See, Indiana's strong state preemption law generally prohibits political subdivisions of the state from making places off limits to carry. However, buildings with courtrooms in them are an exception to this law.
So if a county had just purchased a building downtown and was using it for the offices of the prosecutor and various public defenders and suchlike, how could they make this new office building off-limits for carry, complete with metal detectors and security and such?
They could say that one of the rooms in the basement was actually a courtroom!
So, what happened when an attorney asked if he could see this alleged courtroom?
“It was intellectual curiosity at that point,” said Freeman. “I asked questions about who created the court.” Freeman said that after looking through a locked door it became obvious that there wasn’t a courtroom set up. “There were boxes and furniture in the room,” he said. At this point, he became more curious and submitted a request for public information about the courtroom on or about May 15, 2017. That’s when the trouble began.Shenanigans ensued. Go read the whole thing.
On or about May 17, 2017, Freeman was pulled into a restroom and questioned by courthouse deputies. Someone had accused him of carrying a gun in the courthouse and ranting about it on Facebook. Freeman knew that was nonsense, so asked the officers who made those allegations and who ordered them to question him. They reportedly told him they could not tell him. Freeman believes someone may have intended to intimidate him for raising questions and asking for public information.
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