Marvin Booker, a homeless street preacher with mental-health issues, was killed by five sheriff deputies while being booked into the Denver Detention Center on July 9, 2010. The event was caught on tape and witnessed by more than 20 people. Yet the city of Denver never indicted — or even reprimanded — any of the deputies involved. Marvin Booker Was Murdered explores how the largely Memphis-based Booker family members — many of whom are preachers, including Marvin’s brother, the Rev. Spencer Booker of St. Louis’ St. Paul AME Church — relentlessly push their case through the court system in an attempt to secure some form of justice. With their two persistent Denver attorneys and supportive community members from both cities, the Bookers fight to ensure that the civil rights of people like Marvin will not be violated in the future. The story of Marvin Booker reveals how a city chose to protect the “thin blue line” instead of a citizen's constitutional rights.

A Q&A with director Wade Gardner follows the free community screening.

About the filmmaker

Wade Gardner is a Denver-based filmmaker. He also teaches art to students in Evergreen. He's the founder and programming director of the DocuWest Film and Music Festival, and he enjoys talking about film.