The two Birmingham civil rights attorneys who were detained in Blount County on Thursday morning said they were arrested for protecting themselves from an "unlawful" search.

Victor Revill and Megan Garcia

Victor Revill, owner of Revill Law Firm, and Megan Garcia, an associate, were arrested outside the Blount County courthouse and charged with obstructing a governmental operation and refusal to permit inspection of property subject to a search warrant. Both charges are misdemeanor.

Revill said they were at the courthouse to represent a client, Lloyd Edwards, during a protection from abuse hearing. Edwards is accused of child sex abuse of an 11-year-old victim and child porn, according to court documents.

After the hearing, they spoke to their client inside the courthouse for 15 to 20 minutes. During that conversation, they asked their client for his cellphone so they can gather more information for his case.

Revill said that on their way out the courthouse, the client was stopped by a police officer and an investigator. The officer told the client they had a warrant to search both him and his vehicle. After looking at the search warrant himself, Revill told the client that the authorities had a right to search him.

"No one knew any one had a search warrant or anything," Revill said. "So when we walked out the courthouse, we were blindsided."

Pamela Casey, Blount County district attorney, said the warrant was lawful.

"The officers were seeking evidence pursuant to a lawful search warrant," Casey said. "This case involves a child sex abuse case and pornography. We will have no further comment at this time. It is an ongoing investigation."

That's when the investigator asked to see Garcia's satchel because they saw the client give Garcia his cellphone. Revill said they didn't consent to the search and they were detained.

"I told them, 'Your search warrant authorized you to search the person, our client, and his vehicle. It does not authorize you to search his attorneys. So, we are not going to agree with you searching us,'" Revill said.

During the four-minute conversation with authorities, Revill said the investigator made a phone call.

"Two or three minutes later, (the investigator) told the officer, 'Arrest them for obstruction of government operations. So we put our hands up and we were arrested," Revill said. "Basically, we were arrested for refusing consent, which is our constitutional right, first of all. There was no search warrant to search us. There wasn't a lawful reason to detain us. They did not have the right to charge us with a crime."

Garcia said she was in shock during her arrest.

"When they said we were under arrest and we put our hands up, I was like, 'Is this real life?' It's so obvious that something was wrong," Garcia said.

Revill said both he and Garcia have obtained attorneys to represent them. He said they are practicing what they preach as civil rights attorneys.

"It's a sad day for Alabama because you have, once again, an example of a zealous investigator that heard something they didn't like and said, 'I'm going to find a way to arrest them. I'm going to find a way to do what I want to do. I'm going to search her and I'm going to find a way to do it," Revill said. "There are so many good law enforcement officers in this state, in this city, and all across America and it's just sad when you have some who want to bend, or in this case break, the rules."