Controversial truck’s owner may sue sheriff
Facebook post about sticker violated civil rights, lawyer says
Karen Fonseca, who is at the center of a social media dispute with Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls, is considering a civil rights lawsuit against the sheriff ’s office.
Fonseca’s attorney, Brian Middleton, made the announcement during a news conference on Monday. Middleton added that the American Civil Liberties Union has also expressed interest in a possible lawsuit.
“We should not allow Sheriff (Troy) Nehls to intimidate people into silence,” Middleton said. “This is wrong, and we will not let it stand.”
The threat of legal action stems from controversy over a Facebook post Nehls made last Wednesday, regarding Fonseca’s white truck, which bears a sticker that reads “F--- Trump and f--you for voting for him.”
Nehls threatened to charge Fonseca with disorderly conduct over the sticker. A day later, Fonseca was arrested on a preexisting fraud warrant out of the Rosenberg Police Department. She was arrested and released last Thursday on $1,500 bail.
On Sunday, she shared a photo of the new decals on her truck on Facebook. It showed a new decal on her white truck — this time referencing Nehls, according to her Facebook post.
“F--- Troy Nehls and f--- you for voting for him,” reads the sticker, which is placed to the right of the initial sticker about Trump and his voters.
On Monday afternoon, Nehls released a statement denying the incident was politically motivated.
“The facts in this case as I see them are that Karen Fonseca wanted to place her feelings into the public realm by driving around with an obscenity on her vehicle. She got just that — much public recognition. This recognition did not cause her to be indicted by a grand jury for Felony Fraud (this happened back in August of 2017), but it did bring the subsequent warrant to our attention and we did our job by arresting her,” Nehls wrote.
“Having heard her talk in the public since the beginning of this, I am now quite aware that no such hope for a calm and reasonable discussion exists with her,” Nehls wrote. “This is sad, and I hope that in the end she can come to see that just because citizens may have the legal right to do something, it does not always make it the right thing to do.”
Middleton said he was building a case for a federal civil rights lawsuit against Nehls for allegedly violating Fonseca’s right to free speech. He declined to answer specific questions about the possible lawsuit.
“Everyone’s voice should be heard,” Fonseca told reporters at the press conference, adding she thought Nehls had used the situation to gain attention for his not-yet-announced congressional run for the Republican nomination.
The news conference was organized by state Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Democrat who represents District 27 in eastern Fort Bend County. Reynolds said he was inspired to stand up for Fonseca against what he described as a “partisan political stunt.”
“Here you have an ambitious sheriff that is well known to be likely positioning himself to run for Congress in a few weeks against incumbent Pete Olson in the Republican primary,” Reynolds said.
“The bottom line is that Karen was targeted by Sheriff Nehls because she was exercising her constitutional First Amendment right of free speech,” he said.