Local First Amendment auditor sues Kingsport, police over 2022 arrest

KINGSPORT — A lawsuit filed against the city of Kingsport and its police department claiming officers retaliated against a local YouTuber is seeing new light after recent developments. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonpartisan nonprofit described as "dedicated to defending the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought," shared a news release Tuesday to bring more attention to the case. Joshua Gibbons filed the lawsuit on Oct. 17, 2023, with the help of FIRE. He was originally charged with unlawful use of a cellphone while driving, speeding and disorderly conduct. "They tried to intimidate me, but I'm not backing down," Gibbons said. "I can't let this injustice stand, because my family doesn't feel safe anymore. There's no coming back from that raid on our home. They sent eight heavily armed officers to arrest me because I embarrassed them." Named in the lawsuit are the city of Kingsport, now-retired Kingsport Police Chief Dale Phipps, and current Kingsport Police Chief Jason Bellamy — as well as Sean Chambers, Martin Taylor, Darrell Johnson, Robert Mills and Daniel Horne, who were all employed by KPD at the time of the lawsuit. A city of Kingsport representative told the Times News on Tuesday that the city "does not comment on pending litigation." Background Also known online as "Big G Audits," Gibbons runs a YouTube channel where he has previously shared footage of on-duty police officers and public officials. Oftentimes these recorded encounters involved holding local employees or officials accountable for their actions. Around a year earlier, on Oct. 10, 2022, Gibbons shared a video to his channel where he captured cellphone footage of a Kingsport Police Department vehicle driving on Stone Drive. Gibbons showed his own speedometer and panned over to the KPD car in front of him, alleging the cop was speeding. "Now this is how fast we're supposed to be going, 45," he said in the video. "That's what the speed limit is down through here, 45. Look at him, is he doing 45? I don't think he's doing 45, do you?" In a later clip, Gibbons approached the same KPD vehicle while the officer was in line at Cook Out. He asked the officer for his name and badge number. The officer declined to provide the information and said he was not speeding. Gibbons then walked around to the back of the police car, told the officer he had footage of him speeding and said he would be recieving a formal complaint for his behavior. The one-minute interaction on video included two expletive phrases from Gibbons directed at the officer before the recorded encounter ended. He shared another interaction with a KPD officer in an Oct. 15, 2022 video. Court documents stated that a KPD detective was made aware of the video showing the Cook Out drive thru incident on Oct. 17, 2022, and the officer then charged Gibbons with the three original charges mentioned earlier. An arrest warrant based on the detective's sworn affidavit of complaint was issued the same day. Eight officers went to Gibbons' home at 5 a.m. the next day, where he was arrested and taken to jail, according to the complaint. Gibbons shared videos from the time he was arrested to his YouTube on Oct. 20, 2022, which includes cellphone and security camera footage of the officers entering the home. Latest updates Traffic charges were later dismissed, and Gibbons was convicted of disorderly conduct in General Sessions court in late 2024, records show. A Tennessee appellate court decided to reverse the trial court's judgement on disorderly conduct and dismissed the case, according to a June 2 filing. "Because the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction of disorderly conduct, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and dismiss the case," the decision document from the appellate court states. Attorneys Timothy Horne and Assistant Public Defender (Appellate Division) Kendall Stivers Jones defended Gibbons in the criminal case; Richie Collins, Dan Channing Stanley and Ursula Bailey are serving as local counsel in the civil action lawsuit, the FIRE release states. FIRE Senior Attorney Adam Steinbaugh said this is an example of a "wildly disproportionate response" from police in response to criticism. "The First Amendment protects the right to film and criticize police officers without having to worry that you're going to wake up in handcuffs," he said in the release. "The Kingsport Police Department needs to hear that message loud and clear."