DENVER—Police issued a rare apology Wednesday over the release of texts sent between officers responding to the Occupy Denver protests in which demonstrators were called “hippies,” “yahoos,” and “wimps.”
The car-to-car texts were submitted as part of a lawsuit by protesters who claim supporters of the movement were harassed with selective enforcement of ordinances by police patrolling their encampment.
Earlier, a judge denied the protesters’ request for a temporary restraining order to stop the alleged treatment. The ruling effectively ended the lawsuit claiming their rights to freedom of speech were violated
Some of the texts were sent Oct. 14, when Denver moved to become the first city in the nation to crack down on supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In a statement, police said they regretted the tenor and tone of some of the texts and added that steps have been taken to address the behavior of officers.
Police spokesman Lt. Matthew Murray said officers have been reminded of the city’s policy on unprofessional messages, which prohibits jokes and non-work related exchanges. Discipline will depend on an internal investigation and the severity of the messages.
“It is common for employees in any line of work to vent their frustrations to co-workers,” the police statement read, adding that many officers have given up days off and worked long hours that included taunting and abusive actions by some protesters.
Officers also texted about their own safety amid a report that one protester had an assault weapon.
“I say we just baton the people who start to incite everyone,” a text from an unidentified officer read. “The rest who are peaceful, let em stay.”
The release of the messages followed U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn’s denial of the restraining order. He ruled that protesters didn’t present compelling evidence that police had stepped up enforcement as a way to retaliate and silence protesters.
Attorney David Lane, who represents protesters and supporters, disagreed with the ruling.
“It is a shame,” he said. “Turning a blind eye to blatant First Amendment violations is all too common in the federal courts these days.”
Lane said Blackburn’s ruling likely will end the lawsuit since it was designed to stop the alleged harassment.
“I’m not convinced that there’s any place left to go with this,” the lawyer said. “I don’t think the lawsuit is going to be continuing.”
In order to block police, Blackburn had to consider whether the protesters would likely win their lawsuit.
“Without evidence of the defendant’s retaliatory motive, the plaintiffs’ claim will fail,” the judge wrote.
At a hearing Monday, two people testified they were ticketed for honking a car horn and a hand-held air horn in a show of support for the protests. Another person said he was ticketed for stopping briefly in a no-parking zone to donate warm clothing to protesters.
At least two of those citations have been dismissed, according to testimony.
Lane accused police of selectively enforcing minor ordinances to retaliate against the demonstrators. He cited city records showing no one was ticketed for “honk-and-wave” events held by the mayor during his election campaign.
Lane produced two documents that he said showed some officers were hostile to the protest. One was a text message sent by an unidentified officer from a squad car that read in part, “A few of us set up a Twitter account to harass the ‘Occupy Denver’ people.”
Lane said the messages were obtained by subpoena from the city attorney’s office.
The second document was an email from a police lieutenant that included the passage, “we need to keep going just like this and sooner or later this thing will wear itself out.”
Blackburn wrote that even if an individual officer had selectively enforced the ordinances, the harassment claim wouldn’t apply to the city and county of Denver, Mayor Michael Hancock or Police Chief Gerald Whitman, who were named in the lawsuit.
Police and city officials argued in court that officers have discretion on writing tickets for minor violations regarding safety issues, a policy that didn’t change because of the protests.
Assistant City Attorney Wendy Shea argued the ordinances are “content-neutral” and noted their enforcement did not silence the group, which remains at Civic Center Park.
Police and City Attorney Doug Friednash said the texts didn’t reflect the department’s approach to the protests.
