I guess that I was covering protests too early in the day… While I was out hobnobbing at the parties surrounding the DNC, a group of protesters stormed at the police and were inevitably pepper sprayed and beat back with rubber sticks.
This happened at the hot bed of activism, Denver’s Civic Center Park, which is right in front of the State Capitol building. When I lived in Denver, it was also the easiest place to score a dime bag of schwag weed. You couldn’t walk a step into the park without it being offered.
Now several activist groups have permits to spend the week there, and it’s been a hot bed of activity for protesters. FOX News has been parked there getting in their faces the last few days. Most are having meaningful discussions, sponsoring speakers and exemplifying how non violent, intelligent protesting should be. Others on the other hand are just looking for a fight.
A contact of mine was in the park last night and reports to me that these protesters were not the same folks who’ve been sponsoring speakers and trying to educate delegates on the issues they are concerned with. I’ve been told that these particular protesters did rush the police, mostly in hopes of making the news and making the DNC look less peaceful than it has been. I believe that. I also believe that it worked.
Because the Civic Center Park protesters are doing so many things right, by having lectures and informational protests, I want to put photos of the art installation there to close this post. I’ve mentioned this Mosque made of photography in a previous report. It’s really quite beautiful, and captures the spirit of togetherness that, despite last night’s events, many of the protesters exemplify.
