Lauren Roberts seeks damages after being forcibly removed from council meeting

Lauren Roberts is seeking damages from the city of Indianapolis after she was forcibly removed from a City-County Council meeting earlier this year.

Sheriff’s deputies ejected Roberts from a June 9 meeting as she tried to speak about her experience working for Thomas Cook, a former deputy mayor who has been accused by Roberts and two other women of sexual misconduct.

Council President Vop Osili ordered the deputies to remove Roberts after she went over her 2-minute time limit during public comment. She delivered the rest of her remarks outside.
 

Mayor Joe Hogsett and several councilors criticized Osili’s handling of Roberts’ testimony.

Osili, a Democrat who represents parts of downtown and some areas northwest, later apologized, saying he should have “shown a sensitivity in that emotionally charged moment.”

An attorney for Roberts filed a tort claim Dec. 8 against the mayor’s office, the City-County Council and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, according to a copy of the claim obtained by Mirror Indy.

The claim states that excessive force was used to remove Roberts, resulting in physical and emotional distress. Roberts, who lives in Colorado, is seeking $50,000 in damages to resolve the claim.
 

Roberts declined to comment through her attorney. Spokespeople for the mayor’s office and council directed questions about the case to the city’s Office of Corporation Counsel. That office confirmed that it received the tort claim but declined to comment further.

In an emailed statement to Mirror Indy, an unnamed spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said that if the tort claim notice was properly filed, then the case will be “fought aggressively” in the courtroom.

“It has been a longstanding practice that the sheriff’s office has allowed the president of the council, who represents the people, to direct deputy sheriffs to have people removed from a public meeting at the president’s discretion,” the statement read in part.