Regan Benson’s visit to the Denver Police Department’s District 3 Commander Advisory Board meeting ended in controversy as she confronted Commander Joel Bell about her denial of a recommendation of a position on the use of force board run by the office of the independent monitor.
Benson accused Bell of interfering in her nomination as she had petitioned Commander Hans Levens for consideration into the pool of people to be considered for the opening on the board. While Levens had already apparently made up his mind about Benson’s application before being approached by Bell.
The YouTuber has a long history of suing the Denver Metro Police Department for allegedly violating her first amendment rights. She again accused Bell of first amendment retaliation by blocking her appointment to the committee.
Benson famously negotiated $130,000.00 in a settlement with the city of Denver last year as she was essentially given “go away money” to settle two on-going suits alleging wrongdoing by the Denver Police Force.
Since Benson needed to be nominated to be in the pool for the open slot by Levens, it was a long shot at best for her to be nominated, let alone being appointed to the panel. Benson already had filed a complaint against Bell with the office of the independent monitor before she confronted the officer.
All five members of the use of force board are appointed by Denver’s Chief of Police Ron Thomas. Bell alleged that Thomas had already ruled out Benson for a position on the board before her encounters with either Bell or Levens.
The application for the board is a rare pivot for Benson, who has been at odds with the city of Denver and surrounding communities for years. She has often embraced her fundamental beliefs that there is no need for government, so her decision to embrace a role in even a tangentially associated with government was a surprise to everyone.
In more Benson news, she chose to avoid the bi-weekly meeting of the Englewood City Council on Monday, apparently due to and over abundance of speakers scheduled for the public speaking portion of the meeting.
At issue this week was the discussion of a planned high-rise apartment building in downtown Englewood. Speakers supporting both sides of the issue were scheduled to fill the majority of the time allowed for public addresses, and since Benson had previously made a statement at the last meeting, and the fact that she could not be guaranteed a speaking role may have played a role in her decision to skip the meeting.
We will continue to update her complaints to the office of the independent monitor as she provides them.
