The city of Columbus says any hardships former Columbus police officer Canyon Boykin has suffered since being fired from the department in October are his own fault.
Boykin filed a lawsuit against the city in early February claiming to have been wrongfully terminated. Boykin, while an officer with the Columbus Police Department, shot and killed Ricky Ball, 26, following a traffic stop on Oct. 16.
Boykin claims he shot Ball in self defense after Ball pointed a pistol at him. The city council fired Boykin two weeks after the incident.
In federal court documents, Boykin claims his right to due process was violated. His lawsuit asks for “damages in an amount to be determined by a jury.” He also asks to be reinstated to the CPD force.
The city, in a formal response to Boykin’s claims filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Aberdeen, asks that Boykin’s lawsuit be dismissed. The city also asks that Boykin pay the city the cost of having to defend against the suit.
“The alleged damages to (Boykin), if any, were not caused by (the city), but were caused by (Boykin’s) own acts or omissions,” the lawsuit states.
Ball incident
On the night of Oct. 16, CPD officers Boykin, Johnny Branch and Yolanda Young were in the police vehicle that initiated a traffic stop on a car Ball was riding in near the intersection of 22nd Street North and 15th Avenue North. Former Columbus Police Chief Tony Carleton, who resigned shortly after the incident, has said the stop was initiated because of careless driving, no light above the license plate and lack of insurance.
Police say Ball fled the scene on foot. He was ultimately shot twice — once in the upper body, once in the lower body — and found roughly a block and a half away from the traffic stop. A 9mm pistol and suspected marijuana were found near where he fell, according to CPD. He died that night from blood loss at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle.
Neither Boykin, Branch or Young activated their body cameras prior to or during the incident.
State officials continue to investigate the circumstances of Ball’s death.
Response
In its response to Boykin’s lawsuit, the city denies many of Boykin’s claims, including claims about what happened after Ball jumped from a car and ran when the officers attempted to pull it over. Boykin’s complaint claims he tased Ball after he’d run a short distance. The city agreed with the tasing, but denied most of the rest of Boykin’s claims of the immediate aftermath.
The city notes in court documents that it is “without sufficient information” regarding the aftermath of the tasing “because of the failure of Mr. Boykin to activate his body camera.”
The city’s response also denies an allegation in Boykin’s lawsuit that his fiance was authorized to ride with him, Branch and Young the night of the Ball incident.
Boykin’s lawsuit further claims that Carleton told Boykin the city council intended to fire him and that he should resign. Boykin submitted his resignation to the city. However, the council voted 5-1, with Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin opposed, to fire him in a lengthy executive session on Oct. 30.
The city denies the allegations of Carleton’s meeting with Boykin, and additional claims that the city fired Boykin due to “uninformed public pressure” and because “he is white and (Ball) was black.”
First Amendment
City council members cited racially-charged posts on social media platforms by Boykin after terminating him.
City policy, adopted in 2013, forbids city employees from conduct that is “malicious, obscene, threatening or intimidating, that disparages co-employees, suppliers or that might constitute harassment or bullying.”
Boykin’s lawsuit claims that the city violated his First Amendment right by firing him for his social media postings.
The city’s response says that Boykin’s social media postings “are not matters of public concern and, therefore, are not protected by the First Amendment.”
The nature of Boykin’s posts, in the city’s view, did not protect them under the First Amendment, City Attorney Jeff Turnage told The Dispatch on Friday.
“If he was talking about whether or not a particular city ordinance was valid or some other thing that affected government, or some other public issue or concern, we might have a hard time terminating someone for what they say,” Turnage said. “If they post slanderous, tasteless comments that are divisive, that’s a different matter.
“Not a single one of those were of public concern in my view,” Turnage added. “I don’t think anyone could make the argument with a straight face that any of those were matters of public concern.”
The council also cited repeated body camera violations as part of its reason for firing Boykin.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
