Colorado woman facing charges of felony retaliation against public official

A 38-year-old Boulder woman was jailed Thursday after reportedly getting into a physical encounter with the wife of a Boulder city councilman at a park. 

Laura Gonzalez allegedly bumped the councilman's wife with her shoulder. The contact happened after Gonzalez encountered the couple in public and chastised both for the councilman's votes regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict in Gaza, according to a police document. 

The Boulder Police Department took Gonzalez into custody Thursday night. She was held on suspicion of felony retaliation against a judge or elected official. She's also facing a separate charge of misdemeanor harassment from her alleged actions against another member of the public at a previous Boulder City Council meeting. 

Gonzalez was released that night on a $3,000 cash bond. 

Wednesday, Gonzalez approached Boulder City Councilman Matt Benjamin and his wife at the Boulder Farmers Market at Civic Park on Canyon Boulevard, as stated in the arrest affidavit. Benjamin told BPD's officer that Gonzalez "began yelling at him about the war in Gaza while recording him" on her cell phone. 

Gonzalez, according to the couple, began yelling at Benjamin's wife as well. Gonzalez "asked her why she is supporting her husband," called him a "baby killer" and accused Benjamin of "funding genocide," per the report, while holding her cell phone six inches from the wife's face.

Benjamin's wife reportedly turned around to confront Gonzalez and contacted Gonzalez's cell phone. She claimed it was an accident. Gonzalez responded by threatening physical harm, according to the couple. When Benjamin's wife turned her back toward Gonzalez, they say Gonzalez bumped the wife with her shoulder. The contact caused Benjamin's wife to lose her balance but she was uninjured. 

Benjamin told Boulder police that Gonzalez's anger with him had escalated since his votes against a ceasefire declaration and a resolution favoring divestment from companies that do business with Israel.  

Gonzalez is seen in a recording of the March 20 city council meeting. She spoke during a public comment period and ran over her allotted two-minute duration, prompting the council to recess. She also held a flag during another citizen's public comment. That person's comments and signs also prompted a recess.

Later, Boulder's city manager issued a "suspension" of Gonzalez's attendance at future council meetings, essentially banning her. Gonzalez appealed the suspension in municipal court, claiming the city's decision infringed on her constitutional freedoms of speech, religion, assembly and protest. 

Days later, Gonzalez appeared on the KGNU podcast "Hemispheres" and spoke about the city's response to her pleadings.

"The reason for the suspension was because my sign was too high," she stated on the podcast. "It's not because it's obstructing other people's views, so, yeah, I don't really know then. They make up these new rules to silence us and reduce our freedom of speech."

Meanwhile, Boulder's city council moved to virtual-only public comment in June. The council adopted new rules and resumed in-person public comment in July. 

"The updates are intended to reduce recurring disruptions and support a more inclusive public process," as stated on the council's website.

Previously, the City of Boulder wrestled with the decision to maintain an official relationship with a Palestinian city in 2013 and 2016. 

The misdemeanor harassment charge against Gonzalez stems from her alleged actions two weeks prior to the encounter at the farmers' market. According to the arrest affidavit, Gonzalez was a member of a group that followed an unidentified woman from an exit at the Boulder municipal building. Officers observed cell phone and surveillance camera recordings, which showed Gonzalez aggressively chastising and insulting the woman with a bullhorn.     

"You can't hide, you're complicit in genocide," she is quoted in the affidavit as saying to the woman. "Let's walk. Let's walk the genocidal c*** to the car. No one gives a f*** that you're Jewish."  

In a statement to CBS Colorado, 20th Judicial District Attorney Michael Dougherty defended his office's decision to pursue the felony retaliation charge against Gonzalez:

"In 2021, as a result of a strong bipartisan effort, Colorado joined other states in putting protections in place for elected officials and their families. It is a felony offense because of the chilling effect that such conduct may have on government and the threat it can pose to our democracy. A genuine threat, or act, of physical harm is not protected by freedom of speech and, whenever someone crosses that line, the rule of law should and will be enforced."

In a separate matter, a 71-year-old Greeley woman was ticketed for harassment following the public comment portion of a city council meeting in that city Tuesday night. Mary Monahan fought with another commenter, a 40-year-old woman, outside the council chambers.