Grandmother Faces Trial in Alabama for Wearing Penis Costume to No Kings Protest

Renea Gamble, a 61-year-old ASL interpreter, faces trial April 15 in Fairhope, Alabama on disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace, and giving a false name to law enforcement after wearing an inflatable penis costume to an October 18 No Kings protest in the Trump-supporting Gulf Coast city. Fairhope Police Cpl. Andrew Babb ordered her to remove the costume, and when she invoked her First Amendment rights and attempted to leave, he grabbed and threw her to the ground; body camera footage shows officers struggling to fit her into a patrol car as she screamed in pain. The viral arrest, which drew national attention including a Late Show segment, prompted the city to add charges rather than drop the case, despite her lawyer David Gespass calling the prosecution "absurd" and noting a conviction would likely result only in a fine and suspended sentence. Gamble's case unfolds amid a broader crackdown on free expression in the region, including the Alabama Public Library Service's defunding of Fairhope's library over its refusal to remove LGBTQ+-themed children's books flagged by conservative activists. Her lawyer says Gamble views the prosecution as a constitutional test case about First Amendment rights, not her individual case.