COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9 filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the city of Whitehall , alleging it violated the First Amendment by blocking emails from the police union.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in the Eastern Division. The plaintiffs are FOP Lodge #9 and President Brian Steel, and the defendants include the city of Whitehall, police chief Mike Crispen and Mayor Michael Bivens.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants enacted a policy banning the FOP and Steel from using Whitehall’s email system, which Bivens has called an “open” and “public forum.”

The FOP, which represents more than 4,000 police officers throughout central Ohio, has reportedly used the system to communicate with its me

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