Journalist Sues Police for Unlawful Surveillance, Doxing, and Retaliation

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On March 31, 2025, I filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, naming multiple law enforcement officials from Layton, Utah and Oxford, Mississippi. This is not just a legal battle—it’s a direct confrontation with the institutional rot festering beneath the badge.

The complaint, grounded in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985, exposes a coordinated act of retaliation, illegal surveillance, defamation, and abuse of interstate law enforcement infrastructure—all triggered by my work as a journalist, an author with an upcoming book release, and constitutional rights activist.

The Setup: Retaliation Across State Lines

On February 1, 2025, I moved quietly to Layton, Utah. I didn’t share my new address. I didn’t update government records. Hell—I didn’t even have it memorized. But just four days later, Captain Hildon Sessums of the Oxford Police Department (MS) emailed my full address to Lieutenant Riley Richins of the Layton Police Department, labeling me a “persistent issue” and making false claims about my past.

That address was not in any government database. So how did Sessums get it?

He couldn’t have. Not legally. Not honestly. Not without surveillance.

The Cover-Up: Email Blasts, Lies, and Defamation

Sessums didn’t stop with the address. He labeled me a “Persistent Issue” for the Oxford Police Department and then he through in some biased news articles likely bought and paid for by the City of Oxford or Lafayette County Government. That email then triggered Layton PD to disseminate my address and an even more warped narrative to 139 city employees. That’s not “officer safety.” That’s institutional defamation. It’s Gaslighting. That’s coordinated retaliation. I was DOXED by the Government!

The Complaint: Facts. Evidence. Fire.

The federal complaint lays it all bare:

A sworn declaration confirming the address was never disclosed.
An internal email from Sessums to Layton PD.
A second email showing the mass internal distribution.
A recorded phone call with Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen, who refuses to deny or investigate any of it.

This isn’t sloppy policing. It’s targeted retaliation for constitutionally protected speech.

Why It Matters: Press Freedom, Privacy, and the Line in the Sand

If law enforcement can target a journalist across state lines, access and broadcast private information without legal basis, and label dissenters as threats—we’ve already lost the republic. This lawsuit is about accountability. It’s about sending a message: you don’t get to weaponize the badge to silence the press. You don’t get to lie, smear, and surveil citizens because they made you uncomfortable. And you sure as hell don’t get to hide behind your city logo when you violate the Constitution.