Hanson to sue city of Gonzales

GONZALES – Mike Hanson, the man found not guilty last December of disrupting a meeting and resisting arrest, recently announced his plans to sue the city of Gonzales for $2.5 million.

Hanson is suing the city for false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

Hanson was charged with disrupting a meeting and resisting arrest during an October 2015 city council meeting, and was found not guilty of the charges during proceedings before County Judge David Bird on Dec. 16.

A copy of the complaint was given to the Gonzales Inquirer which stated that during the meeting, “[Hanson] determined prior incidents that should be publicly exposed. He wrote out his grievances and calculated it would take almost 20 minutes to read. During citizen's communication time, Plaintiff knew the time allotted to an individual speaker was 3 minutes, so he arranged for 7 others to file notice to speak, wherein he could hand the script to the next one. However, Plaintiff felt it would be more effective if he were able to tell the story, and, since he has spoken so many times in this forum and others like it, he knows that there is generally a concession whereby one signed up speaker can allot his time to the one at the podium. It was this premise that Plaintiff relied on when he began to speak.

“The mayor started the 3 minute clock when Plaintiff began to speak. This was the only time that night that the mayor made an accounting of the time. The second the clock hit the 3 minute mark, the mayor hit the face of his smart phone, which Plaintiff claims was the signal for Tim Crow, Gonzales chief of police, to rush to Plaintiff's side and immediately arrest Plaintiff. Plaintiff was summarily arrested, handcuffed and removed from city hall. The mayor had clearly conspired with the police chief for this contingency, in advance.

“Many people have run over the 3 minute citizen's comments period, yet, Hanson is the only person who has ever been arrested for going over the 3 minutes. The mayor simply said, 'Thank you Mr. Hanson,’ Hanson said, 'No, I'm not through', the mayor said, 'Oh yes you are,' while sending a text to the Police Chief. The police chief immediately stepped up to Plaintiff, twisted Hanson's arm behind arrest and said, 'You're under arrest.' Hanson said, as he was being handcuffed, 'I'm not going to be under arrest.' Police chief said, 'Yes, you are.'

“It is important to know the context of Hanson's speech to the city council. He was informing the council, and therefore the citizens, that federal agents had been raiding various houses and families in Gonzales, and had been doing so with the knowledge and consent of the city and county.”

Hanson said he is in the process of putting together a team of attorneys to handle the lawsuit.

As of press time Monday, City Attorney Jackie Williamson had yet to respond to a request for comment.