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June 12-18, 2008
editorial@boulderweekly.com
All eyes on Denver
Most news cameras will be focused on events inside the Pepsi Center this August when the Democratic National Convention comes to Denver, but if history is any indication, there will be just as much action outside the convention as inside.
For months now, activists have been planning protests designed to draw the attention of the media that will be gathered to hear Sen. Barack Obama and Democratic leaders speak. In response, Denver police have purchased millions of dollars of “non-lethal” crowd-control technology. In the middle stands the American Civil Liberties Union, concerned about potential arrests and the treatment that protesters will receive.
Boulder Weekly takes a look this week not at what’s going to happen on the podium inside the convention, but what will be taking place in the streets.
The ACLU sues Denver to learn what police have in store for protesters
by Dana Logan
When a city vies for the opportunity to host a political convention, it knows that the world will be watching. Hosting such a convention is a chance to boost the image of a thriving downtown, to serve as a reminder that it’s a great city in which to hold conventions of all types, and to stimulate economic prosperity by bringing in thousands of people. Like other cities that have come before, Denver was thrilled to land the Democratic National Convention (DNC) for 2008. If it goes well, all eyes will be on Denver. But city planners had better be careful. If it doesn’t go well, all eyes will still be on Denver.
Nearly four years ago, while the country looked in on the Republican National Convention in New York City, more than 1,800 people were arrested. Many of them were caught in plastic netting that the police used to arrest entire crowds of protesters, including, apparently innocent bystanders. The mass arrests overloaded the system, causing the New York Civil Liberties Union to receive numerous complaints regarding delays in processing, substandard confinement conditions and problems gaining access to telephones, attorneys and necessary medical care.
At last October’s Columbus Day Parade in Denver, approximately 80 protesters were arrested and detained at Denver’s Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility (PADF). Although nearly all of the arrestees were prepared to post bond immediately, dozens were forced to wait for many hours before their bond money would be accepted and listed as “posted” on the jail’s computer. Even after bond money was accepted and posted, many arrestees remained in lock up for an additional six to 12 hours before being released. According to a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado, the addition of 80 arrestees overwhelmed the physical and staffing infrastructure at the PADF. The ACLU believes the problems associated with the relatively minor number of arrests in connection with the Columbus Day Parade could be increased exponentially during the Democratic National Convention.
Now, in preparation for the 2008 DNC in Denver and the thousands of anticipated protesters at the event, the ACLU of Colorado wants to work with the city and county of Denver to prevent similar circumstances to those experienced by protesters in New York and the arrestees connected to the Columbus Day Parade.
The ACLU is worried that Denver’s policy of making physical custodial arrests of protesters instead of using a cite-and-release policy — where officers would issue citations and release non-violent protesters — could overwhelm Denver’s security arrangements for the DNC.
In an effort to begin a dialogue with the city and the Sheriff’s department, the ACLU requested a copy of the Policy and Procedure Manual for the Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility (PADF) in downtown Denver. The PADF serves as the initial intake facility for arrestees in Denver — where they are processed into the system, booked, fingerprinted and temporarily housed.
“There are about 100 different sections to this manual that we are seeking, and they’ve only produced 12 of them,” says John Culver, one of the attorneys representing the ACLU in two lawsuits against the city. “They’re asserting a security interest. They’re saying security at the facility will be undermined. Most of these provisions have nothing whatsoever to do with security. I mean, they haven’t even turned over sections regarding laundry. Not that we necessarily need that information, but they haven’t turned over sections for which there’s not even an argument that there’s a security interest.”
Because the city hasn’t produced the procedure manual document to their satisfaction, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the city and county of Denver and Alvin LaCabe, in his official capacity as manager of safety. The lawsuit, filed on May 19 and scheduled to be heard in court on June 19, officially seeks the disclosure of the PADF manual under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA).
“The city will disclose all the documents that it’s required to disclose under the open records act. And to the extent that the open records act doesn’t require the disclosure… the city won’t disclose them,” says David Fine, Denver’s city attorney, whose office is representing the defendants in the lawsuit. “The reason is, because it’s important to keep certain security arrangements confidential.”
“We believe that there are some security interests which are not within the public interest, and the ACLU does not agree with us,” says LaCabe.
But while it’s true that some security interests may override the public’s interest in governmental functioning and transparency, there are procedures in place to create a healthy balance between the two. The open records statutes allow the city to redact, or black out, certain security sensitive information before releasing a document, but Culver says that the city hasn’t followed the procedure that’s in place.
“We’ve said to them, ‘Why don’t you sit down with the manual and redact, cross out, cover up, white out — whatever you want to call it — the sections of the manual that really, truly pertain to security and give us the rest of the manual.’ But they haven’t done that. And that’s their legal obligation,” Culver explains. “I haven’t seen the document, obviously, so I can’t say for sure — but I think it is very likely that there are some small sections of the document that do contain information that’s security sensitive. But they need to go find the stuff that really is security sensitive and give us everything else.”
And the PADF manual is only one of the DNC-related documents that the ACLU has requested and which the city has not disclosed. In anticipation of the DNC, the federal government allocated $50 million for Denver to use for security and related costs. Denver has budgeted $18 million of that money for purchases of security-related equipment.
In a separate but related lawsuit filed on May 28, the ACLU is requesting the disclosure of records regarding how that public money is being spent. There is no hearing scheduled at this time, but as an open-records request, the lawsuit has an expedited status and should be heard within a month of filing.
Again, the city is citing security interests as the grounds for not releasing the records.
According to Culver, “With the expenditure of public funds, there’s a specific provision in the open-records act that requires disclosure of this information, subject to redaction of potentially security sensitive information… So when the government is spending $18 million on something, there’s always a public interest — whether it’s buying food for inmates or buying cars for police or buying office supplies. There’s always a public interest in the use of public money.”
The ACLU requested information including records on expenditures by the city and county of Denver on any “less-lethal” weapons, other weapons, vehicles, personal body armor, restraint devices and barricades.
On May 8, Mary Dulacki, records coordinator for the office of the manager of safety, denied the request because such disclosure would be “contrary to the public interest.”
And while Culver says that the expenditure of public funds is part of the reason the public interest is so clear in this case, he says that the bigger concern for the ACLU is security issues. What the ACLU hopes to do, he explains, is to look at the records and analyze them, then open a dialogue with the police department to ensure that there aren’t problems at the convention.
“What the ACLU really wants to do is open up a dialogue with the city to make sure that they have a security plan in place that both provides adequate security for the convention, but at the same time does it in a way that protects the civil rights of people who want to use the convention as a vehicle for exercising their free speech rights,” says Culver.
The manager of safety seems to agree on this point.
“The city has always wanted to be a part of that dialogue,” says LaCabe. “It has always been the city’s goal to dialogue with these groups such that there is a safe convention that still allows people to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
But it’s hard to have a conversation when one party doesn’t have the necessary information to participate. So the city’s claim that it wants a dialogue doesn’t quell Culver’s concerns about the security arrangements and the training that the police — both Denver police and the supplemental forces that will be brought in for the convention — will receive in preparation for using the “less-lethal” weapons that he believes are being bought for use against protesters at the convention.
“Less-lethal” weapons are weapons that are used in riot-type situations and include any impact weapon, chemical agents, pepper balls, electronic restraint devices, and shotgun less-lethal rounds. Culver says that the ACLU is concerned about the use of this type of weapon because, while they are called “less lethal,” they are still extremely dangerous and, if used by someone without the proper training, he says they can be harmful to people’s health or even fatal. Culver explains that the ACLU is concerned about the possibility for use of excessive force against legal protests and, he says, they’re worried that because the police are being instructed that the weapons are less lethal, they may be more likely to be used.
“Denver doesn’t have a great record as far as excessive force goes,” Culver says. “So in general, we have concern about their training. We’re concerned here because we don’t know anything about it — because we haven’t been provided any information about it. And we wonder why they’re trying to conceal that information. We’re concerned that they’re not getting the weapons until a short period before the DNC and so there won’t be time for adequate training. If the training was adequate, you’d think they’d want us to know about it.”
LaCabe’s only response to that notion is that the comment assumes that all the rumors Culver has heard are true. But to Culver, that just proves the point that the city should provide the information necessary to have a discussion about what arrangements are actually being put in place for the convention.
“It’s something that’s going to affect the credibility of Denver. You know, the whole country, if not the whole world, is going to be looking in on Denver and the way it handles this convention. If there are really serious security problems, the whole country is going to know about that. It’s going to hurt Denver’s reputation. It has the potential to hurt the economy,” Culver says. “One of the reasons that the city worked so hard to bring the DNC here was to give Denver a reputation as a good place to bring conventions. If there are security problems here, it’s going to hurt convention business — hurt the economy. There are a lot of reasons for the average person, even someone who isn’t a protester, to have concern about this.”
But for now, it’s an issue for the court’s concern.
“There’s a difference of opinion between the city — the department of safety — and the ACLU. There are avenues to resolve those differences,” says LaCabe.
“To the extent that the issue isn’t resolved before it goes to court, we’ll just have the court make a decision,” the city attorney says. “I can’t speculate as to how a court’s going to decide any particular case. I wish I was clairvoyant, but I’m not.”
Culver, too, says that he can’t put himself in the position of predicting what a judge is going to do. What he will say is this: “I think the law is pretty firmly on our side that the vast majority of the PADF manual has to be turned over and that information regarding budgeting for security arrangements at the convention have to be turned over — with the understanding that some information will have to be redacted. Because that’s what the statute says. With respect to the expenditure of public funds for security arrangements, the statute says that the information shall be disclosed. It’s mandatory.”
Either way, come August, all eyes will be on Denver.
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Activists prepare to air issues at the DNC, plan to use varying tactics
by Dana Logan
It’s well known that the Democratic National Convention (DNC) will bring excitement to Denver. The inside of the Pepsi Center will be filled with balloons, delegates and media. But that’s only one of the inevitable locations that will see throngs of people during the week of August 24-28.
Outside the convention, on the streets of Denver — or more specifically, in a 50,000-square-foot space that the city of Denver has proclaimed a protest area in Lot A of the Pepsi Center — there will be another kind of rallying taking place. Protesters will be assembling around the convention to demonstrate for a variety of causes. Some are disenchanted with the two-party system; others are disenchanted with the idea of government itself. Many of those who plan to protest want to see an immediate end to the war in Iraq, while others are concerned with environmental issues. Some want changes in laws regarding medical marijuana, and some want changes in abortion laws.
And while there will be activists standing for a variety of issues, there are also daily themes that are being organized to unite those diverse groups. Though different organizations may interpret the themes in varying ways — and some may choose not to participate in the themed events at all — the major protests that are expected to take place will generally follow this proposed schedule (see sidebar for a more complete schedule of activities):
* Sunday — End All Occupations at Home and Abroad
* Monday — Human Rights/Free All Political Prisoners
* Tuesday — No Borders
* Wednesday — No Warming
* Thursday — No Racism/Imperialism
In addition to the demonstrations against the DNC, activists are also organizing a “Festival of Democracy,” a five-day event that will feature trainings, workshops and teach-ins, as well as opportunities to learn about alternatives to the two-party system and solutions that communities can provide to their own problems. The festival of democracy will also host a 24/7 free health clinic, legal services, two meals a day in cooperation with Food Not Bombs and other community services.
But despite a general attitude of cooperation, there have been disagreements on tactics and ideals among the activist organizations planning protests. One group calls itself Recreate 68, a reference to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. That convention, 40 years ago, was the site of mass demonstrations that resulted in violence between police and protesters. With comparisons being made between circumstances leading up to the 1968 convention and those of today — extreme dissatisfaction with the current president and a war that seems to have no end — it’s not only police who are worried that some protesters might resort to less than peaceful means to express themselves. Some activists have expressed concerns about the implications of the name “Recreate 68.”
In fact, one group, Tent State University (TSU), was previously coordinating efforts with Recreate 68, but has recently cut its ties with the group. Although both TSU and Recreate 68 are committed to ending the war in Iraq, TSU members were uncomfortable with the association to the violence of 1968 and wanted to make it clear that they plan to achieve their goals through non-violence.
TSU, which is made up of progressive Democrats, Greens, anarchists, students, socialists, soldiers and ordinary citizens, hopes to force an end to the war, while acting as a model for healthy social change. TSU intends to serve as an “alternative university” — a staging area for actions and protests, a venue for musical arts, political theater, town hall democracy. It plans to offer multiple “classrooms” where activists can share tactics and strategies for ending the war, as well as housing for the tens of thousands of activists that they expect to show up for the convention.
In their statement of commitment to non-violence, TSU asserts, “[We] recognize the effective ability of non-violence as a principle and as a tactic… As a principal non-violence is the ability to take and keep the moral high ground regardless of the assaults we bear. The ability to refuse to engage in behavior which only serves to marginalize our movement and strengthen the police state mentality is one of the most striking differences between those who want peace and those who advocate war.”
TSU is only one of many protest groups that plan on being at the DNC and that embrace the ideals of non-violence. CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement. (Though women founded the organization, men are equally welcome and encouraged to participate). The group shares with TSU not only a commitment to non-violence, but also the desire to end the war in Iraq. CODEPINK wants to redirect the nation’s resources into health care, education and other “life-affirming” activities.
On June 22, CODEPINK will host a “Consulta” in Denver, in which national organizers, local groups and individuals are invited to participate. Through the meeting, they hope to gain a comprehensive understanding of all groups working to organize nonviolent events throughout the DNC. They expect it to be a place for groups to convey their needs for actions and for individuals to find places to connect with a group of like-minded protesters (see sidebar for more information).
While CODEPINK has expressed concerns over the allusions to violence induced by the name Recreate 68, they haven’t ruled out the possibility of working with that organization. And it’s quite possible that there won’t be any conflict of purpose between the two organizations, despite the controversial name.
According to a statement of principle issued by Recreate 68, “We are resolved that our group will not instigate violence against human beings as a means to end this system of violence and injustice.”
But despite their statement, other groups still worry about the impact of their name. Among the groups that have yet to declare whether or not they will align themselves with Recreate 68 are the Colorado Progressive Coalition, The ANSWER Coalition and United for Peace and Justice — a national network of 1,400 groups planning to organize around both the DNC and the RNC.
Still, Recreate 68 does have allies. The Troops Out Now Coalition and The Rainforest Action Network are among them.
Another group, calling itself Unconventional Denver, made up of anarchists and anti-authoritarians who claim that the Democratic Party serves the same interests and objectives as the Republican Party, will be protesting for many of the same issues that motivate members of Recreate 68.
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Inside the outside
Before the convention:
Recreate 68 Meetings
Thursdays, 6:30 p.m.
Gypsy House Cafe, 1279 Marion St., Denver
www.recreate68.org
Unconventional Denver Meetings
Second and Fourth Tuesdays of each month, 7 p.m.
Hooked On Colfax, 3215 E. Colfax Ave., Denver
www.myspace.com/unconventionaldenver
Tent State University
http://tentstate.org
E-mail info@tentstate.org to get involved in protests at the DNC.
CODEPINK
To get involved in peaceful protests at either of the political conventions, visit
www.codepink4peace.org.
June 22 Consulta
1 p.m.
AFSC Community Room
901 W. 14th Ave., Ste. 7, Denver
National organizers, local groups and individuals are invited to participate in a Consulta regarding activities planned during and around the DNC.
Unconventional Action Camp
July 12-18
Cost: sliding scale $0-$50
E-mail unconventionaldenver@riseup.net for more information.
For more information on groups who will be protesting, visit
http://dncdisruption08.org.
During the Convention:
CODEPINK’s schedule of events:
Sunday, Aug. 24
Noon to 3: CODEPINK’s Restore Democracy Parade and Procession for the Future
9 p.m.: Concert by Tent State University
Monday, Aug. 25
Prisoner and Human Rights Day
Noon to 2: Aerial Image with John Quigley
2 to 9: Strategic Actions
9 p.m.: Concert by Tent State University and Guerilla Film Screenings
Tuesday, Aug. 26
Immigration Rights Day
Noon to 2: Banner Drops and Walk In Their Shoes and Refugee Crisis
2 to 9: Strategic Actions
9 p.m.: Concert by Tent State University
Wednesday, Aug. 27
Environmental Action Day
Noon to 2: Banner hang and action, War is Not Green banner
2 to 9: Strategic Actions
9 p.m.: Concert by Tent State University and Guerilla Film Screenings
Thursday, Aug. 28
Free Speech Day (VP Day)
Strategic Actions
Unconventional Denver schedule of events:
Sunday, Aug. 24
March against occupations and militarization
Space reclamation
Monday, Aug. 25
March against prisons: Free all political prisoners!
No business as usual
Tuesday, Aug. 26
March against walls and borders: No one is illegal!
Blockade the spectacle: We vote no!
Wednesday, Aug. 27
Actions and alternatives: No warming!
Thursday, Aug. 28
Media savvy actions: End white supremacy!
Tent State University schedule and actions:
Sunday, Aug. 24
A.M. — “March Against the War and Occupation”
P.M. — TSU Tactics and Strategies Trainings
Late P.M. — “Welcome to Denver, Asses” Actions
Monday, Aug. 25
A.M. — “Bring the War Home”
P.M. — UA’s “No Business As Usual”
Tuesday, Aug. 26
A.M. — “Another Brick in the Wall”
P.M. — Nomination of a “Party-less Youth Ticket”
Wednesday, Aug. 27
A.M. — “No War, No Warming”
P.M. — Actions Against the “5 Pillars of War.” Autonomous and organized actions against the five pillars: media, government, industry, military and police state measures.
Thursday, Aug. 28
A.M. — “Lockstep Behind the Party” Marches
A.M. — “March of the Dead”
Corrosponding with the “Lockstep” march and happening at the same time, the “March of the Dead” will be a somber reminder of what five years has already done as participates march as the ghosts of soldiers or Iraqi civilians.
P.M. — “Divided They Fall”
Recreate 68’s planned days of protest:
Sunday, Aug. 24
End All Occupations at Home and Abroad
Monday, Aug. 25
Human Rights/Free All Political Prisoners
Tuesday, Aug. 26
No Borders
Wednesday, Aug. 27
No Warming
Thursday, Aug. 28
No Racism/Imperialism
Recreate 68 — Festival of Democracy:
Aug. 24-28, 2008
The Festival of Democracy will be a five-day event running in conjunction with the DNC Convention. The Festival will include free music and performing arts, free food and free institution building and political training. The purpose of the Festival of Democracy will be to share some fun and to work towards the development of programs and networks that will address community problems, without relying on the two-party, capitalist system. They will also be offering a 24-hour free medical clinic for all community members to receive free health care.
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