Gilmore v. City of Minneapolis
| Decision Date | 16 March 2015 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 13-1019 (JRT/FLN) |
| Parties | JOHN HUGH GILMORE, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS, DEITAN DUBUC, JOSHUA STEWART, THOMAS RYAN, GREGORY KOSCH, and MARK LANASA, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Mark R. Miller, MARK R. MILLER, PLLC, 2885 Knox Avenue South, Suite 406, Minneapolis, MN 55408, for plaintiff.
Sarah C. S. McLaren and Brian Scott Carter, Assistant City Attorneys, OFFICE OF THE MINNEAPOLIS CITY ATTORNEY, 350 South Fifth Street, Room 210, Minneapolis, MN 55415, for defendants.
Plaintiff John Huge Gilmore ("Gilmore") is an attorney and political blogger in Minnesota. Following an altercation with a group of people in downtown Minneapolis in June 2011, Minneapolis police arrested Gilmore and charged him with disorderly conduct and obstruction of the legal process. Gilmore brings this action against the city of Minneapolis and the officers involved (collectively, "defendants" or "the city"), alleging that the officers violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights by tearing up his poster, and that they violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and state law, by falsely arresting him. The city brought a motion for summary judgment. Because a material factual dispute remains as to Gilmore's Fourth Amendment destruction-of-property claim, the Court will deny summary judgment as to that claim. Because theofficers are entitled to qualified immunity, or official immunity, as to Gilmore's remaining federal and state claims, and because Gilmore has failed to show that any harm he did incur was caused by a failure to discipline on the part of the city, the Court will grant the city's motion for summary judgment as to Gilmore's remaining claims.
Gilmore is a prominent political blogger and attorney in Minnesota. He is active on Twitter and other social media and runs a blog called Minnesota Conservatives. His allegations in this case arise out of an incident that occurred in downtown Minneapolis on the evening of June 16, 2011. ( Gilmore alleges that he was eating dinner with friends at a restaurant when two Minneapolis police officers, Deitan Dubuc and Joshua Stewart, approached him and asked if he would step outside with them to answer some questions. 1 When Gilmore asked the officers what their purpose was, he alleges that they "physically manhandled him out of the booth and dragged him" outside. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 11; Miller Decl., Ex. A at 68-71.)
The city contends that the officers responded that night to a 911 call. Upon their arrival, following an on-site conversation with an observer, Matthew Glazer, theyapproached Gilmore in the restaurant. (See, e.g., Decl. of Joshua Stewart ("Stewart Decl.") ¶¶ 3-5, July 1, 2014, Docket No. 66; Decl. of Deitan Dubuc ("Dubuc Decl.") ¶¶ 3-9, July 1, 2014, Docket No. 67.) They asked to speak with him, Gilmore refused, and they consequently placed a wrist lock on his left wrist to force him to leave. (See, e.g., Stewart Decl. ¶¶ 7-9; Dubuc Decl. ¶¶ 9-11.) The officers believed Gilmore was intoxicated; Gilmore claims that while he did have three to four glasses of wine that night, he did so over the course of four hours and was consequently not intoxicated.
The officers then handcuffed Gilmore and placed him in the back of a squad car, where he sat for approximately thirty minutes. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 12; Miller Decl., Ex. A. at 71:15-72:3.) Gilmore claims that he attempted, initially, to talk with the officers, but that they ignored him and gave him no opportunity to explain himself. (Miller Decl., Ex. A at 71:20-73:5.) The officers returned to the car and first told Gilmore he was free to leave if he left the downtown Minneapolis area. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 13; Miller Decl., Ex. A at 73-74.) However, after communicating with their sergeant, Thomas Ryan, at police headquarters via radio, they then told Gilmore that they would instead be taking him to jail for "disorderly conduct" and "interference with lawful process."
The city counters that Gilmore refused to give any information to them and was subsequently handcuffed and placed in the squad car while they continued their investigation by interviewing witnesses. (Dubuc Decl. ¶ 12.) The city contends that the officers made no call to their sergeant and that, if they did discuss setting him loose if heleft Minneapolis, it was only as a means to gauge whether he should be booked (i.e., whether he continued to pose a threat). (Carter Decl., Ex. B (Joshua Stewart Dep.) at 97-100; Carter Decl., Ex. C (Deitan Dubuc Dep.) at 85-86.) The officers believed booking Gilmore, in lieu of a formal citation, made the most sense because they believed he was intoxicated and would not leave the scene otherwise. (Dubuc Decl. ¶ 25.)
Gilmore was transferred to a transport vehicle and, while inside and awaiting transport to the jail, Gilmore saw an officer rip up and throw away a political sign bearing the name of his website that Gilmore had with him at the restaurant. Gilmore complained about the sign to Officers Gregory Kosch and Mark LaNasa, who were both in the front of the transport vehicle. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 17; Miller Decl., Ex. A at 81:23-82:3.) Gilmore alleges that one officer told him he should take up the issue at the police station. The officers say they have no memory of the sign being destroyed and also note that it is not possible for a prisoner in the back of a police transport vehicle to communicate with officers sitting in the cab of the vehicle. (Carter Decl., Ex. E (Gregory Kosch Dep.) at 33; Carter Decl., Ex. F (Mark Raymond LaNasa Dep.) at 66-68.) In his deposition, Gilmore labeled the value of the sign "de minim[i]s." (Miller Decl., Ex. A at 35:19.)
Gilmore was taken to the Hennepin County jail, where his photo was taken and his personal belongings were inventoried. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 23.) He was released from jail the next morning on $50 bail, and in March 2012, the City of Minneapolis dropped all charges against him.
In his third amended complaint, Gilmore alleges that prior to dinner on June 16, 2011, he had been at a political gathering of "Right Online" with other conservative activists, featuring the now-deceased conservative activist and celebrity, Andrew Breitbart. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 18; Miller Decl., Ex. A at 33.) When Gilmore was walking from the gathering to the restaurant he passed several women2 he believed to be Muslims, all of whom were wearing hijab, and asked them "their opinion of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the world's preeminent human rights activist on behalf of women in Muslim countries." (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 18; Miller Decl., Ex. A at 39-40, 45, 52) Gilmore claims that the women responded that they hated Ali and wished she was dead, so he decided to engage them in conversation - communicating with them about Western, pro-democratic values, but not saying anything offensive or judgmental. (Miller Decl., Ex. A at 45-54.)
Gilmore alleges that shortly after that conversation began, "a flash mob started to form" comprised of political activists who were attending the Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis. (Third Am. Compl. ¶ 19; Miller Decl., Ex. A, Gilmore Dep., at 50-64.) Gilmore alleges that he was "suddenly surrounded by aggressive, yelling, abusiveactivists," and although "[h]e engaged on matters political for a short time," he "began to fear for his personal safety," and after several attempts was "able to escape from the threatening mob." (Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 20-21; Miller Decl., Ex. A at 50-64.) He believed the mob was using tactics of the liberal organizer, Saul Alinsky, to surround him and force him to touch members of the mob, so they could claim assault or battery. (Miller Decl., Ex. A at 54-57.) To escape, and to protect himself, he pretended to make a phone call to Breitbart and to videotape the activists with his Blackberry mobile phone. (Id. at 57-64.) After he escaped, he then joined his friends for dinner at a nearby restaurant, until Minneapolis police "burst in[]" and detained him, as described above. (Third Am. Compl. ¶¶ 9-10.)
The city paints a starkly different picture of Gilmore's role in the altercation. The officers first received a 911 call that a suspicious white male wearing all black and sandals, and with gray hair, was yelling at people on the street, shouting racial slurs, and taking photos of the people he was targeting. (Stewart Decl. ¶ 3.) The officers arrived and spoke to Glazer, who told them about the incident, claimed that Gilmore had tried to assault him, and stated that he thought Gilmore would try again to hurt him. (Id. ¶ 4.) After entering the restaurant and detaining Gilmore in the squad car, the officers interviewed several witnesses. (Id. ¶ 11.)
First, Elisabeth Geschiere told Stewart that after Gilmore engaged the two women regarding Ms. Ali, they responded simply by saying that while they did not like her, they could "agree to disagree" with Gilmore. (Id. ¶¶ 12-14.) Gilmore, however, became angry,...
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