They were lying sure, in a CYA sort of move. Totally despicable cowardice.

My buddy Utah Phillips put it very well:

“The state can't give you free speech, and the state can't take it away. You're born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free...”