Steve Burns

WMAL.com

FREDERICK – (WMAL) An officer in the Frederick City Police Department is suing his superiors, the department, and the city after he claims he was retaliated against for organizing and holding a Blue Lives Matter rally.

Officer Dan Sullivan put together the rally, held in July 2016 at the city’s Memorial Park, in an effort to raise money for the families of fallen officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, according to Sullivan’s attorney, Dan Cox.

“He headed it up, he scheduled everything and went through the proper channels to make sure he could do this on his own time, and suffered for it,” Cox told WMAL.

Sullivan alleges in his $10 million suit that his superiors urged him to cancel the rally, and when he didn’t, they retaliated.

According to the suit, Sullivan’s supervising lieutenant told him, “If you ever feel the need to exercise your First Amendment rights again, I hope you come to me your Lieutenant and ask my advice prior to doing so.”

Sullivan’s unit then had its weekend time off canceled, and Cox said Sullivan was assigned to patrol a remote intersection without a cruiser during a rescheduled fireworks show.

The suit names Police Chief Ed Hargis, Lt. Thomas Tokarz, the department as a whole, and the city. It alleges first amendment violations, along with the creation of a hostile work environment, libel and slander, and more.

Calls to the police department and the city attorney were not immediately returned.

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