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Elizabeth Dunbar

Activist sues over sidewalk chalk message

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An activist who was detained after writing with chalk on a sidewalk in front of the federal building in Minneapolis has filed a lawsuit.

Occupy Minnesota protester Melissa Hill argues in the lawsuit she filed with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that her constitutional rights were violated.

Hill was detained and searched last summer after writing "Don't enlist, resist" on the sidewalk. She was also given a trespass notice that banned her from the federal building for one year. The lawsuit names Federal Protective Services, the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis.

Hill and one of her lawyers declined to comment on the lawsuit, which argues that Hill's right to free expression and her right to be free of searches and seizures were violated.

Hill previously was banned from the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza for one year during the Occupy Minnesota protests last fall. She was awarded $15,000 dollars from Hennepin County after that incident.