All of city to be a stage for DNC
Activists plan events far afield of authorized turf
By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published June 11, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Protest groups are planning a full schedule of events throughout downtown Denver during the Democratic National Convention, from a rally outside the Denver Mint to a march to a federal courthouse and demonstrations outside parties and delegates' hotels.
The protesters will be advocating everything from an end to the war in Iraq to legalization of marijuana and immigrant rights.
One organizer says an anti-war march - a joint effort by several groups scheduled on the Aug. 24 eve of the convention - could draw 25,000 people.
Other events are expected to attract between 1,000 and 10,000, according to requests for permits filed with the city.
"I think all over the country people will be watching what's happening in Denver," said Judith LeBlanz, national organizing coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, a coalition that drew 500,000 people to protest the war in Iraq before the 2004 Republican National Convention.
The city won't announce which groups get permits for parades - or permission to use an alternate route - until June 19.
On Monday, the city told protesters the demonstration area will be 50,000 square feet somewhere on the much larger Lot A, or VIP parking lot at the Pepsi Center. It will be surrounded by a fence that will allow people outside to see and hear the protesters, and vice versa, an attorney for the protest groups said.
The designation of a protest site doesn't exclude organizations from events elsewhere.
"There's a huge opportunity all over the city to do something," City Attorney David Fine said Tuesday. "If that is done peacefully and legally, no one should have a problem."
The city has said it will offer a minimum of three time slots per day for parades. The designated route, to be announced Thursday, is expected to end near the Pepsi Center. Fine said the city should have no problem accommodating the requests it has.
More questionable are requests for alternate routes because police resources - necessary to clear streets and direct traffic - will be stretched thin, Fine said.
There is nothing preventing marchers from walking down a public sidewalk, however, as long as they follow traffic signals, he said.
Several groups, including the American Indian Movement, plan to march on sidewalks from Civic Center to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals at 18th and Stout streets to advocate for the release of what they say are political prisoners.
Immigrant rights groups want to march Aug. 26 from Viking Park at 29th Avenue and Federal Boulevard to the Auraria campus.
The Re-Create 68 Alliance, which is planning several events, also will rally outside parties and hotels where delegates and politicians are staying, said organizer Glenn Spagnuolo.
burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343
Sight and sound
The city said this week that a public protest area outside the Democratic National Convention will be surrounded by a "transparent and sound-transparent fence."
So what's a transparent fence?
It's one that allows people outside to see and hear the people inside - and vice versa, said City Attorney David Fine.
Citing security issues, he said he couldn't disclose more details of the fence, such as the type of material to make the fence. That information may be released on June 23 along with other details about the demonstration area, the city has said.
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June 11, 2008
10:46 a.m.
Suggest removal
timeandagain writes:
So, will Glenn Spagnuolo be protesting in front of the Residence Inn-Highlands Ranch? After all, that is where he lives (Highlands Ranch!)... I hope he will not try to venture into Denver to protest at the hotels here. The BIG city is no place for suburban dwellers (plus the commute will increase his carbon footprint)! I still can't believe that he actually commutes everyday to sit around at the coffee shop in Capitol Hill. I can just picture him bombing up Santa Fe in his SUV...what a geek!
Maybe he should protest at the Safeway on South, South Broadway and Highlands Ranch Parkway. That is a very busy intersection! (Just don't interfere with the girl scouts selling their cookies, Glenn!)
June 11, 2008
2:54 p.m.
Suggest removal
Johnvet writes:
FONDA FACTOR: Obama, Hillary, and Al Franken, running for senate, MN (MN papers note his obscene writings) ar part of Fonda Factor weakon natl defense and values in shambles. There should be Demonstrations and storefront exhibits, Liberal Agenda House of Horrors, with Hillary and Fonda as witches, Obama as perhaps Dracula, and Franken as Frankenstein monster representing liberal agenda. Go to Telegraph (London newspaper) search for title Hillary Struggles in Wayne's World to see Hillary witch effigy and sign Hillary's House of Horrors, weak natl defense.