A woman from Seattle filed a federal lawsuit on July 21, 2025, against the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, alleging that they violated her First Amendment rights by blocking her on Instagram after she posted an inflammatory message on the social media platform. Lauren Ann Lombardi complained about the noise from their F-18 Super Hornet jets, saying they constituted “state-sanctioned acoustic torture” for her elderly cat.
For context, Lombardi alleged that the noise exacerbated her cat Layla’s congestive heart disease, leading to her euthanasia in August 2024. In her lawsuit, the woman requested to be unblocked, demanded coverage for her legal fees, and asked that Navy staff undergo additional training.
In the lawsuit, Lombardi blasted the Navy in an entitled rant. Her suit read, “These thin-skinned bureaucrats blocked Lombardi from commenting any further, thereby muzzling an American citizen while simultaneously blinding the broader public from witnessing legitimate grievances against their government.”
Her initially profanity-laced message caused her to be blocked on social media, and it read, Stop with your F—— b——- you are terrorizing my cat and all the other animals and wildlife.” In a subsequent rant, she posted, “F— off” and “Nobody gives a f— about your stupid little planes,” adding, “cowards,” after being blocked.
The absurd lawsuit claimed that the F-18 fighter jets caused immeasurable suffering to her cat. Lombardi claimed, “Whatever bandwidth Layla’s walnut-sized brain could previously gorge upon had been narrowed to a single overwhelming frequency: pure debilitating terror.”
Still not done making a fool of herself, the woman whined about her feline’s final days. She argued, “Layla’s condition continued to deteriorate and she left home again, for the final time. She spent her last week fighting for her life in a specialty hospital before being humanely euthanized on August 11, 2024, surrounded by her inconsolably grieving family. ”
Adding more melodramatic language, the suit stated, “Layla’s final days on Earth were marred by sadistic suffering — cowering in terror beneath furniture while her ailing heart struggled against the Blue Angels’ relentless noise pollution. Layla died knowing only fear when she should have known only love.”
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Concluding her absurd lawsuit, Lombardi clarified that she supports the military before doubling down on her absurd arguments. The document read, “Lombardi respects and supports the U.S. military and that her criticism of the Blue Angels was focused on the ‘environmental and Constitutional harms caused by their demonstration practices and subsequent censorship activities.'”
The Blue Angels are a popular symbol of American pride and are often called in to perform their impressive aerial acrobatics at parades and sporting events. For instance, during the 2020 pandemic, President Trump called on the Blue Angels to fly over major cities to honor frontline healthcare workers.
Explaining his reasoning, the President said, “What we are doing is paying tribute to our front-line health care workers confronting COVID, and it’s really a signal to all Americans to remain vigilant during the outbreak,” adding, “I want to see those shows. I’ve seen them many times and I can’t get enough of them.”