Big protest ties up downtown Denver
Several hundred demonstrators marched through downtown Denver Sunday. Many were protesting thre war in Iraq and any potential war the U.S. might fight against Iran. Update: The Denver Post is now reporting more than a thousand took part in the protest and that there were no arrests.
Police had closed off some streets, and traffic was congested. There were dozens of police officers watching the parade. Some were on bikes. Others were wearing riot gear.
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"The odd part is that it's our Democrats, our left, who spend $50 million to secure themselves from independent thought," said Todd German, a protester from New Orleans.
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Access to the Pepsi Center was blocked for a time. Because the Democratic National Convention doesn't start until Monday, that was mostly an inconvenience for journalists and others trying to get in to set things up ahead of time.
Despite the number of protestors and police the march seemed generally orderly. I was able to cut through the march to cross the street with no problem.
I bumped into St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman this morning, who said he was planning to meet with Denver law enforcement officials today to talk about their experience with the protest. His city may have to deal with a larger march next week as the Republican National Convention comes to town.
As the protest broke up Seattle resident Doug Skove let the air out of his inflatable earth. Curtis Gilbert snapped this photo but neglected to ask whether Skove planned to pack it up and take it to St. Paul. Or whether you can check an inflatable globe with your regular luggage.
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