'Radical organizer' focuses on issues

Re-create '68 rep doesn't want story to be about him

James B. Meadow

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky

Glenn Spagnuolo reacts to the attention this month during a lottery drawing for permits for parks in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. After his group was denied one of the permits it sought for Civic Center, Spagnuolo said into a thicket of microphones and cameras that the city could be facing "a dangerous situation."

The self-described eternal optimist who believes that revolutionary politics are the best way to address a government that "needs to be completely eliminated and replaced" is sipping on a morning coffee at the Gypsy House Cafe, doing his absolute best to avoid being profiled in a newspaper he doesn't have much use for.

Not that Glenn Spagnuolo is being rude about it. No, his tone is downright cordial as he explains he doesn't want to be "some fluff piece." He insists that "the media tends to make leaders" and "I don't want to get caught in the cult of personality stuff" because "I'm interested in the issues being covered, not me."

His aversion to fluff and personality cults aside, the fact is that Spagnuolo has become the most visible - and audible - representative of Re-create '68, a coalition of local and national groups that intends to rekindle the spirit of 1968 and inject some zest and muscle in the anti-war movement, as well as social-justice issues, through a potpourri of demonstrations and diversions such as concerts and perhaps even a "nude-in" on Colfax Avenue.

This during August's Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Concerns raised

While some of its agenda seems benign enough on the surface, the fact that R68 wants to build a bridge back to the infamous and bloody 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago has chilled many in the, hmm, establishment.

"I get nervous . . . when they're making threats against visitors to the city and say they want to disrupt the city," says Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown.

Brown's concern may stem from the fact that Spagnuolo's rhetoric sometimes strays into the realm of threats. Take the subject of the large protest march he says will take place Aug. 24 with or without Denver's sanction.

After his group was denied one of the permits it sought for Civic Center, Spagnuolo said into a thicket of microphones and cameras, that the city could be facing "a dangerous situation."

He followed that up with comments like, "If Denver needs to become Ground Zero in the fight to take back our rights, it will," and the possibility that things might "blow up" when the police step in.

His words, he insists are "not a threat," just an acknowledgement. The Democrats and the city are the ones "absolutely spoiling for a fight," by denying R68 its parade permit.

"We're going to try our hardest not to be violent," he says, adding, "We don't intend to provoke." But then, "I'm not naive enough to think the police won't react in a violent manner. That's how they're trained to handle conflict - through violence."

He concedes revolutionary fervor among potential foot soldiers isn't what it was 40 years ago.

"The spirit is missing in society; young people are apathetic about politics," says Spagnuolo. "In 1968, three out of every four college students said they believed in revolutionary politics. Today, we can't get one out of four to come out for our protests."

Voluble as he is on revolutionary politics, Spagnuolo turns sphinx-like when it comes to his personal history. He admits to being 37 and, well, not much else.

Details are few

He wears a wedding band but won't say if he's married. He's from New York but refuses to say where in New York. Asked about the fact that another newspaper story said he was from the Bronx, he replies, "not everything in that story was right."

What does he do for a living?

"What I do for a living is enjoy life and have a good time. I don't get paid to organize."

What might he put down as his profession on a resume?

"Radical organizer and existential lover," he says, smiling, admitting it's an Abbie Hoffman line.

History of protesting

If he had more time for an interview, Spagnuolo might be wiling to talk about his protest resume. While living in Longmont, he fought against the construction of a Wal-Mart. He helped get a street named for John Chivington - the leader of the brutal Sand Creek Massacre - changed.

He's been arrested for interfering with the traditional Columbus Day Parade on the grounds that Columbus was guilty of genocide against American Indians.

He experienced other incendiary moments in the media when he supported former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, whose comments about the victims of 9/11 - and subsequent charges of academic plagiarism - got him fired.

At an April 2005 rally, Spagnuolo told the crowd, "Don't sit back and wait for an invitation to the revolution. Riot about something real, like Ward Churchill."

At least that's how he was quoted in the Rocky Mountain News, a paper he insists is biased against him and his causes.

As far as he's concerned, when it comes to coverage about R68, "The press in general has made this about images and personalities and not the issues. It has damaged the movement. I'm not in this for myself; that's why I don't want this to be about me."

And who would he be?

"Believe it or not I've always been an eternal optimist," he says, smiling.

Not a fan

That might be news to some city officials who have dealt with him, officials who can't stand him, say they find him "confrontational," "adversarial" and "hypocritical," but won't go on the record.

One official who will is Brown, who has debated Spagnuolo on TV and radio about an ill-fated attempt to place restrictions on how the police could deal with protesters if things got out of hand.

"I wouldn't want to get between him and a TV camera or a microphone," Brown says.

"If you ever get him off a protest issue, he can be pleasant," says Brown. "The problem is, he's always on the protest bandwagon."

Not that Spagnuolo would likely care what Brown thinks about him. That has nothing to do with the issues he believes so passionately in. It's information that has no place in revolutionary politics. You know, the kind of stuff that belongs in some puff piece.

meadowj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2606

Who is Glenn Spagnuolo?

* Claim to fame: Face of Re-create '68, which plans demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August

* Age: 37

* Born: New York

* Resume: Has supervised at-risk youth programs for the city of Longmont; started or co-founded Students Against Apartheid in New York, the Constitutional Cities Coalition in Colorado and Longmont Citizens for Justice and Democracy.