Boise State Facing Free Speech Trial After Ousting Pro-Police Coffee Shop

“Her support of Thin Blue Line began in 2016 when her police officer partner was shot five times in an altercation with an escaped prisoner, causing the loss of his leg and binding him to a wheelchair.”

Posted by Mary Chastain Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at 10:00am 4 Comments

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In 2020, Boise State ousted Sara Fendley’s coffee shop from campus after students complained about her support for law enforcement.

Fendley said the school violated her free speech rights. Now they’re going to trial. From The College Fix:

She was forced to close Big City Coffee on Boise State University’s campus in October 2020, as previously reported by The College Fix. She stumbled upon meeting minutes from the Inclusive Excellence Student Council on BSU’s website, where her business was labeled as “anti-Black” and a threat to the safety of students of color.

“Her support of Thin Blue Line began in 2016 when her police officer partner was shot five times in an altercation with an escaped prisoner, causing the loss of his leg and binding him to a wheelchair,” The Fix previously reported. Since then, Fendley has prominently displayed Thin Blue Line flags at her other coffee shop locations, passionately standing by the work of first responders.

“We have survived three motions to dismiss and one for summary judgment from the BSU defense team and they just filed…a motion for reconsideration, and an alternative motion for permissive appeal,” Fendley told The Fix in an email statement recently.

“My hope is that we actually get to trial,” she said. “My legal team has paved a brick road of top-notch legal work to get us this far, and we plan on getting to trial.”

Fendley told The Fix that the upcoming trial will focus on her “First Amendment retaliation claim against Boise state.” The trial is scheduled for this Wednesday, but if it doesn’t proceed, Fendley plans to appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court.