BREAKING NEWS: Audio of Leonard Leo influencing police in arrest of protester who has filed suit in federal court
NORTHEAST HARBOR, July 20, 2023 - Eli Durant-McDonald, 24, the protester whose disorderly conduct charge was dismissed by the Hancock County district attorney in the spring, has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Bangor against the two officers who arrested him at the behest of dark money operative Leonard Leo.
The Bangor Daily News first reported the lawsuit today which names Lt. Kevin Edgecomb of the Mount Desert Police Department and Officer Nathan Formby of the Bar Harbor Police Department.
The towns of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert were served papers July 12 from McKee Law in Augusta seeking $150,000 in damages, MD Town Manager Durlin Lunt confirmed today. The matter has been referred to the insurer Maine Municipal Association, which will assign an attorney to defend the town, Lunt said.
It seeks an unspecified amount of damages, and Leo is not named in the lawsuit, which claims the officers violated Durand-McDonnell’s First Amendment and 14th Amendment rights, with two additional state claims related to false arrest and violating the Maine Civil Rights Act.
The protests in front of Leo’s house at 46 South Shore Road started shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe Vs. Wade last year.
Leo, 57, has been a longtime leader of the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative legal group. After forming a dark-money network in 2005 to back high court nominees from then-President George W. Bush, he was credited with helping former President Donald Trump appoint Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the court.
The BDN reported the following today:
“Only audio and no video comes from Edgecomb’s body camera microphone as he and Formby talk with Leo inside and then come back outside to arrest Durand-McDonnell, with the police vehicle’s dashcam continuing to record the street and capturing part of the arrest.
“I think it’s time for us to press some charges,” Leo said after welcoming officers into his study.
“Leo called police in July 2022 after he said Durand-McDonnell swore at him in Northeast Harbor. The audio reveals him saying the protester had been “harassing us for weeks” but “crossed the line” by cursing at Leo and his family.
“He also said Durand-McDonnell told him “you’re going to hell” and told his wife and daughter, who was 11 at the time, “you’re all going with him.” Durand-McDonnell denies making the statements that Leo reported to police, said Morgan, who argued they would be protected political speech even if his client had made those remarks.
“Inside the study, Leo goes on to tell police that Durand-McDonnell “looks unstable” and that protesters were engaging in “harassment and intimidation intended to drive someone out of the community.”
“I mean, if he wants to put a bullet between my two eyes, fine. Let him do it, OK?” Leo said of Durand-McDonnell. “But I can’t have him dealing with my family that way.”
Edgecomb discussed the potential charges with Leo, saying “if he was yelling expletives at you up on Main Street, that’s disorderly conduct, and I think we can charge him for that.”
“If I could make it my way, he wouldn’t be allowed in Northeast Harbor, but bail commissioners don’t do that often,” the policeman adds.
The two officers left Leo’s home after the roughly 20-minute conversation to inform Durand-McDonnell of the charge and arrest him. Other protesters approached and chanted “shame on you.” Edgecomb told demonstrators that police had witnesses, also replying the charge came because the offensive speech happened “in a public place, look it up.”
Maine law defines disorderly conduct as a crime when a person “knowingly accosts, insults, taunts or challenges any person with offensive, derisive or annoying words” in a public or private place that would be likely to prompt “a violent response” by an ordinary person being accosted.
But it also says an officer needs to be in the presence of a person committing a Class E misdemeanor crime to make a warrantless arrest, unless the person was out on bail. Morgan said Durand-McDonnell was not out on bail at the time.
While Leo had footage of a separate incident involving additional protesters, he provided no video of Durand-McDonnell swearing at him. Edgecomb told Leo he would get statements from Leo and his wife before going to arrest Durand-McDonnell.
Edgecomb’s local ties were apparent during the tense arrest outside Leo’s home, as several protesters called the lieutenant who has been with the department for more than 20 years by his first name. One said “your mother would be embarrassed” as he made the arrest.
“You’re a good guy getting on the wrong side, Kevin,” one said. “It’s really, really sad.”
Attorney Matt Morgan of August is representing Durand-McDonnell.
Lenny's utter contempt for his neighbors is demonstrated by his thinking that the town policemen will be his water-boys, doing his bidding to dispose of pesky reminders of his corruption of the body politic. Facilitating the bribing of Supreme Court Justices on a grand scale with $500,000 gifts from far-right Texans is just appalling; Lenny does not much like being called on it. Although Lenny's preferred solution of having Mr. Durant-McDonald tossed into Guantanamo to go have breakfast with the mujaheddin would be more to his taste, the local prosecutor is not so accommodating. Oh, well.
Thanks for reporting on this and other subjects the local paper doesn't seem to want to touch. I may have to join the protests, people like this guy are what is killing democracy and freedom.