Massachusetts cat account creator sues after being barred from JD Vance event

Amanda McGonigle, the Massachusetts creator behind the CatsOnACouch Instagram account, sued after officials barred her from a JD Vance event in Bangor even though she had registered in advance and received confirmation. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, says she was singled out while waiting in line and told by armed Secret Service agents, “we know where you stand.”

McGonigle’s complaint casts the exclusion as viewpoint discrimination, not a security response. Her account has more than 1.9 million Instagram followers and more than 650,000 on Facebook, and it is used for satirical political commentary and mutual-aid work, including support for immigrant communities. Laura Moraff, a lawyer for McGonigle, called the content “purr-tected speech” and described retaliation for it as a “cat-aclysmic blow” to the First Amendment.

The Bangor appearance took place May 14, 2026, at Bangor International Airport. Vance spoke about the Trump administration’s fraud crackdown and campaigned for former Maine Gov. Paul LePage. The complaint says McGonigle arrived wearing a shirt that read, “JD Vance cured my imposter syndrome,” and that she was blocked from entry. It also says she was prevented from attending another official Vance event in Des Moines, Iowa, earlier in 2026 after registering there as well.

The case names the U.S. Secret Service and the Executive Office of the President. McGonigle’s lawyers argue that the event was not a private political gathering but an official government event supported at least in part by taxpayer money, and the government can impose some limits in a limited public forum only if they are viewpoint-neutral. The White House did not immediately respond, and the Secret Service declined comment.