Mayor Cantrell Faces Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit

by Daniel Johnson

July 28, 2024

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is now facing a federal civil rights lawsuit from the woman who she accused of stalking her for taking the now infamous picture of Cantrell and her former bodyguard Jeffery Vappie as they sat on the balcony of the Tableau restaurant.

Embattled New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is now facing a federal civil rights lawsuit from the woman whom she accused of stalking her for taking the now infamous picture of Cantrell and her former bodyguard Jeffery Vappie as they sat on the balcony of the Tableau restaurant. 

According to WWLTV, Anne Breaud filed the lawsuit against Cantrell, Clifton Davis, her chief of staff, and three police officers, Leslie Guzman, Victor Gant, and Ryan St. Martin who were involved in taking the mayor’s police report. According to their report, Cantrell used the police report to claim that Breaud was stalking and harassing her. 

In the lawsuit, Breaud accuses Cantrell of violating her civil rights by defaming her and stating false information in a protective order the mayor took out against Breaud. The order was dismissed, however, sensitive information about Breaud was made public before it was dismissed, including her social security number, an old driver’s license picture, and an expunged arrest. 

According to the lawsuit, “LaToya W. Cantrell and some of the Defendants—law enforcement officers and City of New Orleans employees—violated federal and state law to obtain the Plaintiff’s private personal information, including, but not limited to her date of birth, her full Social Security number, and a dated photograph (late 1980s/early 1990s) which appears to be obtained from the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles. In addition to obtaining this private personal information, Defendant Cantrell and other Defendants improperly obtained a criminal history on Breaud, which included a 2016 arrest of Breaud in Assumption Parish, Louisiana related to an alleged domestic violence incident.”

The lawsuit also claims that Cantrell’s statements that she was being followed or otherwise harassed by Breaud in the incident report filed with the New Orleans Police Department were false. “These statements are false and show actual malice on the part of Defendant Cantrell. She acted in reckless disregard for the truth,” the court documents read.

The lawsuit also claims that Cantrell used her position to in effect silence Breaud’s constitutionally protected speech.

The lawsuit states, “While Cantrell falsely painted herself as the victim of a pattern of stalking, harassment and intimidation by Breaud, it is Cantrell who has engaged in a pattern of harassment and character assassination against Breaud, a person wrongly accused by Cantrell of stalking solely because Breaud captured a photograph of Cantrell and Vappie in a compromising position.”

Mayor Cantrell’s spokesperson issued the following statement to Axios concerning the lawsuit and its various allegations: “The City of New Orleans will withhold any comment at this time due to the ongoing nature of this litigation. Our position will be communicated in our answer to the petition.”

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