Locals Arrested in Stormy Raid Sue Columbus Vice Cops (YNOT)

Read the full article by Gene Zorkin at YNOT.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two employees of Sirens Gentlemen’s Club, the strip club where Stormy Daniels (AKA Stephanie Clifford) was arrested in error back in July, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in which they claim they were arrested as a “cover” for what they assert was a politically-motivated arrest of Daniels.

The two employees are Miranda Panda, who works as a cocktail waitress, and Brittany Walters, a dancer. The lawsuit names several officers from the Columbus Police Vice Unit and two “John or Mary Doe” defendants whose identities are not known the plaintiffs at this time.

The complaint seeks “compensatory and punitive damages, declaratory, injunctive, and equitable relief, costs, and attorneys’ fees for the false arrest, malicious prosecution, civil conspiracy, and defamation, and, alternatively, abuse of process, in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and/or the common law of the State of Ohio.”

After describing the named officers as registered Republicans and “strong supporters of President Trump” and quoting extensively from a pro-Trump Facebook post allegedly authored by one of the officers under a pseudonymous account, the complaint alleges the officers “entered into a conspiracy to arrest Ms. Clifford at her performance in Columbus as an act of revenge for her statements made about President Trump.”

The complaint also alleges that the officers “determined between themselves in advance of Ms. Clifford’s performance at Sirens that she would be arrested and charged with a violation of R.C. 2907.40.” 

Gene Zorkin has been covering legal and political issues for various adult publications (and under a variety of different pen names) since 2002.