Denver’s City Council approved paying $65,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by activist Eric Brandt stemming from a 2018 arrest on the 16th Street Mall.

On the day of a court appearance in September 2018 for two other activists who had been arrested for accusations of disturbing the peace, Brandt walked down the mall, protesting Denver’s urban camping ban and shouting expletives at a group of Denver police officers.

A bystander agreed to sign a criminal complaint against Brandt for disturbing the peace, leading to his arrest, according to the federal lawsuit.

Denver eventually approved a settlement of $128,000 for the two other activists, Brian Loma and Mikel Whitney.

Denver City Council approves $128,000 in settlements for two men arrested over expletive

The charges against Brandt were later dropped. The complaint filed by civil rights attorney Andy McNulty of Killmer Lane & Newman claims that officers conspired to find a reason to arrest Brandt because he offended them. The lawsuit calls him “infamous” in the police department and a frequent target because of his protests against police brutality.

Replies by two officers filed in December 2021, before the lawsuit was settled, argued they acted in good faith performing their official duties and said Brandt’s claims should be dismissed.

Brandt originally filed the lawsuit himself in February 2020 before McNulty filed an amended complaint on his behalf in November last year. The lawsuit named the City and County of Denver and Frederick Kitchens, Ashley Cox, Christopher Baird, Jordan Peterson, Adolph Chavez, Jr., Anthony Guzman, and Kenneth Chavez in their individual capacities.

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