Allentown Sued for Retaliating Against Man Who Filmed Police from Public Sidewalk

A Pennsylvania man who used his phone to record police officers from a public sidewalk is taking the City of Allentown to court after being chased by a patrol vehicle, threatened with arrest, and charged with loitering and disorderly conduct, all for engaging in speech and expression that the Constitution explicitly protects.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a national organization that defends civil liberties, filed the lawsuit this week on behalf of Phil Rishel.

We obtained a copy of the lawsuit for you here.

The legal action asserts that Allentown police violated Rishel’s First Amendment rights and seeks damages, a formal ruling on the constitutional violations, and an order forcing the city to train its officers to respect the public’s right to document law enforcement in public spaces.

The incident occurred on March 26, 2024, when Rishel stood outside the Hamilton Street police station with a camera. After about 15 minutes of filming the exterior from a public sidewalk, a police officer emerged, looked at a “No Trespassing” sign, and walked away without speaking.

Rishel replied, “Yeah, that’s a nice sign. Too bad it doesn’t apply to the public sidewalk.” Moments later, the officer drove his cruiser from a garage and swerved onto the sidewalk toward Rishel, siren blaring. He maneuvered around a lamppost to continue the pursuit down the pedestrian path.

The officer soon returned with a sergeant, who accused Rishel of loitering and banned him from the sidewalk under threat of arrest. Rishel came back the next day to continue his peaceful protest and was told once again to leave. The same sergeant informed him, wrongly, that recording police “is not a First Amendment right” and cited his use of profanity the day before as disorderly conduct. Criminal citations for both offenses were sent by mail.

Rishel later contested the charges in court. Although a judge initially found him guilty of loitering, the conviction was overturned on appeal after video evidence refuted the officer’s claim that Rishel had been in a construction zone or was obstructing anything. The disorderly conduct citation was dismissed outright based on longstanding Pennsylvania precedent affirming the right to use strong language when criticizing officials.

“The retaliation over my speech confirms that there is a huge issue with the culture of the Allentown Police Department,” said Rishel. “These officers have a disdain for the rights of the people they’re sworn to protect — and I hope my lawsuit changes things for the better.”

FIRE’s legal filing emphasizes that individuals have a well-established constitutional right to record public officials, including police officers, and to speak critically of government conduct, even in blunt or confrontational language.

“Citizens trying to hold police officers accountable should not be punished,” said FIRE attorney Zach Silver. “Public officials, including police officers, must uphold the law and respect citizens’ right to record police and to use harsh language, not bully them into silence.”

According to FIRE, the lawsuit also aims to address the city’s failure to ensure officers understand and follow the basic legal principles surrounding free expression.

Allentown, which has already paid out over $2 million in police misconduct settlements since 2015, is accused in the complaint of maintaining a pattern of unlawful enforcement and retaliation against peaceful demonstrators and observers.

Rishel had begun filming police from public sidewalks in 2023 as a way to highlight patterns of misconduct. His approach was deliberately non-disruptive: standing at a distance, using his phone, and recording what was visible from public property. The reaction from police, FIRE contends, was not only unwarranted but part of a broader intolerance toward public accountability.

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