Denver police arrested one person for defacing public property on Saturday after a group rallying against what they called police brutality marched from the Denver Zoo to downtown Denver.
The group was participating in an “international day of action against police terror,” said Mike Tree, a staff member with West Denver Copwatch.
The group marched from the zoo to the 16th Street Mall before ending their demonstration in the 1400 block of Broadway where Occupy Denver demonstrators have been rallying, said police spokesman Det. John White.
The two groups aren’t affiliated, Tree said.
The anti-police marchers placed stickers on public property and that resulted in one member being arrested, White said.
In the course of the march a window on the Mall was broken, White said. “We were not able to apprehend the individual responsible for the broken window,” he added.
Alonzo Ashley, 29, died July 18 after an incident at the zoo in which witnesses said he claimed to be a lion and tackled and beat a zoo guard before police arrived.
Officers said Ashley bit them before they stunned him with a Taser. He stopped breathing before paramedics arrived.
Denver’s coroner ruled the death a homicide, however the label doesn’t automatically mean a crime was committed.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said Ashley’s death met no legal criteria for prosecution under Colorado homicide statutes.
“From a criminal law assessment of the facts of this case, the involved citizens and law enforcement officers were justified in using the degree of force used,” Morrissey wrote in his decision on the case.
The demonstrators also were protesting the death of Marvin Booker, 56, who died after struggling with Denver Sheriffs deputies at a jail intake processing unit, and others, Tree said.
Denver Manager of Safety Charles Garcia found that five deputies complied with policy last July 9 when they held Booker down after he scuffled with a deputy.
The Denver Medical Examiner found Booker died from a heart attack and respiratory arrest while being pinned and tased.
Denver’s coroner ruled both cases homicide, said David Deez, a member of West Denver Copwatch.
“The fact that these officers and deputies were not disciplined is unspeakable,” Deez said.
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
