csua.org/u/m6q -> littlegreenfootballs.com/article/31048_Zombie-_Recreate_68_Finally_Lives_Up_to_Its_Name-_Riot_in_Denver
Zombie: Recreate 68 Finally Lives Up to Its Name: Riot in Denver A notice online said, "Interested parties will gather at 6pm at civic center park" where "top-secret information on a couple of the choicest fundraisers and parties in Denver" was to be handed out. Then, "at the appointed time monday night, we'll emerge from the shadows to reconvene in downtown and get down and dirty."
Zombie: Prisoners' Rights "Recreate 68" Protest - mini report Recreate 68 scheduled a "major" protest for "prisoners' rights" on Monday afternoon. The event seriously fizzled, with perhaps 200 protesters at most.
Zombie: The Denver Games - Opening Ceremony The PJM/LGF/zombietime photo team had not yet arrived in Denver, but luckily fellow photojournalist and LGF/zombietime stringer "El Marco" was on hand to record the day's goings-on.
LGF, PJ Media, Zombie Team Up for Democratic Convention Coverage Little Green Footballs and Pajamas Media are joining forces to send the undead creature known only as Zombie to the Convention, for the kind of exclusive, slightly bent coverage only an undead creature can provide.
Word had disseminated among the protest crowd that there was to be an "Anti-capitalist march" as well as a "Meet-up for Fundraiser Disruption" jointly announced by Recreate 68 and DNC Disruption 08, two radical groups dedicated to causing problems at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. A notice online said, "Interested parties will gather at 6pm at civic center park" where "top-secret information on a couple of the choicest fundraisers and parties in Denver" was to be handed out. Then, "at the appointed time monday night, we'll emerge from the shadows to reconvene in downtown and get down and dirty." JPG So every anarchist and ne'er-do-well in Denver gathered in Civic Center Park at 6pm sharp, looking for action. JPG Everybody milled around for over an hour, wondering what was supposed to happen. Glenn Spagnulo and Mark Cohen, the head honchos of Recreate 68, weren't revealing anything, even though many people pestered them with questions. JPG An unfortunate side effect of announcing your riot on the Internet is that the police can see the announcement as well. As a result, squads of cops milled through the crowd, looking for troublemakers. JPG Some of the radicals had collected urine in bags (seen at the bottom of this photo) to later throw at the police (seen at the top). JPG Finally a horn was sounded and a jolt of excitement moved through the crowd. and started heading in the direction of downtown Denver. JPG But the police were obviously on strict orders to not let these rioters anywhere even near the fundraisers and delegate parties being held in upscale hotels and restaurants just a few blocks away. They formed a blockade to stop the procession from advancing. The first confrontation between the cops and the anarchists was very brief -- less than half a minute, with decisive victory for the cops, who drove the anarchists (and hapless photographers) back.
It was during this first encounter that someone (a policeman trying to drive back the onrushing crowd, presumbly) let loose a blast of pepper spray, some of which got in my left eye and throat. JPG The anarchists tried to turn around and leave the park from a different direction, and bumped smack into a smaller and more easily overwhelmed cluster of police. The first screams and thwacks of violence were heard and everyone came running. JPG It seems everyone had a camera -- there was no clear distinction between rioter, journalist and bystander. JPG Someone had gotten into a scuffle with the police and was being arrested. Everyone screamed "Police brutality" and tried to stop the arrest. Reinforcement police formed a protective cordon around the arresting officers. JPG Here's the first arrestee, face down on the asphalt, being handcuffed. JPG A substantial number of the cops were policewomen, which surprised me. JPG By now huge number of reinforcements had shown up (on both sides of the conflict), and police took decisive action to retake the street and keep the crowd contained within Civic Center Park. JPG Some of the anarchists formed a line and began jumping up and down and chanting. JPG The police formed a riot line that was by now at least ten times as large as their original squad. JPG Faced with an impenetrable wall, the anarchists en masse suddenly turned and sprinted across the park and out the other side into the streets. It wasn't the direction that was originally planned, but I think the idea was to loop back around to to fundraisers and delegate parties once we were free of the cordon. JPG The crowd of people participating in or documenting the riot had also grown considerably, and included many people, such as this young woman (and myself) who were not actual anarchists, but rather just observing what was happening. Little did we know that we were getting ourselves into a pickle. JPG Because when the crowd reached the end of the next block, a row of well-armed mounted police and riot squad members were waiting for us -- as if they had known ahead of time we were going to run in this direction. JPG I tried to slip past the line of cops, to transition from being an observer within the riot to being on the outside looking in -- but no such luck -- the police would not let me by, despite my entreaties and insistence that I was not one of the anarchists. JPG Soon the first sprinters reached the police blockade, and were similarly rebuffed. JPG Within a few seconds several hundred rioters ran straight into the police wall and were driven back. Behind us, the pursuing police would not let us exit the other direction. No way out, as the city block we were on (I believe it was 15th Street betwen Cleveland and Court) was lined with closed office buildings that were also inaccessible and impenetrable. JPG Denied their primary targets, the anarchists made do with what they had: some began spraypainting slogans on the walls. JPG This woman, who had been standing near me, got a full blast of pepper spray right in the eyes. JPG The crowd roiled and seethed, but had nowhere to go. JPG Little by little, the cops inched forward from both sides, squeezing us in a vise. JPG They soon had us confined on one side of the street. JPG No amount of cajoling could convince the cops to let anyone through. JPG One of my fellow internees had run into some kind of violence (I didn't see what) and was pouring out blood. JPG Someone else had gotten teargassed pretty badly, and some anarchist medics were trying to help him with water and eye-wash solutions. JPG Other people were not in physical pain but instead were having panic attacks and freaking out. JPG As night fell, some of the rioters tried to convince the police they were harmless by sitting down en masse and flashing peace signs. The police were not letting anyone out of our human cage. JPG Recreate 68 leader Glenn Spagnulo was with us, and took the opportunity to give interviews to some radical media types. JPG Every time I tried to escape, I was physically driven back. At this stage I was quite sure I was going to be arrested along with everyone else and spend the rest of the convention in jail. JPG Finally, after who-knows-how long, a cry of joy went up: They were releasing people! We all raised our arms above our heads to show we meant no harm (often accompanied by peace signs), and we slowly moved toward a gap in the riot line. JPG I had no idea what precipitated this reprieve, but I was as relieved as anyone that we (at least some of us) were being let go scot-free. JPG Once out in the freedom of downtown Denver, many of the former rioters let out whoops of joy. I was torn between hanging around to see what more happened, and leaving, in order to file this report.
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