LOS ANGELES - The City of Huntington Beach faces multiple civil rights violation accusations in federal court.
The complaint was filed by plaintiff Shayna Lathus on April 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Lathus was a member of the Huntington Beach Citizen Participation Advisory Board and is active in local politics.
On April 27, 2019, Lathus participated in a public demonstration in support of immigrants. She was allegedly photographed standing near what were believed to be members of the anti-fascist "Antifa" group.
Lathus alleges that the mayor of Huntington Beach then contacted her and requested she publicly denounce Antifa on social media or face losing her spot on the advisory board.
After Lathus' statement was allegedly not enough because it did not explicitly denounce Antifa and rather only stated that she did not engage with Antifa, Lathus was asked to resign and was removed from the advisory board.
The defendant is accused of government compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment and retaliation for protected speech, association and assembly.
Lathus is represented by Andrea Ruth Bird of Costa Mesa and Jerold D. Friedman of Huntington Beach.