Ben Frazier, John Phillips plan possible lawsuit after arrest in Jacksonville

Jacksonville — A lawsuit could be coming after the president of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville was arrested last week ahead of a new conference held by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Ben Frazier and lawyer John Phillips invited several news outlets to a conference Monday to voice their issues with what happened last Tuesday in Jacksonville.

“In America we have a right to express ourselves and to demand that our elected officials behave like true public servants,” says Frazier. “They must work for the people, and we must hold them accountable.”

Frazier and Phillips says they will file a federal civil rights lawsuit of a charge of trespassing is not dropped. They say they would also like to sue the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office because he was not allowed to stay in his motorized scooter when he was arrested.

The two also say they would like to sit down with DeSantis to work through issues Frazier has with the way the state has handled the pandemic and the way certain types of people are being treated.

Frazier has been an outspoken member of the community for years, and he says he has not been led out of events in handcuffs in the past. That’s what happened last Tuesday when Frazier and other members of the community were asked to leave. Frazier was the only one handcuffed that day.

©2022 Cox Media Group