Phillip Michael Eravi, who runs the YouTube channel "Lawrence Accountability," sued four Lawrence Police Department officers and the City Commission of Lawrence under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after he was arrested while filming a police standoff with an armed shooter on May 19, 2023.
Eravi alleged the officers, who were familiar with his critical reporting on local government, arrested him in retaliation for his First Amendment-protected activity. He claimed the officers used excessive force and filed false reports to justify his arrest for criminal interference under Kansas law.
The district court granted the officers’ motion to dismiss, finding they were entitled to qualified immunity because Eravi failed to plausibly allege a constitutional violation.
On May 19, 2026, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit, led by Circuit Judge Scott M. Matheson, affirmed the dismissal, resolving the appeal at the second prong of the qualified immunity analysis.
The court found the officers had an objectively reasonable, even if mistaken, belief that Eravi was obstructing their official duties by disobeying orders and creating safety hazards during the nearly three-hour standoff.
According to the complaint, Eravi arrived at the scene on Heatherwood Drive around 1:53 a.m., approaching the suspect’s residence where police had parked an armored vehicle. Officers David McShane and Grant Foster confronted Eravi on the sidewalk, shining flashlights and repeatedly instructing him to leave.
The opinion quotes the complaint’s depiction of the exchange, in which Officer McShane told Eravi: “Stop right there,” “You can’t be right here,” “I have to cover you,” and “Just keep walking.”
Despite these instructions, Eravi continued walking toward the suspect’s house, then attempted to put distance between himself and the officers by walking through an adjacent apartment complex’s yard before turning back south.
Officer McShane informed his supervisor, Lieutenant Mark Unruh, who is not a defendant, that Eravi was not listening. Lieutenant Unruh instructed McShane to detain him. Officers McShane, Foster, and Austin Twite then physically restrained Eravi, using techniques that caused him pain, and arrested him for interfering.
The court rejected Eravi’s argument that he was complying with orders when arrested, noting that a reasonable officer could have interpreted his movements as an attempt to evade police.
The panel also found arguable probable cause based on safety concerns. The officers were managing an active shooter who police believed was armed with a handgun and possibly an AR-15 type rifle.
Eravi’s presence in the potential line of fire required officers to divert resources to monitor him, hindering their ability to cover the suspect’s open garage door.
“Acts that cause officers to worry about safety substantially hinder an officer in carrying out his duties,” the court wrote, citing Kansas precedent upholding interference convictions where defendants ignored commands to stop.
Eravi’s criminal case for interference remains pending in Douglas County District Court.