ASHLAND — A national organization focused on advocating for freedom of speech has called for the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office to drop its investigation related to offensive buttons at the Ashland County Fair.
Aaron Terr, the director of Public Advocacy for the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), sent a letter to the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, the Ashland County Fair Board and carbon copied the Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office in a letter dated Sept. 23.
The letter asserts that “officials silenced speech solely because of its viewpoint.” It argues that the ACSO should cease any investigation and calls for the fair board to “refrain from restricting speech based on viewpoint at future events.”
It requested the organizations to give a “substantive response no later than Sept. 30.”
Terr also said FIRE believes government officials are not entitled to qualified immunity in this case. To overcome qualified immunity, a plaintiff must prove a constitutional violation occurred.
“The right to be free from government investigation or punishment based on one’s political views is among the most clearly established rights in our constitutional order,” Terr wrote. “FIRE is committed to using all the resources at our disposal to vindicate that right and see this matter to a just conclusion.”
Ashland County Agricultural Society President Marty Wesner said the fair board’s actions are consistent. Around three years ago, an organization dubbed the Conservative Coalition had some inappropriate “propaganda” at the fair.
Wesner said the fair board asked the group to take down the material and they did. They’ve also asked vendors to remove items from shelves that are deemed inappropriate for young children, like toy guns.
Sheriff Kurt Schneider and fair board representatives did not immediately respond to emailed questions posed by Ashland Source.
The Ashland County Democratic Party also did not respond to a request for comment before publication of this article.
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell offered this statement:
“My office does not represent the fair board. I have not been in communication with them. The ACSO has not forwarded anything to my office for review and I am therefore unable to comment on the status of any investigation,” he wrote.
“I support the actions of the fair board and the ACSO regarding the removal of offensive material from the county fair. I am a proponent of civil discourse. I am opposed to those who seek to silence opposing views with violence.”
What is FIRE?
The non-profit organization launched in 1999 as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. It changed its name to Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in 2022 and “announced an expansion initiative into off-campus free speech advocacy and legal defense.”
This is not FIRE’s first involvement in free speech discussion in Ashland County.
The organization in 2023 outlined concerns about academic freedom and censorship of the student newspaper. It followed Ashland University’s non-renewal of the student newspaper’s advisor, Ted Daniels.
Find more information about FIRE here.
What happened?
This represents the latest in a series of consequences related to the Sept. 18 incident that resulted in the fair board’s expulsion of an Ashland County Democratic Party booth.
The fair board said it asked a representative from the party to remove “offensive buttons” and other offensive material after receiving complaints from fairgoers. Marty Wesner, president of the fair board, said the representative did not remove the button and that more buttons had been passed out.
That’s when he forced them to leave. A deputy from the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office escorted the representative off the property in order to “preserve peace in this particular instance,” Schneider said.
Schneider said his office would investigate the incident for criminal intent. He also said he notified the U.S. Secret Service to investigate “any crimes that may be associated with (President Trump’s) safety.”
Heather Sample, the party’s chair, expressed regret over the incident and said the party does not and will never endorse political violence. Overall, however, she characterized the incident as censorship.
“The use of law enforcement to suppress political speech at the local level represents a grave threat to our democracy and the foundational principle that government officials cannot use their power to punish dissent,” Sample said.
