A civil rights lawsuit was filed Tuesday against State Senator Jason Rapert by the American Atheists for allegedly "violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments" for blocking people on Facebook and Twitter.
The lawsuit was filed by America Atheists on behalf of four people who live in Arkansas. They say they were "unconstitutionally blocked" from Rapert's official accounts after "they expressed viewpoints different than his on several issues." They also claim Rapert blocked them "due to their atheism."
"The senator's conduct constitutes viewpoint discrimination, which is prohibited under the First Amendment," said Alison Gill, the legal and policy director for American Atheists. "Government officials cannot take hostile actions - like limiting participation in public forums - against someone simply because they have different beliefs. These forums include social media accounts used by public officials for government purposes."
Attorney Matt Campbell, who is American Atheists' local counsel, said that Rapert's comments "demonstrate that his actions were motivated by animus toward atheists."
In a Facebook Live, Rapert responded to the lawsuit by calling it a "frivolous lawsuit" for "political purposes."
"There is no doubt that this is a politically motivated lawsuit intended to silence me as a Christian conservative representing the people of Arkansas in the Arkansas Senate," Rapert said. "The American Atheists and other extremists have been trying to tarnish my reputation and have defamed my good name, our business and our ministry for several years now."
In May, a judge ruled that President Donald Trump's Twitter account was a public forum and that he could not block people from seeing or responding to his tweets.
This article has been updated to include comments by Sen. Rapert.
