Carolina Forest man wrongfully arrested ‘to send a message’ during BLM protest

A judge ruled on Monday in favor of a 23-year-old Carolina Forest man who was arrested in 2020 in Myrtle Beach during the protest that was organized in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Noah Spadone was arrested for disorderly conduct on May 31, 2020 and was said to have used “profanity” or “fighting words.” These terms, according to Cornell Law School, are not protected under the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a case from 1942, said that fighting words “inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.”

My Horry News reported that Spadone was outside of the Myrtle Beach Police Department when he was arrested. “When the prosecution presented its case Monday, police admitted that Spadone had not used that type of language. Both police and the prosecutor said Spadone should have been arrested for blocking a driveway to the police department, but when Spadone’s lawyers pointed out that he wasn’t charged with that specific offense, Judge Scott Long agreed with the defense.”

Long’s verdict has resulted in Spadone being acquitted of the disorderly conduct charge.

Lt. Mike Quinn, a 17-year veteran of the police department, was the one who arrested Spadone. During a cross examination, he said that he told Spadone to stop protesting on the driveway of the department. Quinn said the department needed to keep the area open, but said that Spadone and others would not move. Quinn then said that police began making arrests for disorderly conduct “to send a message,” My Horry News reported.

The Sun News has reached out to the Myrtle Beach Police Department asking for a comment on Quinn’s actions. We have not yet received a response.