As political activists Thebes and I were immediately interested in the Occupy Wallstreet movement. Last month we bought camping supplies and got donations from fellow Taosenos to bring up to the Occupy Denver protesters. That weekend they were having a march and we wanted to participate.
We drove up Friday night and got to Denver around midnight. While looking for a cheap hotel we drove by the protesters huddled together and some sleeping on the sidewalks. They looked cold so we decided to stop right there and donate our supplies. We had sleeping bags, wool blankets, a tent, warm clothes and emergency blankets. I handed a -20 degree sleeping bag to a young man and he started crying which made me cry. Then we both laughed and hugged. It felt so good to donate supplies.
Afterward we found our cheap hotel and settled in for the night. Since Thebes has Crohn’s we decided it was best not to camp out. The next morning we prepped for the march. Here’s me in the hotel before the march writing phone numbers on my leg in case I got arrested. You’re supposed to write numbers down where you can call for bail money and the local legal aid number.
The protesters were occupying a park near the Capital building. There were about 2,500 protesters in the march.
We marched through the financial district. People in high rises opened their windows and watched us. At one point we were walking down a sidewalk weaving in and out of weekend shoppers.
Thebes decided to document the event so didn’t dress up. He put up a Flickr page for his pics.
I on the other hand went in full costume as Lady Liberty. My outfit was quite the hit and lots of protesters wanted to take my picture.
Thebes came up with the slogan for the back of the sign.
There were several sculptures in the downtown area that I found inspiring. Here’s one that reminds me of a flower:
This Black Block Anarchist climbed up a ton of stuff to give marchers the fist of solidarity.
I wasn’t the only one in costume. The Robin Hoods showed up.
After the march protesters gathered in front of the Capital building. The scene was pretty mellow. People were taking turns speaking and talked about different upcoming actions like Move Your Money Day. The police had been nearby the whole day but it was during this part where they really amped it up. Riot police started showing up. They had tear gas, mace and rubber bullets. They were guarding the steps of the building. Some protesters argued that their permit let them on the steps but the police disagreed. Though the mood was tense nothing happened at this point and the protesters eventually moved back across the street to the park.
During this time some of the protesters decided to do an act of civil disobedience and set up tents. Protesters are allowed to sleep on the sidewalk but camping is not permitted. It’s getting cold so protesters want this rule to change.
The illegal tents:
They don’t look too scary do they? Well the proverbial shit hit the fan when the police realized there were tents set up. Cop after cop showed up and started putting on full riot gear.
One of the protesters. Doesn’t look threatening does he? Well apparently the police thought we looked like a threat because about 200 of them got in formation to tear down the tents.
Police tore down the tents which legally they could do. But then they maced the crowd, beat protesters with batons and shot rubber bullets.
This man was in a tree taking pictures of the mayhem when he was shot down with rubber bullets:
Photo courtesy of this Daily Kos post.
Thebes and I missed the violence. We had gone back to the hotel to rest and eat. We checked Twitter and saw shit was going down so hurried back. By the time we returned the shootings and beatings had stopped and the police were standing guard around the patch of park where the tents had been erected.
The police then took the various camping supplies off the sidewalks (remember they legally could be there) and hauled them out into the now blocked off street. They claimed it was all “abandoned property” and could legally haul it away. During this protesters were claiming their property-that’s my sleeping bag, that’s my guitar etc. but their claims were ignored.
The scene was intense. Police dressed up as stormtroopers are mighty scary looking and knowing that any minute they could just choose to give you a beat down is even scarier. But I believe in this movement so am glad we came.
This protest sign sums up my feelings of the trip:
