the south and the dog whistles are endless. Misinterpretation can get weird here too.

            • SoleInvictus
              20·
              4 months ago

              No disrespect perceived, you’re fine. It may be a Southern thing too - my wife is from the South and she also associates it with the seemingly endless dog whistles of her life there.

              • bolexforsoup
                20·
                4 months ago

                Yeah it’s one of those weird little social land mines we deal with every day. You say a particular string of words or some reference, suddenly somebody you just met is talking to you about pizzagate or the gay agenda or something. There are too many secret codes down here that make people suddenly think you are “one of them.”

        • Soulg
          124·
          4 months ago

          Yep my immediate thought too

        • shadshack
          40·
          4 months ago

          Yeah I’m with you. Just say ACAB. No sense in obscuring it further than the acronym already does.