ASHEVILLE - A federal judge is considering whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a media outlet against Asheville police officers who arrested two reporters in December 2021.
An amended complaint, filed Sept. 30, 2025 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina by the Asheville Blade and reporters Melissa "Veronica" Coit and Matilda Bliss, names the city of Asheville, retired Asheville Police Chief, Deputy Michael Yelton and eight officers, some of whom are no longer with the department.
The lawsuit says that in 2020 and 2021, the Asheville Blade published several articles in which its reporters "harshly criticized" the Asheville Police Department. Some of the articles focused on the police department's treatment of homeless
people and protestors.
On the evening of Dec. 25, 2021, a large group of Asheville police officers executed a plan to clear an encampment of homeless people and community activists in Aston Park. Blade reporters Bliss and Coit were at the park to report on APD’s activities, and they recorded police officers as they dismantled tents and asked protesters to vacate the park, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that even though Bliss and Coit identified themselves as journalists, they were arrested and charged with trespassing and that officers held Bliss' phone for close to a month without a warrant.
The lawsuit also claims that Asheville police arrested Bliss and Coit because they were "scrutinizing" the department's activities that night. In doing so, the suit says, the department violated the First Amendment rights of the Asheville Blade, Coit and Bliss.
Coit and Bliss were convicted in 2023 of second-degree trespassing after a jury trial. They appealed, but the N.C. Court of Appeals affirmed their convictions in a ruling in 2025.
Coit and Bliss are represented in the lawsuit by attorneys with Duke Law School's First Amendment Clinic and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation.
Attorneys for the city of Asheville argued in a court filing in November 2025 that the Court of Appeals opinion should prevent Coit and Bliss from relitigating the same issues in civil court. The filing states that Bliss and Coit "were trespassing alongside the other trespassers" who were arrested in Aston Park on the day in question, committing the same criminal offense that their own recordings documented.
The filing asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
The city's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was heard by U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf on May 13, according to court records. Metcalf has not yet issued an order on the motion.
Coit declined to comment. Bliss did not return a call from the Citizen Times July 28.
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: Judge weighs lawsuit over Asheville Blade reporter arrests
