YouTuber, free range grandmother and sometime activist for the homeless Regan Benson was briefly detained Monday night on trespassing charges at the Englewood, Colorado, Civic Center where she was attempting to address the Englewood City Council during the public feedback portion of their city council meeting.
Benson herself had noted that an Englewood police transport vehicle was in the parking lot of the Englewood Civic Center on her way into the building. As she made her way into the building, she yelled the question of “who is getting arrested tonight?” as he was leaving the building.
The free-range grandmother noted that she was on a time limit as she had to get to work and could only stay until after public comment. As she signed up for public comment, Benson asked if the rules had changed and displayed a placard with the current rules of the meeting that included “video recording only in the back of the room in the alcove where media table is set up.”
That same placard read, in highlight, “Please Note – Anyone violating these policies, Municipal Code or other applicable law regarding public comment sign-up or during the public comment portion of a City Council meeting is disqualified from speaking at public comment for 60 days thereafter.”
A new rule had been added that banned the use of signage and placing signage or props on seating.
The night itself was devoted in part to City Manager Shawn Lewis, who recently announced his retirement. Benson had previously livestreamed her displeasure with Lewis and his tenure as city manager in a livestream last week.
Before the meeting, Benson also again checked in with police chief Jackson to see if a complaint she had filed last week would be addressed. He said it would and she said it was “good news.”
Benson waited patiently through the meeting until she was called to speak. From Benson’s perspective, her phone’s audio was garbled as she was speaking over Mayor Othoniel Sierra, who was clearly asking her to put her phone down on the city’s broadcast of the event.
The free ranged Grandmother continued to speak over Sierra, attacking City Manager Lewis, as Sierra then temporarily adjourned the meeting and most of the city council left for their private chambers.
Police Chief Jackson consulted with Englewood City Attorney Tamara Niles, with Jackson having one of his officers approach Benson, who told her that it was time to go as the green light was off and her time had expired. Benson protested and demanded the statute that made the command a lawful order.
Several more officers approached along with the security for the building. Benson continued to refuse to leave and stated that she had not received a trespass warning. She was taken out in handcuffs and placed in an Englewood police vehicle.
Benson’s camera continued to roll during the time she was in the back of the squad car where she would randomly scream that she had to urinate and lash out at everyone who attended the meeting.
Eventually, Benson was released with two citations then took time to call the officers on the scene “traitors” and demand clarification of which parts of the property she had been trespassed from.
Benson said she was charged with third-degree criminal trespass (CRS 18-4-504) and has been banned from the building for 90 days. She would drive to a nearby restaurant where she said she had a second charge of public building trespass and interference (CRS 18-91-10) along with a property exclusion notice.
She is scheduled for a court date on August 24 in Arapahoe County.
She went on to complain that she lost two previous jobs because of her previous interactions with police and would likely lose her current job as she was late to work.
This is a breaking news story.
