Politics & Government

Anti-Fracking Activist Sues Outgoing Lafayette Mayor

The plaintiff alleges that outgoing mayor Christine Berg violated his first amendment rights by deleting Facebook comments.

LAFAYETTE, CO -- The founder of anti-fracking advocacy group East Boulder County United, Lafayette resident Cliff Willmeng, filed a lawsuit Jan. 17 against the city's outgoing Mayor Christine Berg, according to reporting from the Daily Camera. Willmeng alleged that in blocking and removing critical comments he had made on her official Facebook page, Berg violated his First Amendment rights.

"Plaintiff Clifton Willmeng is a concerned citizen who has posted comments critical of Defendant Berg on her Facebook page," Willmeng's attorneys Darold W. Killmer, Andrew McNulty and Tania Valdez of Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP, wrote in a filing Thursday. "For that, Defendant Berg removed his comments and blocked him from posting any further messages. Defendant Berg's practice of stifling Mr. Willmeng's valid criticism of her is unconstitutional, and this suit seeks to end it."

This is the second such case Willmeng has brought in recent months, after he, together with Marine Corps reservist Eddie Asher, brought similar charges against Thornton Mayor Pro-Tem Jan Kulmann, alleging that she was censoring her government social media page.

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Read the full story from the Daily Camera here.

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