By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
A controversial Brattleboro videographer, who offers satire and commentary about Vermont politics and politicians, has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against Vermont Attorney General Charity R. Clark after she tried to block his First Amendment rights to post his work.
Social media creator Henry L. Poitras, who uses the pseudonym “Planet Hank,” said his work “mocks and exaggerates the conduct and statements of Vermont politicians and public figures.”
But Clark, citing a new Vermont law that challenges the use of A.I., said it requires certain disclosures that were not done by Poitras.
One 49-second video posted on social media by Poitras apparently got under the skin of U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt.
Poitras said Clark’s office told him he was under investigation shortly after he posted the short satire video last month. The video mocks Balint’s politics and persona, and it ends with Mark Coester operating an excavator that scoops up Balint and drops her in a dumpster in front of the Vermont State House while a narrator says “help Vermont take out the trash.”
Coester of Westminster and Gerald Malloy of Weathersfield are squaring off in the Republican primary on Aug. 11 for the right to face Balint of Brattleboro in the general election in November.
The lawsuit acknowledges the video is realistic.
“However, no one, but a very young child or an unusually gullible person, would believe that the video, which also depicts Ms. Balint wearing a French-style beret as she is being lifted into the dumpster, is real, or that it is not a satirical commentary on Ms. Balint’s political views, candidacy, and elite persona,” it said.
In the letter from Clark’s office, dated June 12, it tells Poitras that he is under investigation for noncompliance with the new synthetic media disclosure law, which “requires specific disclosure language on videos created with A.I. containing a realistic representation of a political candidate that injures the reputation of that candidate.”
The law directs the person producing the message to include the specific words, “This media has been manipulated or generated by digital technology and depicts speech or conduct that did not occur.”
The Clark letter made several demands on Poitras, including that he answer 15 questions in writing and under oath. The letter also said if he brings the video into compliance with the law, the Attorney General will consider the case closed.
Instead Poitras filed the civil lawsuit against Clark in both her official and personal capacities and said he did not intend to take it down by the June 26 deadline imposed by the Attorney General.
“I am not willing to alter my satire to carry the government’s message,” Poitras wrote in a court affidavit. He said he asked for a 30-day extension, but was denied and was offered 14 days, which made the deadline Friday. He filed the lawsuit instead.
The lawsuit also requested a temporary restraining order from a federal judge to put the brakes on Clark.
Instead the two sides have reached a temporary agreement.
Clark has agreed to temporarily suspend the pending Civil Investigative Notice and Demand until both sides can fully prepare legal briefs for the federal court. They also asked the court to cancel the initial legal briefing deadline schedule for the week of July 14.
The two sides have agreed to meet and discuss a possible schedule and report to the court on or before July 17.
Clark did not respond to text and phone messages from Vermont News First. An office spokesman said she was unavailable.
Solicitor General Jonathan T. Rose, who is the lawyer assigned to the case, told Vermont News First on Friday he was unable to speak about the case. It is the Attorney General’s office policy not to allow lawyers to talk to reporters about their public cases, he said.
Questions need to be directed to Clark or the office’s chief of staff, who is a non-lawyer.
The lawsuit was filed by two attorneys on behalf of Poitras: former Vermonter, Brady C. Toensing of Washington, D.C. and Matthew D. Hardin of Texas.
“Mr. Poitras fought for this country’s values as a Marine. He is fighting for them again, this time against his own Attorney General,” Toensing told Vermont News First.
“The right to criticize, satirize, and mock our political leaders is not a privilege the government grants us. It is ours by birthright, and Vermonters do not surrender it because Attorney General Clark takes offense,” he noted.
The law, which went into effect in March, was approved by the Vermont Legislature without consideration from any First Amendment advocates.
The lawsuit notes various violations of the First Amendment within the five claims outlined in the lawsuit. They note the message is political speech, compels him to make certain comments or speech and that it is overbroad. It also asks the court to dismiss the case due to vagueness, requires a compelled disclosure and its makes a prior restraint on speech.
The video notes, “Becca Balint is evil” and criticizes her ties to New Jersey, her position on taxation and government spending. It also quotes her as saying “My career is unstoppable.”
Poitras graduated from high school in Keene, N.H. and served in the U.S. Marines with training at Parris Island and a tour during the Iraq War, court records note. He says he is a disabled combat veteran now living in Brattleboro.
He has become a controversial figure locally by shooting video of law enforcement, mostly Brattleboro Police, making arrests and showing the underbelly of the community with drugs and thefts in recent years. People have accused him of exploiting vulnerable community members, filming medical and mental health crises for personal profit, and peddling divisive rhetoric.
He recently shot video of the arrest of a Keene State College student-athlete, who found where Poitras lived. Brattleboro Police say the student, who was unhappy about the posted video, broke into his home and got into a knife fight, but was disarmed by the Marine.