Regan Benson: Denver Activist Convicted Under Doxing Statute

The Regan Benson doxing case ended on May 8, 2026, when a Denver County Court judge sentenced the 53-year-old Denver activist to 60 days in jail, two years of probation, and a $1,000 fine for broadcasting a police commander’s home address and suggesting a “pig roast” at the house during a YouTube livestream. A jury convicted her in March 2026 under Colorado’s anti-doxing statute, in what the Denver District Attorney’s office called only the second prosecution of its kind since peace officers were added to the law. Benson plans to appeal.¹

What Happened on the Livestream

On September 3, 2025, Benson livestreamed on YouTube from outside the Denver Police Department’s District 3 station. During the broadcast she asked viewers to look up the home address of DPD Commander Joel Bell, an officer she had previously sued and publicly criticized. When followers posted the address in the chat, she read it aloud and told her audience they should meet at Bell’s home for a “pig roast.”¹ She also read and repeated viewer suggestions for messages to write in chalk outside the station.²

Bell reported the video to police. The department responded with a safety plan that included increased patrols near his home and installation of a security camera.³ At trial, Bell testified that he feared for the safety of himself and his family.¹

The Law She Was Charged Under

Benson was charged under Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-9-313. The statute makes it unlawful to knowingly publish the personal information of a “protected person” on the internet when the posting poses an “imminent and serious threat” to the safety of that person or their immediate family, and the person posting knows or reasonably should know of that threat.⁴ A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail.

The list of protected persons was expanded in 2021 and 2022 to include health care workers, child protection workers, and code enforcement officers, alongside law enforcement.⁵ According to the Denver DA, Benson’s prosecution was only the second brought against anyone under the statute since peace officers were added.¹

Trial, Verdict, and the First Amendment Defense

The case was tried in Denver County Court. In March 2026, a jury found Benson guilty of sharing the personal information of a protected person online.⁵

Defense attorney Jamie Hubbard argued the livestream comments were protected speech and not a “true threat.” He called the “pig roast” line a joke and hyperbole, telling reporters Benson “never advocated for someone to go over and chop someone’s head off, just like she never advocated for anyone to go to this officer’s house and put them on a spit and roast them over an open fire.”¹ Hubbard also argued the anti-doxing statute is unconstitutional and that the prosecution was retaliation for Benson’s years of public criticism of the DPD.²

Denver District Attorney John Walsh said in a written statement after the verdict: “We vigorously support all Coloradans’ First Amendment expression, but, as the jury found, the defendant’s conduct in this case stepped across the line.”²

The Sentence

Judge Isaam Shamsid-Deen imposed 60 days in jail, two years of probation, a $1,000 fine, and a mandate to attend a victim empathy class. He first announced a 90-day jail term but reduced it after prosecutor Jonah Karls pointed out that a longer sentence exceeded the court’s authority for the proceeding.²

The judge said Benson “took no accountability for her actions and has no concept of what free speech means,” and framed the sentence as needed to “deter her and her YouTube followers from future doxing of law enforcement.”¹ He also cited Benson’s post-verdict conduct: after the jury’s finding, she had livestreamed herself calling the jurors “stupid” and calling the judge biased.²

The court denied a defense request to delay custody, and Benson was jailed the day of sentencing. Bail was set at $3,000, leaving her eligible for release pending appeal.¹

The Planned Appeal

Hubbard said Benson will appeal both the conviction and the sentence, citing “several reasons, including some of the procedural decisions” made by Judge Shamsid-Deen during trial. He described the conviction as having a “chilling effect” on public discourse and told reporters, “There’s a woman in jail right now for joking about a pig roast.”¹

Who Regan Benson Is

Benson is a longtime advocate for people experiencing homelessness in Denver and a persistent public critic of the DPD. She runs a YouTube channel with roughly 24,000 subscribers where she livestreams criticism of police departments and government agencies.² She serves as executive director of Helping Hands for Dignity, a nonprofit that assists unhoused residents, including distributing food and intervening during police encounters.⁶

Earlier Disputes With the Denver Police Department

The doxing case was not Benson’s first legal fight with the DPD. In 2024, the City of Denver paid a combined $130,000 to settle two claims brought by Benson and her husband, Brenton Benson.

The larger settlement, $100,000, resolved a 2021 incident in which the couple pulled over to film officers interacting with people experiencing homelessness. Officer John Schaal stopped and cited Brenton Benson for “blocking the roadway.” An internal DPD investigation led by Commander Hans Levens found that “a preponderance of evidence validates Mr. Benson’s belief that Officer Schaal’s traffic stop and citation were retaliation” for filming. Schaal received a 10-day suspension. A separate $30,000 settlement resolved a lawsuit Regan Benson filed after she was banned from public citizen advisory board meetings involving police staff and community members.⁷

Benson also sued the City of Denver in federal court after she was denied the chance to apply for a community seat on the DPD’s five-person Use of Force Review Board, which reviews incidents involving serious bodily injury, death, or intentional firearm discharge by officers. Commanders Hans Levens and Joel Bell refused to nominate her, citing her “history with DPD” and calling her “biased.”⁶ On December 5, 2025, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer denied her request for an injunction. He ruled that while Benson’s speech is protected, DPD had “reasonably inferred” she would not be an impartial board member, and that the exclusion was “not a façade for viewpoint-based discrimination.”⁸

Bell, the commander whose address was broadcast, was both a defendant in that federal case and the complaining witness at Benson’s doxing trial.¹

1
CPR News. Regan Benson Sentenced to Jail Time in Doxing Case
2
CBS News Colorado. Denver Police Critic Sentenced to 60 Days in Doxing Case
3
Police1. Woman Who Exposed Denver Cop’s Address Over Livestream Convicted Under Colorado Anti-Doxing Law
4
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-9-313
5
Denver7. Colorado Activist Convicted of Doxxing Denver Police Commander in First-of-Its-Kind Case
6
Colorado Politics. Federal Judge Declines to Order Denver to Let Police Critic Apply for Review Board
7
Denverite. Denver Police Retaliation Claim
8
The Gazette. Federal Judge Declines to Order Denver to Let Police Critic Apply for Review Board