From the decision earlier this month by Judge F. Kay Behm (E.D. Mich.) in Rideout v. Shelby Twp.:
This case arises from Rideout's arrest after a series of protests against the Shelby Township Chief of Police, Robert Shelide, a defendant here. On June 16, 2020, Chief Shelide was suspended for thirty days after having made multiple posts on a Twitter Account using a pseudonym supporting racist ideals and endorsing police brutality. On July 1, 2020, July 15, 2020, and July 20, 2020, Rideout participated in protests against Shelide. On the evening of July 20, 2020, local media interviewed Rideout, who criticized Shelide's return from suspension and called for his resignation.
According to the SAC [Second Amended Complaint], in response to Rideout's criticisms, the named Defendants worked together to retaliate against him for exercising his constitutional rights under the First Amendment. Rideout alleges that Shelide and the police officer defendants colluded to conduct a pretextual investigation of his activities on July 20, 2020 to fabricate a misdemeanor charge of violating Mich. Comp. Laws § 257.602 (failure to comply with the order or direction of a police officer) and presented false or misleading facts to the prosecutor's office. No other protester was arrested for their participation in the July 20, 2020 protests/demonstrations.
The SAC alleges that Defendant Ermir Villa's police report, which served as the basis for the warrant, was untruthful and failed to include exculpatory evidence. The SAC further alleges that Villa, the other Defendant officers, and Shelide were all aware at the time the arrest warrant was obtained that Rideout sought to cooperate with officers at the protest, asked for more time to disperse the crowd, and the officer on the ground granted that request. Despite this knowledge, Defendants colluded to omit this information from the presentation of evidence to the prosecutor and magistrate who issued the warrant.
In 2021, Rideout filed a motion to dismiss the charges based on a lack of probable cause and insufficient evidence. After an evidentiary hearing, the state court judge dismissed the charges, ruling:
