Joshua Gibbons, who records Kingsport officers and posts to YouTube, alleges his recordings prompted an October 2022 predawn raid and arrest on minor charges later dismissed. FIRE represents him in a federal civil-rights lawsuit.
Charged with disorderly conduct, speeding, and cellphone use while driving, Gibbons saw all criminal charges dismissed after trials and appeals.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is representing Gibbons in a federal lawsuit alleging the arrests were retaliation for his recordings and criticism.
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the evidence insufficient to uphold the disorderly conduct conviction, and FIRE argues the police response was disproportionate.
# What happened
Joshua Gibbons, a Tennessee man known for filming Kingsport police officers and uploading the videos to his YouTube channel, says local officers retaliated after he published recordings. In October 2022 Gibbons filmed a Kingsport sergeant who appeared to be speeding without emergency lights and later recorded an officer making an offensive gesture. He posted those videos online.
# Legal course and outcomes
Gibbons said in FIRE's press release: "They tried to intimidate me, but I'm not backing down... They sent eight heavily armed officers to arrest me because I embarrassed them." FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh described the department's response as "wildly disproportionate" and framed the case as an illustration of how police should not answer criticism. Steinbaugh added: "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."
# Context and legal background
Gibbons is part of a larger trend of independent reporters, livestreamers, and self-described First Amendment auditors who record police and public employees to hold them accountable and to test compliance with constitutional protections. Federal courts across all nine circuits that have addressed the issue recognize a First Amendment right to film police in public. Case law also protects expressive criticism of police, including use of vulgar language or gestures, in many circumstances.
# Why this matters
The case raises questions about the line between lawful criticism and conduct that can be criminalized as disorderly. It also tests whether law-enforcement responses to being recorded crossed constitutional boundaries when officers executed an armed predawn arrest warrant targeting a local recorder. The federal suit asks whether the police acted in retaliation for protected speech.
# Immediate next steps
Gibbons's federal civil-rights lawsuit will proceed with FIRE representing him against municipal and individual defendants. The criminal record issues that triggered the arrest have been resolved in Gibbons's favor by the appeals court ruling, but his federal claim centers on alleged First Amendment retaliation and the propriety of the department's tactics.
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) - A Tennessee man has gone public with a federal lawsuit he filed in 2023 against the City of Kingsport and members of the Kingsport Police Department for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights. In 2022, Joshua Gibbons, known as "Big G Audits" online, noticed a Kingsport police officer s
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