The Onion and The Babylon Bee join forces for free speech

Among other things, the fake Facebook page included a job notice saying the department "is strongly encouraging minorities to not apply," a warning that Parma [Police] had banned food handouts so "the homeless population" would "leave our city due to starvation," and an announcement of "our official stay inside and catch up with the family day," during which anyone venturing outside between noon and 9 p.m. would be arrested. The police department was not amused.

After a jury acquitted him, Novak filed a federal lawsuit against several officers who were involved in the case, arguing that they had violated his constitutional rights under color of law. But last April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled that the defendants were protected by qualified immunity, which shields cops from liability unless their alleged misconduct violated "clearly established" law.

It's such a vague bullshit excuse for unlawful piggotry.

And here the Appeals Court seems to be arguing that all parody must given the \s reddit treatment:

The 6th Circuit cited two reasons why police might have reasonably believed that Novak's spoof did not qualify as constitutionally protected speech: Novak had deleted comments describing the page as fake, which he thought ruined the joke, and he had reposted a police department warning about the ersatz account, which he thought made the joke funnier. Like The Onion, the Bee takes issue with the implication. "Parody shouldn't be stripped of constitutional protection just because it's not clearly labeled as parody,"

Gooberment.