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[Southsider2k12]

FULL PRESS RELEASE

The Law Offices of Donald J. Schmid LLC announced today that a civil complaint and lawsuit were filed earlier this week in the LaPorte County Superior Court by four Michigan City
police officers against Ronald Meer and the City of Michigan City, Indiana. The lawsuit alleges that Meer, acting as an agent of the City, defamed and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the four officers in October 2019 after the officers properly and lawfully arrested Meer’s step-son Adam Bray on October 10, 2019.

The complaint filed in the case alleges that, after the arrest of Bray, Meer as mayor of Michigan City began a “calculated attack” on the four officers (Timothy Richardson, Francisco
Rodriguez, Kyle Shiparski, and Willie Henderson) who arrested Bray. As part of the attack on the officers, Meer released a formal statement on Monday, October 14, 2019 that falsely claimed that the LaPorte County Drug Task Force (of which the four officers were assigned members) had conspired to target Meer’s step-son Adam Bray. The lawsuit also alleges that Meer continued to falsely defame and attack the officers by telling then police chief Mark Swistek that the officers had colluded with other persons to set up and target his step-son Bray. The complaint goes on to allege:

“Continuing his outrageous attack on the plaintiffs
including on their professional reputations, on October 22, 2019, Mayor Meer ordered Chief Swistek to discontinue the Michigan City Police Department’s partnership with and
participation in the LaPorte County Drug Task Force. Meer also directed and ordered Swistek to remove plaintiffs Lt. Tim Richardson, Cpl. Francisco Rodriguez, Cpl. Kyle Shiparski and Cpl. Willie Henderson from the LaPorte County Drug Task Force and to reassign them ‘immediately.’ At 5:31 p.m., Meer confirmed and repeated this order and directive in writing in an email to Swistek and other Michigan City officials. At 7:37 p.m., Meer forwarded this 5:31 p.m. email(which in effect ordered the demotion of plaintiffs) to Lt. Tim Richardson and to others in Michigan City government by email. The actions and effort of Meer to remove the Michigan City Police and in particular the plaintiffs from the LaPorte County Drug Task Force were wrongful, and these efforts and actions were a continuation of the false and defamatory attacks by Meer on the plaintiffs. The actions and effort of Meer to remove the Michigan City Police and in particular the plaintiffs from the LaPorte County Drug Task Force also posed a danger to
ongoing police operations in Michigan City and LaPorte County and to the public safety of the citizens of Michigan City and LaPorte County.”