Pregnant Woman's Phone Taken During Police Protest That Ends In Arrests
DENVER (CBS4) - A Colorado couple says they've become victims of the very thing they were speaking out against.
A pregnant woman participating in Denver protests last week wants to know what Denver police did with her taken cellphone.
Police were trying to get protesters off of Broadway and onto the sidewalk on April 29 when they say a cyclist pushed an officer off his motorcycle.
"It appeared that one of the Denver police officers popped his clutch, his motorcycle fell over, pointed at the person closest to him and at that time the officers moved in and made several violent arrests," said Jesse Benn, who caught the incident on camera.
Protesters said while they were protesting police brutality, they were then violently arrested themselves.
"They arrested 11 people for what they say one person did, and of those people arrested it felt to me that it was clear they were targeting particular people," said Jessica Benn, who was also at the protest.
Jesse was one of 11 people arrested. He was charged with obstructing an officer, obstructing a roadway and failure to obey orders. What he's most concerned about, though, is what happened to his wife.
"A gentleman in uniform walks up and takes the phone out of my hand as I'm filming," said Jessica.
In the cellphone video, Jessica is seen in front of a bus with a policeman's baton at her throat.
"I just looked him in the eye and tried to say as calmly as I could 'I'm pregnant. Please don't hurt my stomach,' " she said.
She has filed a report with Denver police internal affairs.
"I might as well not (have a phone), which works out great for them the way that happens because that's who is supposed to help me in this situation?" Jessica said.
"It's been disposed of along with all the footage on it, which I think was the main point of all that," she said.
When asked about this case, Denver police wouldn't talk to CBS4 on camera over the weekend, and said they will let internal affairs investigate.
