Christina “Nina” Boneta marches in New Port Richey, Florida on Sept. 7, 2020. Credit: Dave Decker

The City of New Port Richey’s attempts to make Black Lives Matter protesters literally pay for speaking out loudly about police reform have met a dead end.

On Thursday, at least two protesters facing fines related to noise violations told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that their citations have been dropped.

Marlowe Jones confirmed to CL that his noise citations had been dropped, and Christina “Nina” Boneta, who’s accrued more than $2,500 in fines, also stated that her citations and fines have been dropped.

CL reviewed the nolle prosequi (stop prosecution orders) filed by the City of New Port Richey, which show that at least five different protesters including Jones and Boneta saw their cases dismissed.

Joshua Sheridan represented Boneta and a handful of other Pasco activists who were hit with noise violations. He told CL that the ordinance—originally meant to crack down on bars, but used broadly by police this summer to try and muzzle protesters—is “poorly written and rarely used.”

In a social media post from Sheridan’s firm, the Tampa lawyer wrote that a team of attorneys including Laurie Chane, Luke Lirot and James Shaw Jr. did all the heavy lifting, adding that, “Today we were pleased to learn Pasco County finally dismissed those citations.”

Both Jones and Boneta told CL that this week, the New Port Richey city attorney also tried to offer them $75 plea deals.

“It was obviously an attempt to do what they always do—scare people. Like, ‘Hey you can either fight this and pay all this money, or why don’t we give you a good little number, you know $75, and plead guilty or no contest,’” Boneta said. “That was their last attempt. They know that they were wrong, and they knew that they were targeting us.”

CL left a message for New Port Richey City Attorney Tim Driscoll.

Boneta said that in the next few days, BLM protesters are laying low due to the possibility of violence in the wake of last week’s insurrection at the Capitol, but added that local activists would continue to demonstrate and call for change. One particular agency of interest for Boneta is the Pasco County Sheriff which the Tampa Bay Times says has been monitoring and harassing Pasco residents using a cutting-edge intelligence program meant to curb crime.

Over the summer and into the fall, Pasco BLM activists—who’ve caused zero property damage according to NPR PD officials—dealt with intimidation from not just Trump supporters and Confederate flag-wavers, but Proud Boys, too. In September, a Facebook user posted about the group, saying, “Burn their house burn their cars fuck their shit up taste of their own medicine.” In response, NPR PD Deputy Chief Lauren Letona told CL that the department "does not condone acts of violence and take threats very seriously."

NPR PD Chief Kim Bogart told WFTS that his officers cited a counterprotester for covering his license tag and turned a video—which Bogart says showed a counterprotester displaying a gun—over to the State Attorney’s Office. In late September, The NPR PD told CL it no longer employs an officer who allegedly gave a pro-police Facebook user information on the whereabouts of a Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Jones, who told CL he’s received death threats to the home he and his family keep, has vowed to not stop demonstrating. “We definitely have to think about safety always,” he said. “But we're definitely still going to be very active in the Pasco community at every level.”

UPDATED: 01/19/21 11:37 a.m. Updated with comment from protester Marlowe Jones.

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