Protests at Dem Convention Show Democracy’s Messiness

By Amy Brouillette, 8-26-08

	Caption: Photo by Amy Brouillette

Last night’s clash between a few hundred protesters and riot police in downtown Denver was a striking show of police muscle and proof the city means business when dealing with unauthorized displays of dissent. It was clear something was afoot when, as dusk settled over the city, several groups of riot police materialized onto 15th street and began a destination-oriented trot, masks down, batons in hand, toward the government buildings on 15th Street and Court Place.

The scene, by the time I arrived moments later, was as chaotic and surreal and as it was grossly mis-matched: towering rows of riot police, armed and donning storm-trooper-ish gas masks, had encircled a group of scruffy young protesters, wearing bandanna masks and armed with cell phones and digital cameras (although there were mixed reports of protesters having hurled a few rocks). An increasingly agitated group of onlookers yelled “Let Them Free!” and offered comparisons between Tiananmen Square and Downtown Denver, as dozens of journalists and news cameras swarmed the scene.

When a bystander asked a police officer what they were protesting, the officer responded: “They hate Starbucks.” Albeit snide, this statement is not entirely untrue: in Monday evening’s fray was an amalgamation of anti-globalist, anti-capitalist, anti-authority anarchist groups—among them, DNC Disruption ‘08 and Unconventional Denver—the general likes of which took an equally high-profile stand in Boston in 2004. Confrontational, tough and commendably brave in the face of massive police/para-military presence, these scrappy anarchists are (ironically) organized, unified, media-savvy and backed by an army of pro-bono lawyers and First Amendment spokespeople stumping for their cause.

While a serious clash with serious consequences (the confrontation involved pepper spray, rubber bullets and resulted in 100 arrests), many protesters maintained a healthy sense of humor. One kid, donning a rather spiffy white shirt and tie, meandered through the crowd with a video camera and a hand-made press pass, “Little Brother Press.” He joked: “I figured if I wore a tie, they wouldn’t beat my ass.”

Meanwhile, more clashes are sure to come: DNC Disruption 08 announced today plans to block delegates as they make their way to the Pepsi Center. While the protests make for a dramatic media spectacle that overshadow the otherwise peaceful, even joyous scene that has descended over downtown Denver, the ongoing protester-police stand off is providing a crucial lesson in civics, and in the often tricky contours of our ever-embattled First Amendment. Democracy is a beautiful, exciting and messy affair, and no where was that more clear than in the streets of downtown Denver on Monday eve.