Newly released body-worn camera footage shows a Fairhope police colonel confronting and arresting a 61-year-old woman during an Oct. 18 protest, where she was dressed in an inflatable penis costume.
The video is now at the center of a legal dispute over whether the arrest violated her First Amendment rights.
The footage, provided to AL.com by the legal team representing Renea Gamble, captures Col. Andrew Babb approaching her during the “No Kings” demonstration along Greeno Road.
In the recording, Babb tells Gamble that her costume would not be allowed in what he describes as a community with standards.
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“I’m not going to sit here and argue with you,” Babb says in the video. “If my kids came by here to see this, how would I explain this?”
Gamble replies, “Are you recording?”
Babb responds, “How would you explain to my children what you are supposed to be? This is a family town. I’m not going to have someone out here dressed like this. It’s abusive.”
Babb also adds, “I would hate for her grandkids to see her like this.”
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Gamble was arrested on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Her attorneys, David Gespass and Kathleen Johnson, filed a 13-page brief seeking dismissal of the charges, citing the body-camera footage and arguing that the arrest occurred while she was taking part in a political protest.
According to the brief, Gamble was participating in the demonstration wearing a cartoon-style inflatable penis costume purchased from a Spirit Halloween location in Foley.
Court documents note it was the final one available at the store.
The case is being handled in Fairhope Municipal Court, with a trial date set for Jan. 6, 2026.
The arrest has drawn nationwide scrutiny after images of Gamble in the costume circulated widely online.
The incident was also featured on late-night television, including commentary from comedian Stephen Colbert.
In their filing, Gamble’s attorneys referenced past examples of Supreme Court-protected public demonstrations involving offensive or provocative imagery, noting instances such as Nazi marches, Ku Klux Klan cross burnings, flag desecration protests, and Westboro Baptist Church demonstrations at military funerals.
They argued that these longstanding protections illustrate why the charges should be dismissed.
“Can one deny that each of these actions would be more offensive to more people than a protester in an anatomically imprecise phallic costume?” Gespass and Johnson wrote in the brief.
The filing also states that no one at the Oct. 18 demonstration appeared ready to engage in a physical altercation over Gamble’s presence or attire.
“Until (police) arrived, no one present appeared so offended by Ms. Gamble’s costume as to be ready to fight over it,” the brief reads.
It adds that the protest’s message was aimed at Donald Trump and that “he was, by all accounts, nowhere near Fairhope.”
The court will determine next year whether the charges against Gamble will move forward.
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Thought number one: Gamble was self-identifying with the costume. Serious dick.
Thought number two: People have the 1A right to be a penis in public
Thought number three: Someone needs to let the officer know the concept of decency was destroyed in the 1960s…..
61 year ago white leftard IMBECILE!!!!!!!!! And they wonder why the are lonely and divorced!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t they have obscenity laws? Public indecency?
that penis lady is just horrible! so cruel and inhuman
Listen to all those PERVERTED people complaining about that pos being arrested.
Being a conservative and a firm believer in the first amendment. I strongly support her right to freedom of expression. If we don’t stand up to tyranny in any form we will lose our right to freedom of expression.
YOU as sick and she is and YOU are the problem in this country……too much freedom and no responsibility nor accountability……go get mental help immediately
These so-called moronic “protests” marching for the protection of CRIMINAL illegals alien robbers, rapists and , murderers, has gone on long enough.People need to get their heads out of their butts, get back to their jobs (if they have one, other than “professional protestor”) or homes, and stay the hell off the streets.
Hey, what a classy exhibition. That tells you just about all you need to know about the “No Kings” protestors.
what was this whatever is in the costume……PROTESTING???????