HOUSTON, Texas — A Katy, Texas, man told Breitbart Texas that he is willing to go to jail rather than concede to a violation of his First Amendment speech rights and his property rights. He is facing contempt if he does not turn over his Facebook password to a federal judge in Houston, Texas by noon, Wednesday, April 8th. Jeremy Alcede says former business owners who took the business over in a hostile takeover, are trying to silence his comments about what has happened as a result of the takeover.
Alcede lost his company, Tactical Firearms to a business partner. The business is now called Boyert Shooting Center. Alcede is going through bankruptcy proceedings and the bankruptcy judge held that he must turn over the password because his Facebook page is a business asset. He urges that the Facebook page is his personal Facebook page where friends and followers post messages to him personally. Alcede has over 18,000 followers.
Alcede is a conservative, and sometimes controversial man who has obtained notoriety because of his personal posts about President Obama and other political issues. The sign at the firearms business also had controversial political messages which Alcede would post on his Facebook page.
Fox26 News in Houston interviewed Alcede’s former business owners. “Never ever was it a personal page,” John Boyert told Fox26. “It was always a company page.” Boyert claims that the Facebook page was solely a business page. “It’s a misconception that this is a First Amendment thing. It has nothing to do with that,” Boyert told Fox26.
In an interview within a few hours of the bankruptcy judge’s noon deadline, Alcede told Breitbart Texas “I believe in the Constitutional rights that I obtained at birth and I will not allow any of my rights to be infringed on.”
Alcede says the bankruptcy judge’s Order violates Facebook policy and contractual law. He says only Facebook has the right to give control over to another person, and it has to give permission in writing to transfer administrative rights to the page. He also told Breitbart Texas that whoever posts on the page owns the Facebook post.
Breitbart Texas will follow-up on what happens to the outspoken entrepreneur. Alcede cannot afford a lawyer and has no one to represent him for any contempt proceedings.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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