DENVER—Police officers did nothing wrong during mass arrests on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, an independent police monitor said Monday.
In a letter, monitor Richard Rosenthal said there is no evidence to support a complaint alleging officers lied about whether they gave an order to disperse before arresting more than 100 people during the August gathering downtown.
The American Civil Liberties Union complaint also had contended a police officer pretending to be a protester created a tense atmosphere when he confronted another officer. Rosenthal said the undercover officer acted appropriately.
The ACLU did not immediately return a call.
In the letter, Rosenthal said the officers did not knowingly lie and that any inaccuracies in statements were the result of “errors or omissions” during communication among them.
The complaint argued police officers violated a policy requiring them to give the crowd a chance to disperse before making arrests.
Rosenthal said police believed protesters had disobeyed orders to stay at Civic Center Park and intended to attack others when they walked from the park toward the pedestrian 16th Street Mall.
Some protesters were seen grabbing feces and urine from the park area before heading to the mall, Rosenthal said.
During previous trial testimony, ACLU attorney Taylor Pendergrass said some protesters uncovered questions about whether police gave an order to disperse before the arrests on Aug. 25.
That information contradicted testimony by officers who said protesters disobeyed the order before their arrests near the mall, Pendergrass said.
Police have said anarchists planned to wreak havoc at convention delegate hotels and downtown businesses and that officers were trying to control the crowd.
