LAFAYETTE, Colo. — A northern Colorado town has settled a lawsuit filed by an anti-fracking activist who says a former mayor violated his First Amendment rights by removing social media comments.

The Longmont Times-Call reports that officials in Lafayette reached an agreement to pay Cliff Willmeng about $5,000 in response to a suit filed in January against Christine Berg for removing his posts and blocking him from her official mayoral page on Facebook.

In March 2017 Willimeng posted comments on the page in support of a fracking ban in Lafayette.

Willmeng’s attorney says the offer amounts to an admission that Berg violated his First Amendment rights.

The city’s attorney says the agreement is a compromise intended to spare taxpayers the cost of a long legal case and not an admission of guilt.