No hearings have been scheduled yet in the civil suit of New Ipswich resident Matthew Zinicola, who claims his First Amendment right was violated when he was kept from protesting the pipeline project last year.
Zinicola was arrested after an allegedly hostile interaction with a pipeline surveyor in October 2015, and although the charges were dropped in April, the conditions of his bail prevented him from exercising his right to protest.
He filed suit against the surveyor and his employer, Mott MacDonald and Hatch, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company. Also named as defendants are the Town of New Ipswich and the police officer who executed the arrest on warrant.
The case is in U.S. District Court in Concord. Documents were filed there in December but a hearing has not been scheduled, according to the court’s chief deputy.
— BY BRANDON LATHAM