After their performances reportedly terrified a woman’s pet to death, the Pensacola-based U.S. Navy Blue Angels are being sued for breaching her constitutional right to free expression.
According to WEAR-TV, the Pensacola ABC station, Seattle resident Lauren Ann Lombardi filed a lawsuit against the government agency on Monday.
According to Lombardi, her cat died as a result of being terrified by Blue Angels protests in August 2023 and 2024. She alleged the squad blocked her after she criticized them on social media for stopping their protests. The Seattle citizen claimed that her First Amendment rights had been violated by being barred.
The case starts with plaintiff Lombardi explaining how the U.S. Navy intimidated her daughter, restricted her right to free speech, and brought shame to the uniform. The daughter in issue was afflicted with a cardiac problem and had a pet cat named Layla.
According to Lombardi, the training exercises amounted to state-approved acoustic torture and auditory carpet bombing. She claimed that in the summer of 2024, the sounds overrode [Layla’s] basic limbic system, leading the animal to run away under furniture in fear. The lawsuit claims that this kind of exercise would cause the cat’s respiration to become clinically hazardous. According to the lawsuit, the cat’s last days were filled with sadistic misery as it cowered in fear under furniture as her failing heart battled the Blue Angels’ constant noise pollution.
She messaged the @usnavyblueangelsInstagram account multiple times. She said, “Nobody gives a f*** about your stupid little planes,” to convey her general displeasure. She encouraged people to sign a Change.org petition called We All Want to Feel Safe: No More Blue Angels Over Seattle and posted numerous comments on their pages.
The block is said to have happened on August 5, 2023. Lombardi replied by messaging them and accusing them of being cowards.
In addition to ordering defendants to undergo remedial training on the fundamental significance of the First Amendment, which the valiant men and women of the U.S. Navy are sworn to defend, she is requesting that the court declare the social media block unconstitutional and issue an injunction prohibiting them from blocking her or anyone else.
