Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A Tevis Junior High School vice principal has sued the Bakersfield Police Department claiming he suffered injuries and damages as a result of his arrest last August for carrying a concealed firearm on campus.
Attorneys for Kent Williams, 52, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court late Monday afternoon, said Bakersfield attorney Daniel Rodriguez. Rodriguez had originally thought the lawsuit would not be filed until early Tuesday, he said.
The civil suit, which also names the city of Bakersfield, two Bakersfield police officers and unnamed defendants, alleges the two officers who arrested Williams on campus Aug. 28 violated his Fourth Amendment rights by improperly detaining him, seizing his property and "using unreasonable and excessive use of force."
The suit also alleges the department violated Williams' Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and committed "conversion" by going to Williams' home and confiscating other lawfully registered firearms owned by the school administrator.
"If it was you or I, we would call it theft," Rodriguez said. "But it's called conversion."
Following a review of the California penal code, authorities determined Williams was within his rights to carry a gun on campus and had not broken any laws. He was released without charges a few hours after his arrest.
However, as of Tuesday, nearly 15 weeks after the incident, police had not returned his guns. In addition, the Kern County Sheriff's Office suspended Williams' concealed carry permit in late September, without explanation.
Bakersfield City Attorney Ginny Gennaro declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday. The BPD has also chosen not to comment, except to say its investigation into the matter is closed.
Williams recently filed a letter of resignation with his employer, the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District. The resignation is effective next June 30. School district officials have said Williams violated district policy by not obtaining the superintendent's permission to carry a concealed weapon on campus.
But Rodriguez emphasized that his client was not arrested for violating school district policy.
According to the lawsuit, Williams was "falsely arrested, intimidated, humiliated, required medical attention" due to the exacerbation of his diabetes, was wrongly deprived of his weapons and suffered other damages, including physical and mental pain and anguish, emotional distress and medical expenses.
Some key details about what happened at the school remain unclear.
Assistant Superintendent Gerrie Kincaid said she immediately notified police when a district administrator called her with an anonymous tip that a staff member had a gun on campus. Neither she nor BPD spokesman Sgt. Joe Grubbs knew who gave the tip nor how the gun was discovered.
When confronted, Williams immediately informed the officers that he had a gun in his backpack, and that he possessed a valid license to carry a concealed firearm, the lawsuit states.
California Penal Code Section 626.9, known as the Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995, prohibits the possession of firearms in designated school zones. But there are several exceptions written into the law.
Subsection (l) makes it clear that the prohibition does not apply to duly appointed peace officers, federal agents carrying out official duties, members of the military forces who are engaged in the performance of their duties, and any "person holding a valid license to carry the firearm."
That's the crux.
"My client was arrested illegally," Rodriguez said. "To arrest someone you have to have probable cause. Once they saw the concealed weapons permit, there was no probable cause."
The arresting officers consulted with higher-ups after checking out his permit, he said.
"They were told to arrest him anyway."
In an email, Rodriguez talked more about the Second Amendment and why Williams had a gun at school.
"In an ideal world," Rodriguez said, "no one would be allowed to carry a gun on any school campus. But, we don't live in an ideal world.
"We live in a world of Columbines, Sandy Hooks and Taft (Union) High School shootings, where the gunman meets no resistance because the only person with a gun is the gunman bent on harming or killing students and other people at the school.
"By the time the police arrive, all of the damage has been done."
But, if there was a responsible adult, he said, properly trained and licensed in the use of a firearm, maybe lives could be saved.
"Kent was properly trained and licensed to carry a gun."