Minnesota judge to decide when cursing at police goes too far

A court case in Nisswa, Minn., could decide just how much a citizen is entitled to cuss out the police.

Fred Heidmann was mayor of Nisswa in August when he confronted officers who had stopped a car on busy state Hwy. 371, a major route to the Brainerd lakes area.

In Heidmann's view, the local police should have been spending their time patrolling neighborhoods rather than making traffic stops on a state highway.

And he told them so. Repeatedly. In very colorful language.

After the initial confrontation, Heidmann left the scene, but returned minutes later and continued his tirade. After telling Heidmann several times to stand back, officers grabbed him, pinned his arms behind his back, handcuffed him and put him in the back of a police car. He was charged with disorderly conduct.

Heidmann is no longer mayor; in November, he lost his bid for re-election. Now he's fighting to have the misdemeanor charge dismissed by a Crow Wing District Court judge. An additional misdemeanor charge of obstructing justice has been dismissed by prosecutors.

In legal filings, Heidmann — who's acting as his own attorney — argues that the arrest violated his right to free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

He also contends that prosecutors made legal errors in charging him and that the officers turned off their video cameras several times in violation of department policies.

In a police report, Heidmann was described as "yelling," a charge he denies. Several videos of the event appear to show Heidmann speaking emphatically, but not yelling.

One of the officers on the scene testified at a court hearing that he had to raise his own voice to speak because of the noise from passing traffic.

Videos show that Heidmann stood close to the officers at times and gestured with his hands, sometimes coming near their faces. And that, according to prosecutors, is enough to tip his behavior over the line.

"It is not the speech alone that triggers punishment; it is the noisy and boisterous method of delivery that violates the statute," prosecutors wrote in a court filing, citing legal precedents.

"When viewed as a package," they contend, Heid­mann's behavior was disorderly conduct.

In an interview, Heidmann said there's bad blood between him and the local police because of his past criticism of them. He said he's had disagreements with Craig Taylor, the Nisswa police chief.

"What's happening to me is retaliatory stuff," said Heidmann, who owns an equipment-rental business.

"The police don't like me and the police chief doesn't like me because I've called them out on the things that they've done wrong in our city. So they have a bone to pick with me."

In an e-mail, Taylor declined to discuss the case.

"All I would be willing to say is, the video of the incident speaks for itself," Taylor wrote.

Eric Klang is the police chief in neighboring Pequot Lakes. It was one of his officers who made the arrest. Klang said he's "baffled" by the behavior of Heidmann, whom he's known for at least 25 years.

"I've never seen him act like that before," Klang said. "I'm not really sure what his motive is. The whole thing is obviously odd." He defended the behavior of the officers on the scene.

"I think that the officers did a good job at maintaining their calmness and coolness throughout the whole thing," Klang said. "And he just keeps coming back. And eventually he gets arrested.

"I'm a little disappointed, obviously, that a city mayor would act that way."

After news reports on the incident last summer, the Nisswa City Council passed three resolutions censuring Heidmann and asked him to resign. He didn't, but he got only 13% of the vote when he ran for re-election.

Heidmann said he believes he was arrested simply for expressing an opinion, something every American has a right to do.

"The frustrating part is, we have a wonderful small community," he said. "And we have police officers — they may be good officers most of the time, but when they want to be, they can be very vindictive and very unprofessional.

"Instead of patrolling our neighborhoods and building relationships, they're sitting on the highway looking for a reason to pull people over," he said.

"If we're going to look up to our officers, we need them to be honest ... about why they arrested a guy they don't like."

Crow Wing District Judge Kristine DeMay is expected to rule next month on whether the charge against Heidmann will be dismissed.

John Reinan • 612-673-7402