Citations
- 837 F.3d 827
Full opinion text
KELLY, Circuit Judge.
John Hugh Gilmore appeals the district court’s 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, 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. 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 cooperative 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,