St. Peters pays $20,000 to settle caucus arrest suit by Ron Paul supporter

ST. PETERS The city has paid $20,000 to settle a lawsuit by a local Ron Paul campaign leader over his trespassing arrest after the chaotic 2012 Republican presidential caucus at the Francis Howell North High School gym.

Brent Stafford of O'Fallon, Mo., had filed the suit last year, several months after a St. Peters municipal judge acquitted him of the trespassing charge after hearing testimony from witnesses.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, alleged false arrest, malicious prosecution and violation of Stafford's constitutional rights. The city denied the allegations.

The settlement was made public Thursday by the city; it was reached June 30.

Stafford had been arrested on the sidewalk outside the St. Charles County GOP caucus site as he was trying to get caucus participants to reconvene. The caucus, in March 2012, had shut down after about a half hour of boisterous disputes.

Some of the several hundred people, with Paul supporters in the forefront, yelled objections to decisions made by caucus organizers. Much criticism was aimed at a ban on videotaping and other recording.

Police testified in the municipal court trial that their order to leave applied to both the gym and the area outside. Stafford's attorney contended that it didn't and said no one told him to leave the grounds before he was arrested.

Stafford said he had left the gym as ordered along with other participants and then exercised his free-speech rights outside.

City officials said they acted out of concern for public safety when they and caucus organizers told people to leave the gym and the premises. Officers said they were concerned that the crowd was growing hostile.

A few weeks later, Stafford was elected chairman of a repeat county caucus ordered by state GOP officials at which videotaping was allowed.

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St. Peters pays $20,000 to settle caucus arrest suit by Ron Paul supporter