photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Phillip Michael Eravi is pictured at a hearing on Dec. 11, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

Updated at 10:11 a.m. Wednesday, July 10

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the City of Lawrence and others brought by a man who says his First Amendment rights were trampled when he was trespassed last year from the city-supported homeless camp in North Lawrence. On Tuesday, the same day the dismissal was filed, the man angrily used the N-word to belittle Lawrence’s mayor at a public meeting.

As the Journal-World reported, the plaintiff, Michael Eravi, acknowledged in February that his lawsuit lacked the facts to support his claims, and he asked Judge Julie Robinson for permission to amend his lawsuit.

Robinson denied that permission Tuesday, and she dismissed Eravi’s suit with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be brought again.

The city, which successfully argued for dismissal, said Eravi’s lawsuit should be thrown out because the city was well within its rights to restrict access to the homeless camp, which it called a “nonpublic forum,” and that probable cause existed to trespass Eravi, who had been given multiple warnings to not enter the camp.

Eravi is a frequent public commenter at government meetings and a vocal critic of police, with whom he has had multiple run-ins in recent years, including at numerous City Commission meetings where he has repeatedly used obscenities to refer to the city’s police chief.

On Tuesday night, during general public comment at the Lawrence City Commission meeting, Eravi dressed down Mayor Bart Littlejohn, saying that as a Black man civil rights should be his “forté” and that he should do more to protect Eravi’s rights. Eravi also used the word “colored” to describe Black commissioners and then used the N-word multiple times in berating the mayor, including telling Littlejohn, “I’m not your field (N-word), b-tch.” Eventually, Littlejohn asked police to remove Eravi, and the commission briefly recessed, as Eravi threatened to once again sue.

The Journal-World has reached out to the city for comment on the incident at Tuesday’s meeting.

Last summer, City Manager Craig Owens notified Eravi that he was banned for 60 days from attending city meetings after exhibiting “threatening and harassing behavior,” including telling two commissioners that he knew where they lived. Owens said in the letter that the ban came after Eravi had been asked to leave or was removed from city meetings “no less than five times.” Owens said at that time that Eravi was still allowed to attend meetings virtually.

“The City is committed to maintaining a safe space for important community business to be conducted and for members of the public to participate,” Owens said in the letter dated Aug. 21, 2023.

Eravi is currently facing a felony interference with law enforcement charge after he allegedly forced officers from their protected positions during an armed standoff in May 2023, as the Journal-World reported.