In the cage: Well, no, we can't go

Protest zone lacks facilities required in order from judge, ACLU charges

Steve Myers, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 27, 2008 at 6:47 p.m.
Updated August 28, 2008 at 12:33 a.m.

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The vast, unused Freedom Cage for protesters at the Pepsi Center has no water or toilets in apparent violation of a federal judge's order.

The Secret Service and other government officials also assured a federal judge during hearings leading up to the Democratic National Convention that most delegates would be walking past the protest area on their way to the convention, but none do, said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union.

In fact, the protest area, now known as the Freedom Cage, is so remote and disengaged from the convention that few protesters are using it.

But those who do have to leave in search of water or toilets. And when marchers filled it Wednesday night, police would not let them leave the fenced area to use the toilets for close to an hour.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger issued an order Aug. 6 that set conditions for the protest zone and resolved an ACLU lawsuit against the city and the U.S. Secret Service over security restrictions.

Page 10 of the order states: "Water stations and sanitary facilities will be provided within the zone."

The nearest portable toilet is a block and a half away. The nearest water is a single water fountain with two spigots for filling bottles that is rigged up to a fire hydrant a block away from the demonstration zone.

There are no signs directing people in the demonstration zone to the toilets or water, and several police officers monitoring the Freedom Cage today did not know where they were.

The toilets and water station are not visible from the demonstration zone.

Representatives of the city and Department of Public Works said the toilets and water station are near the public viewing area just off the parade route and are intended to serve the protest area.

Silverstein said the zone does not reflect what the judge was told by the city and the Secret Service.

"Judge Krieger relied on assurances that the city would provide water and sanitation facilities at the demonstration zone, and they're not," he said. "It's just one more thing making it inhospitable for protesters. It's so desolate there that no one wants to use it."

He said the site also contradicts what Krieger was told about its location.

"The whole idea was that it was supposed to be within sight and sound of delegates who would be walking on this path by the demonstration site to the convention. None of the delegates are walking on that path."

Silverstein said the Secret Service told Krieger that a majority of delegates would be walking on this path to the Pepsi Center.

And you can't even see the Pepsi Center from the protest zone, which is more than 700 feet from the arena's front doors and obstructed from view by a media tent, Silverstein said.

While Krieger did not specifically order that water and bathrooms be provided, Silverstein said, her order states that these would be provided because that's what the city and Secret Service told her during the trial.

Two delegates, Rachel Rott, 33, and Elsa Gaxiola, 35, both of San Diego, said they had walked from the shuttle drop-off to the Pepsi Center for three days and neither knew the protest area was there.

"I heard about it. I read about it, but I didn't know it was right there," said Rott, a part-time bookkeeper. "That's pretty sad."

"You don't cordon off free speech," Rott said. "You've got to keep people safe, but as long as they're not hurting anyone, they ought to be heard."

lindsays@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5181

• August 28, 2008

  2:44 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  jrod193 writes:

  its a complete joke. you walk miles to get there and then its basically out of sight, out of mind for the convention goers. when protesters try to engage the delegates at the corner of speer and auraria, they are met with a wall of over 100 cops ready to beat down anyone who gets near. regardless if you agree or disagree with each respective cause, the bottom line is that there is no such thing as freedom of speech when it comes to questioning the practices of the elitists in power. i guess this is something we better start getting used to.

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