Flipping Off Cops: A Form of Political Dissent?

When I was 16, I randomly spied my high school social studies teacher in a crowd outside a Grateful Dead concert. Surprise turned to awe when I witnessed Mr. F suddenly bolt into the street and give the bird to a Berkeley police cruiser stuck hapless in a sea of tie dye. Mr. F ran off before I could say anything, and days later he flatly denied having raising his middle finger at authorities. While this disappointed me at the time, now I suspect he taught a valuable lesson: it may be righteous fun to flip off the cops, but don't brag or linger if you want to get away with it.

Apparently, Robert Ekas never had a Mr. F in his life. The Oregon man made news recently for the federal lawsuit he launched following a one-finger salute controversy. Apparently, Ekas repeatedly made the obscene gesture at Clackamas County police while driving. Cops took offense, pulled him over and then wrote up some bogus traffic citations to teach him a lesson. The citations were subsequently dismissed -- and now Elks has sued, claiming official violation of his First Amendment rights.

As a purely legal matter, Ekas is quite correct. The First Amendment protects offensive non-verbal speech, and citizens have every right to express their dislike of police. So long as Ekas' gesticulations were not threatening or inciting chaos, the police had no legitimate grounds to pull him over or arrest him.

But though Ekas may technically have a case, he's hardly a poster boy for free speech. Indeed, he bears a more striking resemblance to the Simpsons' Comic Book Guy than to any genuine political dissident. In this interview with local news, for example, Ekas actually uses Latin in a bit of nerdy flourish -- digitus impudicus -- to describe his act, but he fails to say anything about real problems posed by police violence that could meaningfully justify his dissent.

In the end, Ekas' indignation at a dismissed traffic ticket, of all things, strikes me as silly whining by a privileged white guy. Of course the cops pulled you over for flipping them off. What did you expect, Ekas? If you were black, they probably would have beat you up, arrested you, thrown you in jail and then charged you with assault. Think about that for second, my friend. But good luck with your lawsuit anyway -- if you do win, that would be the better bird by far.

Photo Credit: Towboat Garage