DNC protesters enter pleas
Many of the 154 cited ask for jury trials, set to be held in October
Rocky Mountain News
Published September 3, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Photo by Judy Dehaas / The Rocky
Ilana Goldszer, who was arrested Aug. 25 during the DNC, applies for a public defender with the help of Neil Harlan of the Denver Municipal Defense Council.
Photo by Tim Hussin / The Rocky
Police detain protesters at 15th and Court streets on Aug. 25, the first day of the DNC. Authorities allege they were intent on doing damage to the 16th Street Mall.
Several dozen protesters arrested during the Democratic National Convention appeared in Denver County Court Tuesday morning. Most asked for jury trials.
"You are part of history," defense attorney Robert Corry told the group before the hearings began. "Pleading guilty is the easiest thing to do, but pleading guilty is not always the right or just thing to do."
Corry and several other attorneys from the People's Law Project are representing protesters. Defendants also were told how to apply for representation through the city's public defender office.
Trials will take place in October.
A total of 154 protesters were arrested during the DNC.
Some of the protesters said that they pleaded guilty to the municipal offenses to get it behind them, so they could return to jobs or college.
Denver police said Thursday they have opened three internal investigations stemming from officer conduct at the DNC. All three involved arrests caught on videotape and were perceived as excessively violent.
In one, two teenage girls were detained briefly for drawing anti-abortion images in chalk outside Barack Obama's hotel.
Police Lt. Ron Saunier said the number of incidents under investigation is a small fraction of the overall interactions between police and protesters.
"We've had a lot of individuals who have expressed their First Amendment rights, their freedom of speech, without us taking action," he said.
"We had a lot of officers that were extremely professional," Saunier said.
Denver received a $50 million federal grant to pay for convention security.
Police Chief Gerry Whitman said his goal was to respect free speech while keeping the convention safe.
The most volatile confrontation occurred Aug. 25, the first day of the convention, when police wielding pepper spray and batons stopped a group that authorities said were marching toward the 16th Street Mall to cause damage.
Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, said the incident was a "massive and unnecessary show of force" that was not only intimidating, but also had a potential chilling effect on free speech.
"The pepper spraying, the pepper balling, the holding of people behind police lines and not letting them leave for an hour or an hour and a half, and then the arrests of 100 people . . . was an excessive police crackdown," Silverstein said.
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September 3, 2008
4:12 a.m.
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rationalnotemotional writes:
Public defenders, are you kidding me?!?
These protestors are withdrawing more from "the system" in a financial sense, than they contributed to it in terms of political speech. I doubt that, if sitting down at a kitchen table, many protestors could formulate a compelling argument about whatever it was they were protesting.
Many are provocateurs, plain and simple. The DNC protests merely offered them an anonymous forum to act out their aggressions against "the man," and their participation, something to brag about when they return home to Berkeley.
September 3, 2008
5:44 a.m.
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Shadow writes:
HMMM, so the fact that the protestors left their designated area, or route of protests and decided to go where ever they wanted is l;egitmate. The rest of us be damned? The rest of us have to capitulate our rights so that a few can express their opinions.
So when the DPD stepped in and upheld our rights it was an aggresive show of force acccourding to the ACLU. Maybe if we all decided to camp out on the ACLU's front lawn, used megaphones and decided that we want to express our rights to free speech at all hours of the day and night. The calling of the police would be an aggresive show of force.
Its always a one way street with these people. When they decide that their permits are not good enough and want to do and go where they want they are being repressed but if any one who opposes their view does it.It is outrageous.
September 3, 2008
7:07 a.m.
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LingLingfor_prez writes:
Nothing compared to what happened at the RNC so far. I wonder how events would have been different if the cops were taking it easy in Denver. More anarchy?
September 3, 2008
7:31 a.m.
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sheepherder writes:
I hope the ILLEGAL protestors get some jail time....
September 3, 2008
7:44 a.m.
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dav writes:
Really? Is this that difficult to see any perspective other than that of the governments? Its not the message the people were trying to express that is the point, it is the the fact that the police worked to revoke the opportunity to express it. Berkeley or not, student or not, informed or not, they have the right. When it is taken from one, we should all be concerned. Or at least be able to see the perspective. If you want to live in a police state, you can. But despite the position of the Denver Police, it is not here.
September 3, 2008
9:41 a.m.
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TheDenverB writes:
"HMMM, so the fact that the protestors left their designated area, or route of protests and decided to go where ever they wanted is l;egitmate."
yes. this is America and we have the right to free speech in public without the need for permits or 'freedom zones'.
I agree some of them werre out of line, and many probably couldn't tell you why they were there... but they have the right to do that. If you don't like that, then move to China or some other country that restricts the rights of their citizens.
again, while you might not agree with them, as an American you should defend their right to do this -- you never know when YOU might want to enjoy that freedom.
September 3, 2008
9:46 a.m.
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JYP3500 writes:
Mark Silverstein sounds like a typical liberal (I'm not accountable for my actions) buffoon. You do the crime, you do the time. Kudos to the Denver Police for keeping control.
Someday these "college" kids will realize how dumb they were, swallowing the liberal BS & indoctrination from their professors. Hopefully they can get a job with a police record.
September 3, 2008
9:56 a.m.
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sheepherder writes:
I love how Glenn and his one friend turned out for R68! And he was the biggest loud mouth of them all!
September 3, 2008
10:02 a.m.
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Boarder22 writes:
They got arrested, stood for nothing, and accomplished nothing....nice work......
September 3, 2008
10:19 a.m.
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TheDenverB writes:
actually, several of these cases are going to accomplish a lot in terms of compensation from the city for the protesters due to unwarranted force by police.
September 3, 2008
1:45 p.m.
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solar_satellite writes:
May the settlements for false arrest be so large as to bankrupt Denver -- this would be the only way to penetrate the witless deference to the scofflaws running this city on display here. We need police and city officials who will obey the Law, but to judge from the comments, most people are so stupid that they actually want more of the same.
September 3, 2008
10:47 p.m.
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solar_satellite writes:
Re-read this cr*p:
"We've had a lot of individuals who have expressed their First Amendment rights, their freedom of speech, without us taking action," he said. "We had a lot of officers that were extremely professional," Saunier said.
This is called damning with faint praise. Thanks to "a lot of officers" for doing their job -- and can we expect the rest to be fired and prosecuted?