Suit: Denver police seized phone as woman recorded arrests

A woman says Denver police violated her rights when they confiscated her cell phone as she was using it to videotape her husband’s arrest during a protest.

Fort Collins resident Jessica Benn says in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that she was not interfering with officers when they took her phone during an April 2015 demonstration against police brutality. She says she was standing on a public sidewalk, clearly recording police as they arrested protesters.

The lawsuit says Benn never got her phone back despite contacting police several times. The suit blames the police department for failing to train its officers on First Amendment rights and seeks unspecified damages.

City Attorney Scott Martinez declined to comment, saying officials had not yet been served with the lawsuit.