Waylon Bailey was arrested on March 20, 2020 by a SWAT team in Louisiana after posting a joke on Facebook reading, “JUST IN: RAPIDES PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE HAVE ISSUED THE ORDER, IF DEPUTIES COME INTO CONTACT WITH ‘THE INFECTED’ SHOOT ON SIGHT…Lord have mercy on us all. # covid9teen # weneedyoubradpitt.”
The SWAT-style raid of sheriff deputies showed up at his home wearing their bulletproof vests and weapons drawn. Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office (RPSO) Detective Randell Iles was assigned to investigate the post and claimed the post was a potential “terrorist threat.” Bailey meant is as a joke at the beginning of the pandemic. He claimed the hashtag # weneedyoubradpitt” was referring to Pitt’s “World War Z” movie and that he was joking with another friend’s post.
More than three years later, charges have been dropped by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judges found the post did not present a safety issue or any threat. In September of 2020, Bailey filed a lawsuit against the RPSO, including Detective Iles and Sheriff Mark Wood, but the case was dismissed “on the grounds of qualified immunity, used to protect government officials from civil liability unless they violate a constitutional right,” and that his joke did create a “clear and present danger.”
By-FZ
