It is not prohibited by law: in the USA, you can show the police the middle finger, but it is better not to

It happens that misunderstandings arise with representatives of the law. And when all the arguments come to an end, the middle finger comes into play. So in the USA, you can show this indecent gesture to a policeman, and nothing will happen to you for it.

A resident of Oregon, Robert Ekas, decided to check whether the First Amendment, which ensures freedom of speech, actually works.

When Ekas decided to check whether the right to freedom of speech was valid, he did not open his mouth. Instead, he used the middle finger. From the car window, he showed the police an indecent gesture. Some guards ignored him, others showed the middle finger in response, cursed and even stopped Ekas to issue a fine for violations that he did not commit. "Dug up", to put it simply.

Then Robert Ekas decided to sue the police for violating his right to freedom of speech, and even fines were issued for no reason. And the most interesting thing is that he won the court. Lawyers claim that an indecent gesture to the police is, of course, unpleasant and insulting, but it does not contradict the law.

As a result, the court decided to pay Robert $ 4,000, including $ 600 for legal costs.

Note that this is not the first time that police officers have paid compensation for violating the First Amendment. The fact is that the middle finger does not qualify as a provocation and does not prevent the police from performing their direct duties. But the police can still arrest a freedom of speech fighter for something else. Is it worth the desire to "send" police time and money to the court?