By Elaine Brower
Early on Sunday, August 24, 2008, over
700 people gathered in front of the Capitol Building in Denver to kickoff
a week of events protesting the Democratic National Convention, as well
as the oppression of the militaristic environment those of us who choose
to express the freedom of speech the government seeks to deny.
At 9 AM the rally began with a lineup
of motivational speakers, high up on the Capitol steps. The rally
was called by Recreate 68, mostly comprised of local anti-war groups
and residents of Colorado. The protesters heard speeches from
Cindy Sheehan, Fred Hampton Jr., Ron Kovic, Vietnam vet and author of
“Born on the Fourth of July”, Ward Churchill, Larry Hales, Cynthia
McKinney, Larry Holmes, and others, and were roused by a performance
by performance by Dead Prez.
The scene in front of the building, although
not a replica of Chicago in 1968 where thousands protested and were
beat up by the police, was alive and energized with people from all
walks of life, from locations all over the Country, and ranged from
age 2 to 72. People came from as far away as Florida and Massachusetts.
The march had its own vitality and beat,
which set the stage for the day of spirited marches and moments of confrontation.
In the face of weeks of threats of repression and the development of
a massive deployment of police equipped with everything from the traditional
billy clubs and guns to the most modern of high tech weapons of “crowd
control”; defying the construction of “Gitmo on the Platte” and
wired “freedom cages” where people would be “free” to express
their opinions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the development
of a police/spy state, and other measures developed by the Bush Regime
with the full cooperation of the Democratic Party; in defiance of the
Democrats themselves and many self described “peace activists” who
have shamed themselves by refusing to participate in the protest events
in Denver and calling on others also to stay away”; people set off
on a lively and determined march.
The March to the Pepsi Center
At about 11 AM everyone stepped off and
got into the streets determined to march directly to the Pepsi Center,
about a mile away. The Denver Police would not grant a permit
to R68 to get as far as the Pepsi Center, where the convention delegates
and press were. Instead, they were determined to force protesters
into the “Freedom Cage” constructed for “freedom of speech.”
The Cage was far enough away from where the delegates were to keep them
from actually seeing or hearing the demands being made by the people
to stop the wars, end oppression, end torture, and give us our constitution
back!
But the activists involved in the march
were not going to accept the herding into the Cage. The numbers
swelled to over 1,000 as the march progressed. The street was
filled with protesters from curb to curb. The march was led by
anti-war Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovic, in his wheelchair and joining the
chants calling for shutting down Guantanamo to Troops home now.
The crowd was so alive and determined it was something that couldn’t
be ignored.
Meanwhile, the Denver police, seen earlier
with their new troops transport trucks which allow them to ride on the
outside dressed in full battle gear carrying machine guns, and police
and bicycles carrying cuffs, batons, mace, and sidearms, all followed
and surrounded the march. The police were ignored and the marchers
were loud and defiant taking time to chant “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and some
would drop to the streets in a mock-die in, and the chant would resume
“Rise UP! Rise UP! For the people of the World are Watching!”
The World Can’t Wait contingent was
large and lively, and its politics of defiance and resistance permeated
the march. The color orange – the infamous orange the U.S. government
has forced on the prisoners at Guantanamo, and which has been taken
up by World Can’t Wait as a powerful and colorful symbol of resistance
to the torture state and solidarity with those it persecutes – permeated
the march. Orange banners, placards, and bandanas were everywhere.
Heading for the Pepsi Center, the police
stopped the front line contingent at a spot to direct them into the
cage. One of the R68 organizers told the police we were marching
directly to the Pepsi Center under our First Amendment Rights.
After a conversation, the police broke the line of blue barricade, and
let it go. The crowd felt the palpable victory just won, and became
more determined to have their voices heard throughout the City.
The media was in abundance, marching
and filming the entire time. As you looked up and down the street
you could see wall to wall activists, which included some delegates,
noticeable by their badges and buttons; anarchists, peace activists,
pro-choice activists, former soldiers, mothers, fathers and their kids.
It was actually breathtaking, and the press knew it.
Even though it had not been exactly a
recreation of the Chicago march, it had a new and lively beat of its
own.
Once the march stopped at the gates of
the Pepsi Center, where the repressive forces were waiting, machine
guns in hand, Ron Kovic told everyone to sit down, and show determined
defiance of the police state. Hundreds did, right in front of
the gates, and it remained that way for about 15 minutes. He gave
a rousing speech, and activists were chanting and yelling. Rising,
the protesters remained directly in front of the Center, demanding they
be heard. The standoff with 1,000 protesters and the police became
a very tense situation, and both sides were ready for whatever would
happen next.
After about 30 minutes of intense face
to face confrontation and angry shouts, delegates needing to get inside
started mixing in with the protesters showing their badges to get inside,
which they couldn’t. The sun beat down, and the heat from the
street was extreme. They held their ground, and won the struggle
by having their presence felt and known to those inside the DNC, who
were flooding out to take pictures, and those who were trying to get
inside.
The marchers walked off, slowly in the
direction that was not permitted, and kept marching all the way back
to the Capitol.
Abbie Hoffman, who was a radical activist
in 1968, would have been proud! He always said you win if they lose
and everyone goes home to fight another day!
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Additional news from today’s protests:
Photos and VIDEO: water torture act creates a stir-
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/25/water-torture-act-creates-stir-protest/
protesters march for human rights, end to torture-
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/25/protesters-march-human-rights-end-torture/
protesters in jail clothes, hoods-
http://www.denverpost.com/politicswestnews/ci_10298328
protesters march for human rights, end to torture-
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/25/protesters-march-human-rights-end-torture/
the thanks we get; these fucking Democrats really piss me off-
http://www.coloradoindependent.com/5342/thanks-for-turning-my-city-into-a-fortress/
Legal observers document strong police presence at DNC
anti-war protest-
http://www.coloradoindependent.com/5244/legal-observers-document-strong-police-presence-at-dnc-anti-war-protest/
numbers much lower than expected-
http://www.denverpost.com/politicswestnews/ci_10293522?source=dncWidget