SURPRISE, AZ — For Rebekah Massie, sometimes it still doesn’t feel real.
“I honestly don’t have words to describe it,” she said. “Because it still seems very fake.”
Her arrest on August 20 was captured on video and made national headlines.
On that day, an officer hauled Massie out of a Surprise City Council meeting on orders from the mayor and police chief.
Why?
She criticized the city’s attorney during public comment, violating a long-standing policy that prohibited speakers from badmouthing employees at council meetings.
“I think the video and the policy are both shocking,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE.
FIRE is representing Massie as she sues the City of Surprise for her arrest and a violation of her First Amendment rights.
With the ongoing national debate over free speech, Massie’s case garnered widespread condemnation from legal experts and groups on both sides of the political spectrum, including a conservative legal organization that officially requested an investigation into the police chief.
“I think you can watch the video, and if you don’t come away thinking this is a violation of the First Amendment, then maybe you don’t know what the First Amendment means or don’t care,” Steinbaugh said.
The City of Surprise said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
But ABC15 obtained an internal video message recorded by Surprise Police Chief Benny Pina a few days after Massie’s arrest.
In the clip, Pina defended the city’s actions and praised the officer who pulled Massie away from the podium.
“What happened last week in a council meeting resulted in what everybody in the world is calling an illegal arrest and a violation of First Amendment rights. That’s clearly not what we’re about and that’s not what happened,” Pina said.
He added, “Officer Shernicoff acted with absolute speed to carry out the mission as directed that evening.”
“If that is the mission of your police department, if that is the culture of your police department, then you need to have a real gut check,” Steinbaugh said.
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Massie’s trespassing charge was dismissed with prejudice two months after the arrest in a scathing order from a local judge.
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“No branch of any federal, state, or local government in this country should ever attempt to control the content of political speech,” ruled Justice of the Peace Gerald Williams. “In this case, the government did so in a manner that was objectively outrageous.”
Massie’s arrest also caught the attention of Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization.
In October, Judicial Watch requested an investigation from Arizona’s state police board into the police chief for the arrest and for his internal video.
Following Massie’s lawsuit, the city quickly removed the policy that the mayor used to stop and remove her from the city council meeting.
But Massie still feels there hasn’t been any real accountability.
“They are so bold to be so wrong in this instance,” she said.
In 2024, Massie was a regular fixture at city council meetings. She often spoke and criticized city officials. That’s why she wonders if the lawsuit will turn up evidence showing that the move to stop her public comment and arrest her was planned.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t have to admit unfortunately that was a possibility, and a very distinct one,” Massie said. “Was this not only pre-planned for the mayor to confront me but did they go in knowing that force was a possibility.”
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
