John Hugh Gilmore v. City of Minneapolis

837 F.3d 827, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16708, 2016 WL 4758552
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 13, 2016
Docket15-2465
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 837 F.3d 827 (John Hugh Gilmore v. City of Minneapolis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John Hugh Gilmore v. City of Minneapolis, 837 F.3d 827, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16708, 2016 WL 4758552 (8th Cir. 2016).

Opinions

KELLY, Circuit Judge.

John Hugh Gilmore appeals the district court’s1 adverse grant of summary judgment on his claims alleging violations of his First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, unlawful arrest under Minnesota law, and an unconstitutional policy under Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). We agree with the district court that the officers are entitled to qualified immunity for Gilmore’s federal law claims, official immunity for Gilmore’s state law claim, and that Gilmore has not made out a claim under Monell. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. Background

• Around 10 p.m. on June 16, 2011, police received a 911 call from Matthew Glazer, reporting a disturbance and a suspicious white male with gray hair, wearing sandals and all-black clothing, on Nicollet Mall. Glazer stated that the person described was yelling at people on the street, shouting racial slurs, and taking photos of the people he was targeting. When officers arrived on the scene in response to the 911 call, Glazer flagged them down. Glazer reported to the officers that a man, who was later identified as John Hugh Gilmore, had asked two women wearing hijabs their opinion of Ayaan Hirsi AÍi,2 and then began screaming racial slurs at them. Glazer also claimed that Gilmore had tried to assault him, and stated he thought Gilmore would try to hurt him again. Whether or not Gilmore actually engaged in the conduct described, he does not dispute that this is what Glazer told the officers when they arrived at the scene.

The officers proceeded to The News Room restaurant, where Glazer said Gilmore had gone. According to Gilmore, approximately five minutes after he arrived at the restaurant, Officers Deitan Dubuc and Joshua Stewart entered and asked to speak to him. When he refused, they escorted Gilmore out of the restaurant, using a wrist lock to force him to leave.3 Gilmore had drunk 3-4 glasses of wine that night, but he says he was not intoxicated.

After they left the restaurant with Gilmore, Officers Dubuc and Stewart sought to gather more information. According to the officers, Gilmore refused to speak with them about what had happened. Gilmore, on the other hand, alleges that he was not given an opportunity to tell the officers his side of the story, but that he was coopera[831]*831tive with them. Based on the information the officers had regarding the events of the evening and the fact that, from their perspective, Gilmore was “mad” and “refused to cooperate,” they handcuffed him and placed him in the back of them squad car.

The officers then interviewed several witnesses. Gilmore’s friend, Paul Carlson, said he could not hear what was being said between Gilmore and the group of people he was allegedly yelling at, because he was across the street, but that Gilmore was 8-10 feet away from the group and his hands were in his pockets. The two women wearing hijabs reported that after they told Gilmore they did not think favorably of Ayaan Hirsi Ali but they “would agree to disagree,” Gilmore yelled, <fWhy did you come to my country and try to change us? You’re in the [W]est here.” They relayed that Gilmore also made other comments that made them “fearful” and “terrified.” When Gilmore started taking photos of the women, Glazer inserted himself between the women and Gilmore. Another witness, Elisabeth Geschiere, confirmed the two women’s story. The officers also spoke again to Glazer, who then filled out a citizen’s arrest form on which he indicated that, during the confrontation, he asked Gilmore whether he knew the difference between assault and battery. Gilmore’s alleged reply was, “I haven’t hit anyone ... yet. Just wait.” Geschiere also expressed fear that Gilmore would hurt someone at the scene. Gilmore disputes the truth of the witnesses’ statements, but does not dispute that this was the information given to the officers while he sat in the back of the police car.

Gilmore recounted a different version- of events. He asserted that after attending a political gathering, he passed several women' wearing hijabs near 11th Street and Nicollet Avenue, and asked them their opinion of Ayaan- Hirsi Ali. Gilmore claimed that a “flash mob” of people from a progressive political conference suddenly appeared, surrounded him, and began aggressively yelling.- Gilmore said that he pretended to make a phone call to a friend and to videotape the activists with his phone. He said he feared for his safety and was chased down Nicollet Mall before entering The News Room.

Gilmore also alleged that the officers first said they would release him if he agreed to leave the downtown area, and then changed their minds and decided to take Gilmore to jail. Before leaving the scene outside The News Room and while sitting in the police vehicle, Gilmore saw an officer rip up and throw away a political sign bearing the name of Gilmore’s website that Gilmore had with him at the restaurant. Gilmore said he complained about the sign to the two officers in the front of the transport vehicle. The officers have stated they have no memory of the sign being destroyed, and further that prisoners in the back of á police transport vehicle have no way to communicate with officers sitting in the cab.

At the police station, Gilmore was charged with disorderly conduct and interference with lawful process, both misdemeanors. Officer Dubuc noted in his supplemental report that Gilmore was booked in part because he was intoxicated, which Gilmore denies, and because Dubuc feared that Gilmore would not comply with an order to leave the area and would instead return to the crowd and continue engaging in the allegedly disorderly conduct. Once at the Hennepin County Jail, Gilmore was processed for release. The charges against Gilmore were subsequently dropped.

II. Discussion

Gilmore contends the district court erred in granting summary judgment on [832]*832his various claims. Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, we review the district court’s grants of summary judgment de novo. Carpenter v. Gage, 686 F.3d 644, 648 (8th Cir. 2012); Fed. R. Civ. P. 66(a).

A. Fourth Amendment, False Arrest Claim

“Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability and the burdens of litigation in a § 1983 action unless the official’s conduct violates a clearly established constitutional or statutory right of which a reasonable person would have known.” Snider v. City of Cape Girardeau, 752 F.3d 1149, 1155 (8th Cir. 2014) (citing Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). “To overcome a defendant’s claim of qualified immunity, the burden falls on [Gilmore] to show: ‘(1) the facts, viewed in the light most favorable to [Gilmore], demonstrate the deprivation of a constitutional right; and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the deprivation.’ ” Id. (quoting Baribeau v. City of Minneapolis, 596 F.3d 465, 474 (8th Cir. 2010)).

Gilmore alleges first that his arrest was not supported by probable cause.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
837 F.3d 827, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16708, 2016 WL 4758552, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-hugh-gilmore-v-city-of-minneapolis-ca8-2016.