BOISE, Idaho — It has been a long year for 35-year-old Avalon Hardy, a local activist Idaho State Police (ISP) arrested during an abortion rights protest last summer.
"It's been a roller coaster," she said.
She said things will not return to normal for quite some time. On June 28, 2023, Hardy filed a lawsuit against four ISP officers and several other unnamed law enforcement officers.
The lawsuit states police violated Hardy's civil rights, including wrongfully arresting and jailing her, using excessive force and deliberately fabricating evidence.
Hardy was originally charged with felony battery of a law enforcement officer; that charge was later dropped down to a misdemeanor. Court documents show ISP officers claimed Hardy repeatedly shoved now-Lieutenant Michal Kish.
During Hardy's quick trial in January 2023, a judge acquitted her of the charges. She claims the judge overseeing her case made that decision after he saw a video prosecutors presented in court showing Hardy accidentally touching Kish as she tried to get around him, but not pushing him.
Documents show the trial court ruled the state's evidence "could not sustain any conviction." Kish even testified in her trial that he did not remember Hardy shoving him.
"It was irritating that I even had to defend myself for something that I did not do," Hardy said.
Although the judge cleared her, Hardy believes the damage was already done. She said the clientele for the salon she owns dwindled after the arrest, and her children were targeted.
"People are terrible," she said. "My kids didn't really have anything to do with it. But, you know, my face is plastered everywhere, and so my kids suffered the repercussions of that."
While she is still actively promoting causes important to her, Hardy said she is much more hesitant to attend local protests. Despite all the hardships, Hardy is trying to piece her life back together.
Hardy is asking for financial compensation. Although she said she is not suing for the money, but rather for justice.
"We need to stand up for ourselves and stand up for what's right," she said. "They lied; they wrote a false report, and it needs to be shown that just because they're law enforcement doesn't mean that they can do that type of stuff to people."
An ISP spokesperson told KTVB they cannot comment on pending litigation.
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