Priscilla Villarreal

Journalist Priscilla Villarreal arrested for requesting information from Laredo police department

Priscilla Villarreal began her independent journalism career in 2015, focusing on crime in the Laredo area. She publishes a Facebook blog^Ξ with the 48,000 followers. Ms. Villarreal, known locally as La Gordiloca (“the crazy fat lady”), was called by the New York Times “arguably the most influential journalist in Laredo,” a city of some 257,000 residents. She’s known for publishing high-spirited Spanish-English live streams and videos of local crime and corruption. In a 2019 profile, the Times described her as “the swearing muckraker upending border journalism.” The Times also noted that Ms. Villarreal’s “swift rise to prominence reflects how many people on the border now prefer to get their news—and just maybe, provides a glimpse at the future of journalism.”

“La Gordiloca” dares to question police, is then arrested

An arrest warrant was issued in December of 2017 following a request to a Laredo police officer for confirmation regarding details of a prominent suicide. Ms. Villarreal shared the story with her online readers, then law enforcement utilized a rarely invoked statute that had not been previously employed by local authorities to criminalize her journalistic activities.

Laredo police officers arrested Ms. Villarreal and charged her with two counts of “misuse of official information,” a third-degree felony. The Texas law makes it a crime to solicit nonpublic official information “with intent to obtain a benefit.” Police argued Ms. Villarreal was promoting herself by publishing the information on her social media page. 

Daxton Stewart, a journalism professor specializing in media law at Texas Christian University, offered “What’s fascinating is that she’s doing it the old-fashioned way, but with new technologies, by breaking news the authorities just don’t want out there.” The Times said, “Some follow her because of her fire-breathing reporting style, blending facts with “chisme” (gossip), but many in Laredo welcome her exposés on public corruption in a city whose abundant reports of graft have been the target of an F.B.I. investigation.”

She sued the Laredo police department and local prosecutors for violating her First (freedom of speech and the press) and Fourth (unreasonable search and seizure) Amendments rights. The district court dismissed her claims that her arrest was illegal, finding that officials were immune from Ms. Villarreal’s lawsuit. She appealed and the Fifth Circuit found in her favor, dismissing the verdict. However, the full Fifth Circuit Court later reconsidered the ruling and found against her by a 9-7 decision. Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho wrote in a dissenting opinion. “If that is not an obvious violation of the Constitution, it’s hard to imagine what would be.”

She appealed the Fifth Circuit decision which took her case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In April 2024, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) representing Ms. Villerreal, asked the Supreme Court to hear her case, arguing that Americans can hold public officials accountable for violating First Amendment rights. 

Amicus (friends of the court) briefs have been filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and twenty-one news organizations, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, NBC News, ProPublica, Slate, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group, as well as libertarian and conservative groups like the CATO Institute, Manhattan Institute, and the Charles Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

On April 23, 2024, the Supreme Court agreed to review Ms. Villarreal’s case, vacating the Fifth Circuit’s decision against her. The case was sent back to the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court ordered the lower court to reconsider Ms. Villarreal’s case.

FIRE attorney J.T. Morris called the case “vital for free speech, a free press, and ensuring officials are accountable when they violate the First Amendment.”

Reason, a libertarian publication, has followed her case closely. The magazine wrote, “Priscilla Villarreal was put in jail for asking a police officer a question.” The case probably will not be heard by the Supreme Court until 2025, Reason said.

“I’m grateful for the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Ms. Villarreal, “It has been a challenging seven years since Laredo officials attempted to silence me, and this marks a significant step toward rectifying the wrongs I have faced.”