Several dozen protesters who gathered at the state Capitol on Friday morning to deliver a letter to Gov. John Hickenlooper and speak with legislators were locked out.
“This is supposed to be the people’s building!” one yelled as the group of roughly 75 sung and waved signs that said “BLACK LIVES MATTER.”
The protesters, calling for the end of “racism, police brutality and the unjust, inhumane living conditions these practices create,” began circling the Capitol building about 7:30 a.m., seeking a way in. The group was turned away by members of the Colorado State Patrol.
Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia and state Sen. Lucia Guzman met with the group outside the building to hear their concerns, posing for photos with posters protesters had made.
A small group of protesters eventually entered the Capitol with Garcia and Guzman for a meeting. Several dozen others headed to the legislative building across from the Capitol where they staged a “die-in.”
Denver police said they were monitoring the protest.
“We are most immediately spurred by the lack of indictments in the killings of Michael Brown, Jr. and Eric Garner, but we also know that abusing and killing of men and women of color—including a recent string of excessive-force charges against law enforcement here in Denver—is a practice as old as the United States,” Ben Sanders, a protest organizer, said in a statement.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or
