Biro suing City of Tallahassee after removal from Citizen Police Review Board

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Taylor Biro, who was recently removed from the Tallahassee Citizen Police Review Board by a 3-2 vote of the City Commission - is now filing suit against the City of Tallahassee.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Tallahassee’s federal court claims commissioners violated her First Amendment free speech rights in denying “her constitutional right to critique law enforcement and place a sticker on her cup.”

The lawsuit filed by attorney Marie Mattox said Biro served on the review board “without incident or complaint” since 2020 and “always brought a cup with a sticker that says “abolish police.”

It alleges Tallahassee City Commissioner Diane Williams-Cox inaccurately described Biro’s mug as saying “F the Police” at a November 9th meeting.

The suit contends that comment prompted the Police Benevolent Association to call for Biro’s removal and ultimately led to a 3-2 vote by the commission on December 7th to remove Biro from the board.

“She has been publicly defamed, and false claims or insinuations have been made and supported that (Biro) is biased against the police, which she is not,” the lawsuit says.

Mattox says they are seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages and asking the court to reinstate Biro.

“One of the things that the city could do is return her back to the board,” Mattox told WCTV. “One of the interesting things about the board is that this is a non-partisan position. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is a free speech issue and she should be put back on the board.”

Mayor John Dailey, along with Commissioners Diane Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson, voted to remove Biro. Mayor Dailey’s aide, Courtney Thomas, told WCTV that “our office does not comment on pending litigation.”

We have reached out to the City Attorney’s Office for comment as well.

A summons filed in federal court indicates the City of Tallahassee has 21 days to respond.