Public officials are so alarmed by political memes directed against them and their beliefs that they have threatened and even jailed the people who share them. At least four states have tried to ban "deceptive" election memes or demand joke-killing disclaimers on them.

Oregon's Lane Community College didn't go that far when student Richard Riordan used a meme to compare its Board of Education to Lord Farquaad, the comic villain in the 2001 animated movie Shrek. It just banned him from campus and blocked him from registering for classes until Dec. 31, 2099.

A federal judge ordered LCC to lift its trespass notice against Riordan and remove his enrollment hold so that the student can register for and attend classes on campus again, finding his repeated criticism of the board "at times annoying, long-winded, aggressive, hyperbolic, and grandiose" but constitutionally protected nonetheless.

The board's portrayal of Riordan "as a serious threat to the community is equally hyperbolic and grandiose," U.S. District Judge Michael McShane wrote in approving a preliminary injunction against the trustees, signaling that Riordan – not to be confused with the ex-Los Angeles mayor and military commander of the same name – is likely to win the suit.

"Loud speech might be burdensome to public officials during meetings and in public settings," but it's First Amendment activity, the President Obama nominee wrote.

There's no evidence in the record that Riordan "posed a threat to anyone," McShane wrote. He noted the school had bodycam footage of Riordan, after a board meeting, confronting a trustee in a parking lot to criticize program cuts, yet LCC's decision not to submit it suggests it doesn't show Riordan "acting in a threatening manner."

What LCC deemed threatening about Riordan's conduct was simply him being "angry," a word that occasionally shows up in administrators' complaints about him, the judge said.

"Angry speech is still protected speech, as long as it does not contain a true threat," and "a reasonable recipient" of Riordan's missives would not interpret them "as a serious expression of intent to commit violence," McShane said. He simply uses "hyperbole, jest, and political rhetoric" as "an engaged student, concerned about how LCC allocated its resources."

Even as he deemed the board's sanctions "unreasonable and legally unsupported," McShane recognized its "subjective safety concerns," for now upholding a ban on Riordan going to board meetings or approaching trustees, to "foster de-escalation."

Trespass notice never said "what exactly did he do"

LCC banned him from campus "because he had the audacity to be critical of the administration," Riordan's lawyer, Kevin Brague, told The Chronicle of Higher Education. They hope to receive "vindication of a student’s ability to freely speak on campus." He didn't answer a Just the News query about Riordan's ongoing ban from board meetings.

LCC Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications Jenna McCulley told Just the News "the college is limited in what it can say publicly about the specific allegations, including factual discrepancies or information not reflected in the complaint," because of litigation, but disputes Riordan's claims.

"Decisions regarding campus access are based on the circumstances and conduct involved, consistent with college policy and applicable law," she wrote in an email. 

LCC "values the free exchange of ideas and the right of individuals to express differing perspectives, including criticism of the college," but it "also has a responsibility to its students and staff to protect the safety of the campus community and the orderly operation of the college."

LCC filed a formulaic response to the lawsuit five days before McShane's ruling, claiming that Riordan "improperly pleaded punitive damages," that "some or all" of his claims were caused by himself or others, and that it was acting in good faith and not contrary to any "clearly established law," the bar for qualified immunity.

The "constructive" expulsion, as McShane called it, "was devastating to him and they never in the notice of trespass said what, what exactly did he do," the student's father, Rick Riordan, a faculty member at LCC, told local TV station KEZI. His son filed suit just over a month ago, and classes started Sept. 28, the same day as McShane's ruling.

The Lord Farquaad meme "was completely taken out of context and distorted" by the board, the senior Riordan said, adding that his son plans to transfer to the University of Oregon.

"Cuts for Thee but Not For Me" recalls the Shrek meme

The "Farquaad Sacrifice Meme" uses a Shrek scene where the John Lithgow-voiced villain opens a tournament in which the knights of Duloc will compete for the "privilege" to rescue Princess Fiona from a dragon. 

If the winner is "unsuccessful, the first runner-up will take his place and so on and so forth," Lord Farquaad says. "Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make." 

The meme mocks leaders who celebrate their devotion to the greater good by burdening others. Know Your Meme traces its first use to 2014, in the context of a university requiring students to come to class "with a -30 degree wind chill."

"The meme seems to represent an authoritarian figure, the comical Lord Farquaad, speaking to the abuse of power," McShane wrote. "The context of the meme suggests that Lord Farquaad is representative of the Board, not the Plaintiff."

The judge referred to the meme's use in Riordan's May 18 letter to the board, administration, faculty union and student government, a 13-page airing of grievances about the May 5 board meeting that builds on his prior email to the board alone about its April 22 meeting. (McShane gives the wrong date and page length in the ruling.)

LCC is imposing "austerity" on student financial aid and programs including his father's department, Riordan wrote, yet shows its "emotional need for opulence" by preserving "sweet six figure salary [sic] for managers while some faculty qualify for food stamps." 

He referred to an instructor's public comment at the meeting, which allegedly relayed the college spending public money on "performers from Buffalo, New York, including a juggler with his sidekick, accompanied by a singer in a sequin vest performing Elton John's "I'm Still Standing." Just the News could not reach the instructor to clarify her comment.

He asked why those pushing for cuts "never ask themselves 'How can we contribute for the greater good?' [...] I guess what I'm trying to say is here is that the whole 'Cuts for Thee but Not For Me' mentality that has taken administration by storm really does read like this image," displaying the Shrek meme.

Alarmed by his "fixation" with the administration

Riordan also protested a proposal to let the board choose how much time to allot for public comment while maintaining the 3-minute rule per speaker and 2 minutes each when 20 or more sign up.

A trustee who complained about public comment is actually "annoyed by [...] democracy where everyone can participate," Riordan wrote. "Maybe if it were 'the good ol’ days' of Peterloo and the Bourbon Restoration, when popular participation could still be treated as a disturbance to 'order' then she would finally be happy."

Judge McShane explained Riordan's reference to Peterloo, "a historical event in 1819, when a local English government officials sent troops to quell a peaceful protest. Soldiers killed 18 people and injured hundreds."

Riordan emailed the board and local officials June 2, using the phrase "drive-by shooting" to describe what McShane deemed the "incoherence" of his writing. 

It got forwarded "with concern" to Director of Student Life Becca Maley, who had filed an "incident report" weeks earlier about student government leaders voicing concern about Riordan's "fixation" with the administration, even as they affirmed Riordan was not "an immediate threat to himself or others."

Without making clear if she ever interacted with Riordan, Maley filed another report after Riordan spoke at a June 3 budget meeting, expressing her concern about "the language [Riordan] uses and length of time and energy he is putting into these documents."

Working off this report, Director of Public Safety Lisa Rupp created a "crime report" June 18, retroactively covering April 15-June 17, charging Riordan with harassment and interviewing "witnesses over several weeks in preparing it," the judge said. (An exhibit shows she was forwarded Riordan's May 18 letter nine days later.)