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A woman who was arrested after posting a Game of Thrones GIF on a city councilman’s Facebook page is now suing the city after claiming the incident cost her a $121,000-a-year job.
Kathleen Tierney, a Tucson woman, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Tempe after police accused her of making an online threat over the post.
According to The Arizona Republic, the lawsuit claims Tempe violated Tierney’s First, Fourth, and 14th Amendment rights, along with state laws, after officers arrested her over the GIF.
The incident dates back to August 2025, when Tierney posted a Game of Thrones GIF on Tempe Councilman Randy Keating’s public Facebook page ahead of a city council meeting.
The GIF showed Cersei eyeing green smoke from an explosion, with the caption, “watching tonight’s council meeting.”
Tempe police treated the post as a possible threat, leading officials to evacuate council chambers and move the meeting online.
Tempe
Woman says Game of Thrones GIF was political commentary
Tierney has argued the post was not meant as a threat and was instead political commentary tied to a debate over a city parks ordinance.
According to Arizona’s Family, police documents later showed Keating told officers he did not want to “overreact or underreact” after seeing the post. The report also said Keating was a fan of Game of Thrones and that Tierney told police she posted it partly because he had named his dog after a character from the show.
Tierney was arrested at her Tucson home in September. Police recommended a felony computer-tampering charge and misdemeanor disorderly conduct counts, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office later declined to prosecute.
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The city also issued a news release identifying her by name and accusing her of endangering lives, disrupting civic engagement, silencing residents, intimidation, and interfering with democracy.
She is now suing the city for free speech retaliation, false arrest, defamation and abuse of process.
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Tierney’s lawsuit says her arrest caused “paralyzing embarrassment,” led to her losing her job at Cox Communications, and resulted in her enduring immense reputational damage.
Tempe previously said police followed established procedures and that Tierney was treated the same as any other member of the community.
The lawsuit now moves the fight into federal court, where Tierney is seeking damages and a jury trial.
Earlier this year, a man who was arrested and spent 37 days in jail for posting a Charlie Kirk meme won a $835,000 settlement after filing a First Amendment lawsuit. Time will tell if Tierney’s lawsuit ends with a similar result.
