A local teacher arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the Auraria campus is suing Denver police and campus leaders for violating her civil rights, including freedom of speech and assembly, according to a complaint filed in federal court this week.
The lawsuit filed by Denver firm Newman McNulty in U.S. District Court on Tuesday described the 2024 arrests as the latest in a yearslong pattern of Denver Police Department officers violating the civil rights of protesters, including using force that left some with permanent injuries.
When Denver teacher Margaret Gutberlet arrived at the quad on April 26, 2024, to protest the war in Gaza, she joined other protesters sitting on the grass and linked arms to engage “in peaceful political expression at a public forum for free speech,” her attorneys wrote in the complaint.
Denver
Students at Auraria campus arrested as pro-Palestinian protests continue
Gutberlet’s attorneys allege Denver police and Auraria campus officials retaliated specifically against the anti-war protesters, and rather than work with organizers to remove tents or move to the sidewalk so they could continue protesting, “broadly prohibited all speech on campus.”
While Auraria officials said protesters were removed for violating the encampment policy, police continued to arrest protesters, including Gutberlet, after the tents were taken down, the lawsuit states.
Read the full story from our media partners at The Denver Post here.
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