Code Pink protester still in jail after skirmish
By Paul A. Anthony, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 26, 2008 at 4:13 p.m.
Updated August 26, 2008 at 5:18 p.m.
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Photo by Brian Lehmann © The Rocky
A woman is arrested near Civic Center park.
A Code Pink protester shown on video being shoved to the ground by a police officer's baton and later hauled away remains in jail on a charge of interfering with an arrest but should be released tonight, Code Pink officials say.
Alicia Forrest was arrested outside Civic Center after confronting officers and asking them questions about another arrest they were making, said Sally Newman, legal liaison and spokeswoman for the group.
"She was one of a number of people trying to find out where this person was being taken," Newman said. "They just arrested her along with him."
The video shows an officer quickly shoving Forrest with the length of his baton, forcing her to the ground with a smack. Later, as she was speaking with reporters, the video shows police coming behind her and dragging her away.
Lt. Ron Saunier, a police spokesman, said the 30-second video is “kind of jumpy” on his computer and doesn’t give the full context of the situation.
“Just shown in that context, you don’t get what the whole dynamics or the full situation is,” he said.
Richard Rosenthal, Denver’s independent monitor, who saw the video online at the request of the Rocky, said the incident warrants additional review.
“Obviously, looking at that, I’d want to look at the use of force report. I’d want the department to look and evaluate,” he said.
Rosenthal declined to share his initial thoughts on the officer’s actions.
“I can’t do that,” he said. “My job is to maintain objectivity until the completion of an investigation. What I can say is I think that that warrants additional review … But I have to maintain objectivity on anything because you can’t rush to judgment.”
Code Pink posted a $500 bail for Forrest, and the group expects her to be released in four to six hours, Newman said.
"It's really frustrating that we have this incident of violence now," she said.
Forrest is consulting with an attorney from the People's Law Project, which has been representing protesters arrested during this week's Democratic National Convention.
Saunier said he recommends that the protester contact the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau or the Office of the Independent Monitor if she feels that the officer used unnecessary force.
During the DNC, officers have had many interactions with protesters and overall, police have reacted professionally, he said.
“There’s been hundreds of contacts with officers that have gone very well. We may have an isolated instance here and there and the department is committed to fully looking into those instances, and if it’s deemed inappropriate, we’ll take the appropriate actions,” he said.
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August 26, 2008
4:25 p.m.
Suggest removal
freedomfighter1 writes:
Get up stand up, stand up for your right!
Get up stand up, don't give up the fight!
August 26, 2008
4:40 p.m.
Suggest removal
01kayak10 writes:
hey, freedom fighter...get out of your trailer and go support all these protesters you are so adamant about defending. They need your strong voice...
August 26, 2008
4:57 p.m.
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BroncoDan writes:
Code Pink is protesting at the wrong Convention!!! Hello, the RNC is in Minneapolis!
August 26, 2008
5:01 p.m.
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M2 writes:
Boo Hoo.... cry me a river... the police officer pushed her back and she lost her balance and fell. I did hear, a few times, police say "get back". If she's deaf, dumb and blind then it's not her fault... which may be the case.
August 26, 2008
5:49 p.m.
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Oh_Wise_One writes:
Next time, use the Tazer.
August 26, 2008
5:56 p.m.
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easy writes:
We've seen how the Denver Police Dept. treats people who get on their nerves. Unfortunately they aren't there to determine who is and who is not annoying ... way to show the world how our city reacts to free speech.
Pathetic.
August 26, 2008
6:27 p.m.
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TheDenverB writes:
"the police officer pushed her back and she lost her balance and fell."
really? did you see the same video i saw?
because i saw a grown-a$$ man rear back, target and POUNCE into a girl half his size with his baton, SHOVING her to the ground... way excessive force for such a big man to use on a tiny girl...
maybe she was asking to be arrested, and she likely deserved the interference ticket... but certainly not to be absued like that -- ESPECIALLY considering she had not physically done anything to anyone to warrant it. all she did was annoy this man with her words.
I think it's clear that that cop got egged on by a little girl and lost his cool.
August 26, 2008
6:34 p.m.
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johnsim writes:
This is horrible. The DPD should be ashamed and the cops should loose their jobs over these unprovoked attacks on protesters.
August 26, 2008
6:44 p.m.
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freedomfighter1 writes:
Kayak
I am adamant about freedom as my handle implies. If you don't have anything worth saying, maybe you should just stay quiet. You may just learn something.
August 26, 2008
6:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
The_Punnisher writes:
PoLICE behavior has been predictable. I just hope that the response to it is not what we have had in the past. If so, Denver is in for a rough couple of years...
" Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it "
-Santayana
August 26, 2008
7 p.m.
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denverrose writes:
Boo hoo! She was told to move back and she didn't move so... move!
August 26, 2008
7:01 p.m.
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Miss_Kitty_Kat_Girl writes:
People have the right to free speech, but they don't have the right to be heard.
As for the girl...no one knows what she may have been capable of doing. Police have to make judgement calls to secure their own safety as well as others.
August 26, 2008
7:02 p.m.
Suggest removal
Guyincognito writes:
It sounded like the girl who was shoved said f****** do it again off camera and that could be construe as agitating the officer, but I think he used way too much force to quell such a menace. I think he probably weighed twice as much as her and didn’t have to prove himself a tough guy by knocking down a protester. I'm sure it won't be too good for him after the DNC considering he said back it up b****.
Tempers are getting pretty thin and I’m hoping that the cops don’t get to use their new anti-riot toys. So this is what a police state looks like…
August 26, 2008
7:17 p.m.
Suggest removal
treecat writes:
Predictable behavior has been way off. This has been a good time by all. Lack of sleep, nerves are going to begin to take a great toll.............look for wednesday for things to begin to boil over.
August 26, 2008
7:20 p.m.
Suggest removal
TheDenverB writes:
"no one knows what she may have been capable of doing. Police have to make judgement calls to secure their own safety as well as others."
you really think that is appropriate force for a grown man to use on a tiny girl like that? he simply could have grabbed her like they did when they arrested her, but he didn't.
he abused her, and then walked away. it was excessive force for the sake of excessive force -- which is NOT what police are for.
again, she likely deserved arrest and they were FOR SURE antagonizing the police.... but she does NOT deserve treatment like that for what she did... and we SHOULD ALL expect our police to be above situations like that where some loudmouth college know-it-all gets in his face.
i can't believe ANYONE (it doesn't matter if you support these people or not) could agree that that was appropriate force to be using.
August 26, 2008
7:22 p.m.
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Hambone writes:
Cop crosschecked the girl. Then later, they come and arrest her. Very questionable. hey cops, you're on camera.
August 26, 2008
7:24 p.m.
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TheDenverB writes:
^ exactly. apparently whatever she was doing warranted force but not an arrest upon initial confrontation?
please. this office was way out of line and should have just kept his cool, put her in those draw-string cuffs and put her in a car.
August 26, 2008
7:27 p.m.
Suggest removal
TheDenverB writes:
you can hear the guy yell: "BACK UP, B!TCH!" right before cross checking her.
what a stand-up man... wouldn't be surprised if he beats his wife as well.
August 26, 2008
7:56 p.m.
Suggest removal
mrnyceguy24 writes:
Anyone who has been downtown during any of the Bronco or Avalanche championship celebrations knows that any violence is a direct result of police action. The police here in Denver choose to punish everyone rather than "picking the bad apple". How about tear gassing the entire crowd at Invesco for a few feuding fans at a CU/CSU game a few years ago. I hope the national scrutiny of the police departments actions, from the events that transpired yesterday and the others they are likely to PROVOKE this week, will bring about some change in policies regarding police action.
August 26, 2008
8:22 p.m.
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kc02 writes:
Ahhahaaaa. Too bad, Alicia.
August 27, 2008
12:32 p.m.
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KevinHayden writes:
Obviously we can't hear what the first protestor said, but in return for his words, the police physically knocked him to the ground and arrested him. He displayed no physically threatening motions, but maybe he verbally threatened.
The Code Pink woman, however, had her back to the action and was clearly speaking to the audience and could not be even construed as threatening verbally. Nor does the video display any attempt by her to interfere with the police. She was simply criticizing them from a reasonable distance. She wasn't advocating that her audience take physical actions either.
Anti-protestors can defend the specific police officers involved as much as they want because denying the obvious is much in vogue to the defenders of autocracy and stupid police tricks (and I use that term for the specific officers complicit, not the department as a whole).
Those officers should be disciplined. They are a disgrace to the department, to the Denver PD and to our country. Every profession has its Stoopids. But competent businesses and public agencies are embarrassed by them and make efforts to better their workplace by taking remedial anti-Stoopid actions.
I would hope the Denver PD demonstrates such competency in response to the Stoopid I saw on that video.
August 27, 2008
6:14 p.m.
Suggest removal
drumspace writes:
This is a disgrace!!! It does not matter if the person was a yelling at the cop, standing in the cops way, bottom line is the cops arrested her to shut her up, after they were in the wrong. The PIG who crosschecked the girl, he freaked out, got mad, and like most men who beat their wives, exploded, then was mad as hell that she got up and talked to reporters. This is number one reason why people do not trust, nor like cops. Too bad a few bad apples have to give all cops a bad name. you good cops are to blame as well, you should not stand for this kind of abuse by fellow cops, maybe you should start policing your fellow cops, and the public may once again respect the police.
August 27, 2008
6:38 p.m.
Suggest removal
CapnPoon writes:
Drumspace, A- f*%kin'-men! I'm about sick of the whole "few bad apples" argument; it's the same one a few cop a$$kissers whipped out LAST week, when we found out about the scalper who got a little impromptu dental work, courtesy of a tiny man with a big gun. And when another physically challenged puppy lost it and tasered a handcuffed suspect. Or the dude who used a Hispanic teenager for a trampoline. Yeah, DPD is just as clean as a baby's a$$. They tout their purity once a week. Coincidentally, it's always right after one of their stormtroopers royally f*%ks up the program.