The Denver Black Police Officers Organization on Friday came out in support of how Denver police and Chief Robert White handled the defacing of a memorial honoring fallen police officers Saturday during a protest.
Police did not intervene when over the memorial at police headquarters, and instead took a “nonconfrontational” approach and .
That’s in contrast to the position two Denver police unions have taken, saying the people who committed the crime should have been stopped on the spot and immediately arrested.
“We applaud Chief White and the senior administration for having the courage to show great restraint when monitored protest activity devolves from peaceful and legal demonstration to lawlessness,” the Denver Black Police Officers Organization wrote in a letter.
It was penned by Cmdr. Ron Thomas, who is the organization’s executive secretary.
The letter referenced what happened at civil rights protests in the 1960s when images from that time “show police officers wielding batons and unleashing dogs while engaged in brutal combat with unarmed citizens, who more often than not were black. We’re a long way from the 1960s, though we have reached a time of similar civil unrest in this country. As a wise man once said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Robert Guerrero, 25, and Matthew Goldberg, 23, were arrested later Saturday and face charges relating to criminal mischief-vandalism.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
