ASHEVILLE - A judge has recommended that some of the claims in a lawsuit related to the arrest of two Asheville journalists should proceed, but the ruling is not final.
In a memorandum and recommendation filed Aug. 28 by Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf, he recommended that the lawsuit filed in 2024 by the Asheville Blade and two of its reporters should proceed to discovery, in part.
Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit, both reporters with the Asheville Blade, a news co-operative with a progressive bent, were arrested in December 2021 as Asheville police cleared Aston Park of sanctuary camping demonstrations.
Bliss and Coit shot video of police officers as they dismantled the encampment and asked protesters to vacate the park after it closed at 10
a.m.
The lawsuit alleges that Bliss and Coit were arrested and charged with trespassing, even after identifying themselves as reporters, and that officers seized Bliss' phone and held it for a month without a warrant.
An amended complaint, filed Sept. 30, 2025, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina by the Asheville Blade, along with Coit and Bliss, names the city of Asheville, retired Asheville Police Chief Mike Lamb, Deputy Michael Yelton and eight officers, some of whom are no longer with the department.
Which claims can proceed in Asheville Blade case
Metcalf recommended that Bliss and Coit's claims of First Amendment violations against the individual officers, who they accused of arresting them in retaliation for their reporting, be allowed to proceed, but not claims targeting the city of Asheville.
Metcalf recommended that the claim accusing the officers of a constitutional violation related to the alleged retaliation against Bliss and Coit for news gathering be dismissed.
Allegations that the city did not have a policy that protects the rights of journalists covering the police and that the city failed to train Asheville police officers in the appropriate treatment of journalists also should be dismissed, Metcalf recommended.
Allegations accusing the officers of violating Bliss' rights by seizing her phone should be allowed to proceed, Metcalf recommended.
Metcalf declined to recommend that speech-based claims be dismissed on the basis of qualified immunity, an element of the law that tends to protect government officials from liability.
When contacted by the Citizen Times Sept. 8, the city of Asheville declined to comment.
What happens next in Asheville Blade case?
Corina Scott, an attorney for the ACLU of North Carolina who is representing the plaintiffs, said the defendants have 14 days to file objections to Metcalf's recommendation. The plaintiffs would then have 14 days after that to respond to those objections. A District Court judge would review any objections submitted and then make a final ruling, Scott said.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Parts of Asheville Blade case over reporter arrests can move on: Judge
