DENVER—A federal judge plans to rule soon on whether changes need to be made to protest rules for the Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Center.
Lawyers for protesters as well as Denver and the Secret Service delivered closing arguments Thursday in a lawsuit challenging the parade route the city has designated for protesters.
The route ends in a fenced demonstration zone in a parking lot on the grounds of the Pepsi Center, the site of the first three days of the convention.
Protesters want the route changed, arguing they won’t be within sight or earshot of delegates as they arrive the arena. They say the arena should serve as a symbolic backdrop during their marches and demonstrations.
Lawyer Steve Zansberg said images captured by the media will not show protesters in relationship to the Pepsi Center.
“Why would protesters go to Denver if they were not going to have access to the site of the DNC?” Zansberg asked.
Judge Marcia S. Krieger called the case “a balancing test between security needs and protesters’ free speech rights.” She said she would issue a written ruling in the case soon.
James M. Lyons, a lawyer for Denver, said the city has met and exceeded demonstrators’ constitutional rights.
He also said that while members of the group Recreate 68, a plaintiff in the case, insist they are committed to nonviolent protests and won’t use maneuvers like the “sleeping dragon”, others may be planning to disrupt the convention. The “sleeping dragon” is a demonstration technique in which protesters form a human roadblock using quick-drying concrete and other materials.
“We have to take that into account,” Lyons said.
Under Denver’s plan, protesters would have to leave the Pepsi Center parking lot by 3 p.m., about the time delegates are expected to begin arriving each day.
Another protest group, Tent State University, wants to start its march near the Pepsi Center as opposed to ending there, as the city’s route outlines, because its members would like to symbolically turn their backs on the Democratic Party.
“A place is an integral component to a protester’s message,” Zansberg said. “People are coming to Denver in order to be seen at the site of the DNC.”
The last day of the convention will be held at Invesco Field at Mile High, where Barack Obama plans to deliver his acceptance speech. A hearing on a plan to keep protesters at the stadium property’s border will be held Aug. 12.
