State College to pay $12K to settle civil rights lawsuit with flag-burning liberal activist
State College agreed to pay $12,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by a liberal activist who accused the borough of violating the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
The borough is required to pay a $5,000 insurance policy deductible, spokeswoman Kayla Lafferty wrote in a text message to the Centre Daily Times. Borough Council authorized the settlement in December.
The agreement was made publicly available Thursday after it was “fully executed and signed,” Lafferty wrote. The borough did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement; it denied nearly all of Eugene Stilp’s allegations in its response to the lawsuit.
The settlement, Stilp said, marks “another positive result in our effort to explain our disagreement” with former President Donald Trump. He plans to continue burning flags; Stilp said he expects to return to Centre County before the primary election.
“We will continue to burn the flags to express our total opposition to what Trump believes in,” Stilp said.
Stilp’s attorneys as of Friday have not asked a federal judge to dismiss the case, one of the requirements spelled out in the eight-page agreement. They are required to do so within 14 days of receiving the payment.
It’s at least the second time Stilp has settled a civil rights lawsuit with a municipality in Centre County. He reached a $10,000 settlement in fall 2022 with Bellefonte.
“Mr. Stilp is firmly committed to advancing the free speech rights of citizens under the First Amendment,” attorney Aaron D. Martin said. “He is pleased that this matter has been resolved.”
Stilp, who often publicly burns political flags as a means of protest, was met with resistance from borough police officers during his November 2022 demonstration in front of the State College Municipal Building.
One high-ranking officer told Stilp “you can’t burn flags” and said there are “no exceptions” to the borough’s open burning ordinance. The officers spoke with Stilp for more than five minutes, taking time to explain the ordinance.
Stilp went forward with the demonstration anyway, burning a flag in a steel trash can. He was issued a citation that, according to one of his attorneys, was dismissed “without explanation.”
The lawsuit alleged the borough’s burn ordinance “chilled” his exercise of free speech.
Stilp has sued more than a handful of municipalities throughout Pennsylvania. He’s walked away with settlements that have netted him at least tens of thousands of dollars.