Teacher sues Denver police, Auraria campus over pro-Palestinian protest arrest

Katie Langford, The Denver Post on Apr 16, 2026

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DENVER — 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.

This is the second lawsuit filed by protesters arrested at the Tivoli Quad demonstration in the past week — another complaint with similar claims was filed April 9 in Denver District Court by eight Coloradans also arrested at the 2024 protest.

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.

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.

Gutlerbert was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and failing to follow a lawful order, taken to jail and held for more than 12 hours before she was released, her attorneys wrote. The charges were later dropped.

In a statement, Auraria spokesperson Devra Ashby said the campus has not been served with the lawsuit and was not aware of it.

“The Auraria Campus strongly supports civic engagement and the right to peaceable assembly within the parameters of the law and campus policy,” Ashby said in an email. “We are equally committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment where all individuals feel safe and valued, regardless of background or belief.”

The lawsuit also alleges the Denver Police Department did not follow a series of recommendations from the city’s police watchdog after the 2020 George Floyd protests and failed to take action that would prevent the protesters’ constitutional rights from being violated in the future.

As a result, Denver and Auraria police “conducted a mass arrest of peaceful protesters without probable cause, without body-worn camera footage sufficient to document the basis for individual arrests, and without any assessment of whether the individuals being arrested had actually violated any law,” according to the complaint.

A spokesperson for the city attorney’s office declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The lawsuit claims 10 violations of state and federal law, including retaliation, unlawful arrest, unlawful seizure, malicious prosecution and conspiracy and seeks an unspecified amount of money for damages.