A 70-year-old woman filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday against the City of Moriarty and Torrance County after being arrested and detained for three days while peacefully protesting outside a gun show in February.
Jill Gatwood, an Albuquerque resident represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, alleges in the lawsuit that she was unlawfully arrested Feb. 22 while holding a handmade sign advocating for restrictions on assault-style weapons on a public sidewalk outside the Moriarty Civic Center.
According to court documents filed in the Seventh Judicial District Court, Moriarty police officers demanded that Gatwood leave after the gun show organizer complained about her presence. The officers claimed she could not remain on the public sidewalk because the gun show had rented the civic center, the lawsuit states…