Flagler County judge dismisses traffic tickets against 'First Amendment auditor' who flipped off FCSO deputy

When he received the two traffic citations, St. Augustine resident Jeff Gray called the tickets retaliatory. The judge dismissed the tickets in a hearing on Oct. 30.


FCSO Master Deputy Kyle Gaddie hands Jeff Gray, a civil rights investigator on social media, two traffic citations. Image screen shot from HonorYourOath YouTube video, "Bird Watching with Deputy Gaddie"
FCSO Master Deputy Kyle Gaddie hands Jeff Gray, a civil rights investigator on social media, two traffic citations. Image screen shot from HonorYourOath YouTube video, "Bird Watching with Deputy Gaddie"
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The man who was issued two traffic citations after he flipped off a Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputy on Aug. 8 has had his day in court, with both tickets dismissed by the judge.

FCSO Master Deputy Kyle Gaddie issued two citations — one for following too closely and one for impeding traffic in the left lane — to St. Augustine resident Jeff Gray, who calls himself a civil rights investigator and First Amendment auditor. Gray, a retired truck driver, regularly posts about his interactions with law enforcement on his YouTube account, HonorYourOath Civil Rights Investigations.

Gray said the citations were retaliatory because he'd flipped Deputy Gaddie the middle finger as Gray passed the FCSO agency vehicle on Interstate 95.

The case was overseen by Judge Andrea Totten at the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center in Flagler County on Oct. 30. Totten dismissed both citations levied against Gray. 

Gray has already uploaded a video of the dismissal to his YouTube account. In Gray's video, Gray's attorney, Eric Friday, said Gaddie attempted to use Gray's own video of the incident to prove Gaddie's case.

Gray's video includes an audio recording of Gaddie's testimony, referencing Gray's YouTube video of the incident.

"Before I even finished," Friday said in Gray's video, "the judge said she didn't need to hear anymore."

 

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