A Florida man arrested for not removing an “I EAT ASS” sticker from the back of his truck has set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for his legal fees.
Dillon Shane Webb, 23, of Lake City, Fla., was arrested last week by a Columbia County Sheriff’s officer for refusing to remove the sticker from his car, Orlando Weekly reported. Florida officials later dropped all charges against Webb, who said the arrest violated his rights.
The GoFundMe page, created Friday, states that it is raising $15,000 to pay for Webb’s $2,500 bond, the more than $200 fee for having his truck towed and time from missed work.{mosads}
The page is also requesting funds “to pay for a lawyer to represent him against this Sheriff for standing up for his rights as well as yours.”
The page had raised $244 of its $15,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.
Webb is also selling “I EAT ASS” apparel featuring a donkey logo. The merchandise includes stickers, $15 coffee mugs, $22 T-shirts and $20 Samsung phone cases.
The deputy claimed that Webb’s sticker violated a Florida law and arrested him for resisting without violence and possession of obscene material. The charges were later dropped, after Assistant Florida State Attorney John Foster Durrett stated that the sticker was protected under the First Amendment.
“[The deputy] overstepped his boundaries by asking me to remove the sticker,” Webb told the New York Post. “I want people to see that police officers are not above the law.”
In a statement, Durrett said Webb raised a “valid defense.”
“Having evaluated the evidence through the prism of Supreme Court precedent it is determined the Defendant has a valid defense to be raised under the First Amendment of our United States Constitution. Given such, a jury would not convict under these facts,” Durrett said in a letter, according to Orlando Weekly.