DENVER—Filmmaker Michael Schiller was taping protesters marching down a sidewalk near New York’s ground zero site during the 2004 Republican National Convention when police used orange netting to form a cordon and told everyone inside they were under arrest.
“We figured we’d be fine. If they said disperse, we’d disperse. But we never got the chance,” recalled Schiller. He and nearly 1,200 people across the city were arrested that day.
The incident underscored what critics say is an alarming erosion of citizens’ free speech rights during political conventions.
Civil rights activists and attorneys braced for the possibility of more of the same this year. But Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s office says he has pushed to make Denver as accessible as possible to protest and interest groups.
Denver officials say they hope to avoid extended detentions as thousands of protesters, including anti-war, immigration and anti-abortion activists, come to town for the Democratic National Convention. On Sunday, about 1,000 anti-war activists marched peacefully through downtown Denver, waving signs and chanting: “Stop the torture, stop the war. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
A federal judge, in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, approved a city security plan that allows demonstrators to march within 400 feet of the Pepsi Center, home to the convention.
“You can’t compare New York, which has buildings all around, to Denver, that has open areas,” said Katherine Archuleta, senior policy adviser to Hickenlooper.
Denver police will ask citizens to leave an area if they’re breaking the law, and say there is no mandatory arrest policy. Officials have created a temporary arrestee processing center in a city warehouse that critics have dubbed “Gitmo by the Platte,” after the South Platte River.
“We would be remiss if we didn’t prepare for mass arrests,” said Denver Undersheriff Bill Lovingier, director of corrections. “People would sit in buses waiting hours, days to be processed if we didn’t have this set up.”
A local network of attorneys plans to monitor demonstrations in downtown Denver to document any abuses, but they worry about access to arrestees inside the processing center.
Hundreds of lawsuits still are pending on behalf of people arrested during the 2004 GOP convention. In 2000, more than 600 people were arrested at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, and 200 were arrested in Los Angeles at the Democratic convention.
Police distributed a pamphlet reminding protesters of where they have a right to demonstrate but also warning them they can be arrested if they refuse a lawful order to disperse, even if they aren’t breaking any laws.
Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of Recreate 68, responded: “We have a pamphlet called the Constitution. A lot of us have read it already.”
In a recent bulletin, Denver police also asked area law enforcement to be on the lookout for caches of supplies that could be used by violent demonstrators, such as helmets, nails, heavy protest sign handles and even bicycles.
Another concern for rights activists: A new Denver ordinance that outlaws possession of some everyday items such as padlocks and chains if police believe they will be used for unlawful purposes, such as blocking roads. The ordinance also bans “noxious substances.” Some city council members claimed protesters plan to toss bags of feces or urine at police. Activists dismiss those concerns as a vicious rumor and a bid to squelch their First Amendment rights.
“Changing the law to transform innocent behavior into a crime where it poses no threat to public safety is entirely uncalled for and inconsistent with principles of the First Amendment,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “It has a chilling effect on free speech and that has been found time and time again to be improper under First Amendment principles.”
Preparing for the worst, attorneys and others dispensed advice to activists at a daylong seminar this week at the University of Colorado in Boulder. There, Zoe Williams, who was arrested near New York’s Union Square in 2004, advised her audience to protest or march with a friend so someone who could inform family of any arrest or injury. Another tip: No makeup; it enhances the effects of tear gas.
“Wear your sunscreen,” she added. “It’s easier to decontaminate someone who is not sunburned.”
