Erik Holt

And so I filed a federal lawsuit.

You were pretty keen and you understand there's some things in that of like what capacity were you acting in, which a lot of people don't understand out there.

First Amendment protects you if you're a citizen.

It doesn't protect you in employment if you're doing it for what you're paid for.

And so I litigate this for two years.

And in that two years, I never got to show any of the evidence.

Like the facts don't matter.

It's procedure.

File a motion to get rid of this because we don't want to face it.

And so I lose my federal case after two years on summary judgment.

And the judge made this crazy finding that because I was a fire chief, it was expected that.

I would investigate that stuff and cooperate with law enforcement, which to a degree I can understand.

But it's such a broad view of what the First Amendment protects that it basically strips all public officials who are generally the whistleblowers of corruption, right?

Because we have access to those things.

Yeah, you're actually seeing it.

Yeah.

And so I was defeated, man.

And this had been over a year, year and a half.

I couldn't find a job.

They blackballed me so much.