A pro-police coffee shop owner was awarded $4 million in a free speech lawsuit against Boise State University.
Owner of Big City Coffee Sarah Fendley was forced to close her on-campus shop in October 2020 after she expressed her pro-police views on social media.
“I was removed from Boise State campus after 42 days for being supportive of law enforcement and in retaliation for a social media post I made being supportive of my partner at the time, my fiancé, Sergeant Kevin Holtry, and that caused a firestorm on campus. I was called to a meeting and by 5:30, I was gone,” the small business owner explained during an appearance on “Varney & Co.,” Wednesday.
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Fendley displayed a thin blue line sticker near the door of the shop’s downtown Boise location, resulting in widespread pushback from both the school and community.
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After facing an online “firestorm,” Fendley took to social media to defend herself and the law enforcement community, expressing her support for the Boise police department. Fendley’s support is personal, noting that her then-fiancé is a former Boise police officer who had been paralyzed in a gunfight with a fugitive.
After being unfairly forced to shut her doors, Fendley sued Boise State University for $10 million.
University administrators owe the coffee shop owner $4 million after a jury unanimously ruled the school officials violated the woman’s First Amendment rights in a conflict over her public support of law enforcement.
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Fendley will receive $3 million for lost business, reputational damage, mental and emotional distress and personal humiliation, in a decision reached Sept. 13. Jurors awarded her an additional $1 million in punitive damages from the school’s former vice president of student affairs.
Fox News’ Hannah Ray Lambert contributed to this report.
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