Bob CollinsThe Recreate ’68 protest organization has put out an “action call,” trying to get people to call the mayor and governor’s office in Denver to protest a clash between police and protesters on Monday evening.
What led up to the “small riot” is not entirely clear.
According to Glenn Spagnuolo, one of the organizers, “the incident last night started around 5:30pm, when heavily-armed police in SWAT gear began making random sweeps through Civic Center Park, harassing people sitting in the grass by poking them with nightsticks and telling them to get up and leave.”
According to the time stamp on my camera (and audio recorder), this was the scene in the park at 5:41 p.m., about 10 minutes after I arrived.
All appears relatively calm. Five minutes after this, I did see a patrol of about 8 cops walking through the park, but I didn’t see them taking any action against anyone.
At 5:39 p.m., I took a picture of this singer on the “main stage…”
But he sang to a generally disinterested audience…
On a Web site, the group posts this picture of the incident…
That’s the state Capitol across the street. And I was walking by that location around 6:10 and the police I saw were sitting under trees.
The release continues…
I’d spent most of the afternoon in this location, and according to my cellphone, I called my wife from about a block away (within view) at 6:02 p.m.
That the incident happened is unarguable. Democracy Now has video and plenty of interviews with people (although the time of the film is unclear since it was dark). Sunset in Denver last night was 7:41 p.m. And Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman said the problems started after 7, not at 5:30.
Video from ABC News — also taken after dark — shows some protesters getting in the faces of the police.
