The Boulet Administration has dropped a lawsuit against a local comedian who made satirical social media posts about a fake event.
The comedian, John Merrifield, posted a response on his Facebook page:
Boulet's spokeswoman confirmed this morning that the suit will be dropped; the clerk of court record does not reflect its dismissal as yet. Here's a comment from City Attorney Patrick S. Ottinger:
“As I have done from the beginning of my term as City-Parish Attorney, I have evaluated a number of suits brought by Lafayette Consolidated Government in order to ascertain whether they should be continued. The suit was brought in response to actions of an individual who initiated a false rumor of marches by Antifa at a time of great tension in this community.I have directed the dismissal of numerous suits and believe this suit to no longer be in the best interest of city-parish resources to pursue.”
The suit was filed by the Guillory administration back in September 2020.
The lawsuit asked the court to find comedian John Merrifield liable for any expenses the city incurred, even though the suit admits the post was a hoax. The suit claims that the city was required to send officers to the fake event "to ensure no harm befell any citizens or property from people taking the Antifa hoax seriously."
The suit didn't say how much money the city wants, but it does say the damages are less than $75,000 - which is the amount that would have triggered a jury.
Merrifield, who lived in New York at the time, posted the fake event on his satire Facebook page. The event said that Antifa was coming to River Ranch. It referenced "membership cards" and "uniforms." It also urged attendees to bring their arms, but added "legs are optional."
Prior to the date of the "event," Merrifield gave several interviews to local media, including KATC, stating that the post was a joke. You can see our interview with here.
Despite that, on the date of the fake event, River Ranch was crawling with Lafayette Police and Lafayette Sheriff's deputies. Although KATC made several public records requests for information regarding the cost of the deployment of those officers, the Guillory administration never produced any documents or information in response.
The LPSO did respond to a similar request, and said all deputies who worked the event - which did not happen - were on the clock for their regular duties, so no extra money was spent.
Although experts have stated repeatedly that Antifa is not a group but a movement, the lawsuit cites a tweet by then-President Donald Trump saying he will designate it as a terrorist organization. However, it does admit the "event" was a hoax, and describes a similar hoax perpetrated in another state.
Merrifield said all along that no reasonable person would believe it was anything but a hoax.
He told KATC that he intentionally worded the event description so that "anyone with discernment" would know it was a joke. He said he wasn't surprised that Lafayette's mayor felt compelled to address the post; but instead, "maybe validated."
We've reached out to Merrifield to see if he has any comment about today's statement from Ottinger.
The lawsuit also mentions a second fake event that was shared on social media targeting the Mall of Acadiana, which resulted in the mall closing early. Read more on that here.
To read our stories about the lawsuit's progress since 2020, click here, here and here.
