(St. Louis)–In a newly filed lawsuit, ArchCity Defenders is representing Kaitlyn Killgo, a Missouri resident who was harassed and unlawfully arrested following her participation at a protest held at Washington University campus in 2024. Ms. Killgo’s complaint asserts that police from Washington University and the City of Eureka violated her constitutional rights by arresting and detaining her without a warrant. For nearly a decade, ArchCity Defenders has challenged this form of warrantless arrests by police. This tactic and system is commonly referred to as Wanteds.
“The Wanteds System enables police officers to arrest people without warrants in violation of the 4th Amendment. Wanteds are also distinct from warrants because they cannot be searched for in any public database. This results in people being afraid they’ll be arrested, detained, and questioned without probable cause—and there is no recourse,” said Ebony McKeever, Staff Attorney with ArchCity Defenders.
“What I hope comes from this lawsuit is change. These Wanteds have to go away. It’s immoral. It’s illegal. But more importantly, it’s inhumane,” said Kaitlyn Killgo. “I feel like I’ve been kidnapped by the police. And kidnapping is illegal, but I have no way, other than this lawsuit, to get my rights back.”
On April 27, 2024, Kaitlyn Killgo attended a peaceful divestment and anti-genocide protest on the campus of Washington University, was arrested by Washington University Police Department, taken into custody at the St. Louis County Jail, and released later that night. Following that, Ms. Killgo unknowingly became a target for police harassment. On August 12, 2024, Ms. Killgo was participating in a protest outside of the jail, when an unmarked black suburban approached the area and two men within the vehicle began shouting “Killgo!” and “we want our helmet back!”
Shortly after, on Labor Day weekend, Ms. Killgo and a friend took a day trip to a nature reserve, and while driving through the City of Eureka, she was followed and pulled over by Eureka policeman Torre Kuelker. Mr. Kuelker said Ms. Killgo was being detained due to a Wanted issued by Washington University Police Department (WUPD). Ms. Killgo was handcuffed and taken to Eureka’s police department and held in custody for approximately four hours. During that time, Ms. Killgo said she was unwilling to answer questions. After the arrest, Ms. Killgo retained ArchCity Defenders (ACD) to investigate the circumstances of her arrest.
An attorney from ArchCity Defenders, Maureen Hanlon, contacted WUPD detectives Jeffrey Barnhouse and Marc Wasem to understand the nature of the Wanted, and learned that a riot helmet was allegedly stolen during the August protest. Despite Ms. Killgo not having any knowledge of the theft, to this day, she does not know if there is an active Wanted out for her arrest. The lawsuit cites, Ms. Killgo “now feels deep anxiety, fear, and apprehension on a near daily basis given the continuing threat of an unlawful and unjustified arrest.”
For over a decade, ArchCity Defenders has represented human rights advocates and challenged the use of Wanteds. In 2016, ACD filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dwayne Furlow, Ralph Torres, and Howard Liner who were arrested on Wanteds and taken away from their families for 24 hours. In 2022, the Eighth Circuit addressed the constitutionality of the Wanted System and found that “one officer’s determination of probable cause,” when placing a Wanted is not sufficient to “make a warrantless arrest by any law enforcement officer consistent with the Constitution.” The Eighth Circuit further stated that the manner in which many Missouri police departments issue and arrest on Wanteds is unconstitutional.
In addition to the issue with Wanteds, the case raises concerns with the designation of the Washington University police department. When Ms. Killgo sought information pertaining to her own arrest, WUPD responded “[t]he officers of the Washington University Police Department are private employees, and they are not public servants employed by the state government, any county or a municipality.”
“The idea that an employee of a private institution can issue an arrest order sent out to all departments in Missouri without getting a warrant or the judge’s involvement raises serious constitutional concerns,” said Maureen Hanlon, Managing Attorney with ACD’s Civil Rights Litigation. Further, in past lawsuits, Washington University has entirely denied that they employ police officers, instead claiming that their officers—who routinely arrest and issue wanteds on members of the public—are private employees of the university.
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In the past fifteen years, ArchCity Defenders (ACD), a holistic legal advocacy organization, has grown from its three founders volunteering part-time to a full-time staff of 36 that provides direct services to people entangled by the legal system while also challenging its inherent injustice through resource provision, representation, litigation, media and policy advocacy, and community organizing.
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Media Contact:
Z Gorley, Director of Communications, ArchCity Defenders
zgorley@archcitydefenders.org
(314) 643-2463