President Donald Trump speaks outside the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, April 13, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
An Oregon man and former cop with 28 years on the force says he was handcuffed and hauled off to jail for shouting "Trump's a loser!" during a solo protest.
Neil Daniels, 59, filed a lawsuit in Coos County Circuit Court on Oct. 8, alleging that local police and a county commissioner violated his constitutional right to free speech by arresting him during a demonstration outside county headquarters in Coquille in October 2024.
"Wielding their official authority, they targeted, detained, arrested, and cited Daniels solely to restrict his protected political speech," the civil complaint, which was obtained by Law&Crime, alleges. "Chanting political slogans is a constitutionally protected form of protest."
According to the complaint, Daniels was protesting "peacefully" outside the office of Coos County Commissioner Rod Taylor the day he was arrested. Taylor has "publicly admitted to participating in the January 6, 2021, mob that breached the U.S. Capitol to delay the 2020 electoral count," the complaint says.
Daniels views the events of Jan. 6 "as treasonous" and was voicing his outrage with a banner that read, "TRUMP LOST LOL," while "occasionally chanting" things, according to the complaint.
"Trump's a loser!" Daniels allegedly chanted from a public sidewalk about President Donald Trump.
He claims Taylor became "enraged" by the shouting, called police, then demanded that Daniels be arrested.
"[Taylor] then falsely reported that Daniels was 'yelling and harassing people,'" the complaint says. "Then Taylor got in Daniels's face — less than two inches away — and yelled in a threatening manner, red in the face."
A police officer, who is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant, showed up and ordered Daniels to stop protesting, according to the complaint. Daniels, who also served as an Army military police officer, allegedly explained that "chanting political slogans is a constitutionally protected form of protest" and he began to walk away.
"[The officer] told him he was being detained for 'disorderly conduct,'" according to the complaint. "Relying on his experience as a police officer, Daniels informed [the officer] that she lacked probable cause for disorderly conduct. [The officer] told him he didn't know what he was talking about."
Daniels was arrested, but the Coos County District Attorney's Office declined to pursue any criminal charges against him. Taylor sent The Oregonian a statement denying the accusations in Daniels' lawsuit.
"One thing I will say: the allegations that my engagement with Mr. Daniels on Oct. 10, 2024 included rage or inordinate proximity to Mr. Daniels, or that I issued any request for him to be arrested, is categorically false," Taylor said.
While Taylor declined to confirm whether he took part in the Jan. 6 attack, an NPR story from June 2023 quotes him as saying, "You know what, I'm proud to have been there on Jan. 6. … It was a peaceable gathering on the 6th … people were happy, man."
Daniels says the arrest had a lasting effect on him, despite prosecutors declining to pursue the case. He told The Oregonian that he has protested only once since the incident, citing anxiety about returning to the county offices.
"It kind of dampened going down there for me a little bit," Daniels said. "I started to get a lot of anxiety."
His lawsuit seeks $75,000 in damages.