Reflections from Denver
By Natasha Wist
Editor’s note: Natasha Wist of Hollister was one of several
local residents in Denver, Colo., last week for the Democratic
National Convention. Wist, who describes herself as an
”
activist grandmother,
”
wrote the following reflections upon her return home.
Sunday, Aug. 24 was the scene of the first big demonstration in
Denver. People gathered at the Civic Center Park across from the
capitol and the march proceeded down a main street to the Pepsi
Center which was preparing for the arrival of delegates the
following day. Speakers at the park included Cynthia McKinney and
her running mate, Rosa Clemente of the Green Party, Ron Kovic, the
paraplegic war vet, Catherine Cleaver, Fred Hampton Jr. and Ward
Churchill, names made famous in the 1960s.
Reflections from Denver
By Natasha Wist
Editor’s note: Natasha Wist of Hollister was one of several local residents in Denver, Colo., last week for the Democratic National Convention. Wist, who describes herself as an “activist grandmother,” wrote the following reflections upon her return home.
Sunday, Aug. 24 was the scene of the first big demonstration in Denver. People gathered at the Civic Center Park across from the capitol and the march proceeded down a main street to the Pepsi Center which was preparing for the arrival of delegates the following day. Speakers at the park included Cynthia McKinney and her running mate, Rosa Clemente of the Green Party, Ron Kovic, the paraplegic war vet, Catherine Cleaver, Fred Hampton Jr. and Ward Churchill, names made famous in the 1960s.
The march of several thousand people proceeded peacefully to the Pepsi Center with many Denver and out-of-town police and security. When the demonstrators got to the environs of the Pepsi Center there was some confusion about turning back or going around the center and back to town. These situations where the police are hemming in the demonstrators and shouting contradictory orders are the cause of violence, as was obvious this week in St. Paul, Minn., at the Republican National Convention. Fortunately the police decided to open the route back to the city and this demonstration remained peaceful.
The next day a smaller number of people marched from the park to the courthouse with signs saying, “Restore Our Civil Rights,” “Restore Habeus Corpus” and “Release Political Prisoners.” It was also a call to shut down Guantanamo where torture has been practiced. There was a demonstration of water boarding torture on the courthouse patio.
The third day the march was called Procession for the Future and consisted of 20 amazing puppets representing Truth (Amy Goodman), Justice (Rosa Parks), Indigenous Rights (Doris LeDuc) and Ending Nuclear Arms (a Hiroshima maiden), among others.
All the demonstrations I attended were peaceful despite the over-presence of police. I talked with a delegate to the convention who was a press correspondent from WOMR-FM in Cape Cod, Mass. She told me that the Sheraton Hotel was shut down for five hours while we demonstrators walked up the mall. Delegates were told that there were 5,000 police in the streets because “500 anarchists had gone off parade route and were threatening to break windows” so no one could enter or leave the hotel. I was there. It was a peaceful march on a designated route.
I talked to people on the streets in downtown Denver and one woman told me she could not get any of her friends to come to town with her because the major news media had been warning everyone to stay away because of the “anarchists and rioters” in the streets of Denver.
A dramatic street theater scene orchestrated by the Iraq Vets Against the War was held on a downtown corner. Iraq vets dressed in uniform and other vets dressed as Iraqi civilians gave a taste of what goes on when houses are raided and families are arrested. It was terrifying to my eyes and ears.
The only arrest I read about in the paper was of a Code Pink woman who was demonstrating near the Pepsi Center. She was knocked down by a police baton and arrested. Because of the overwhelming presence of cameras of all types from the I Witness group and many spectators on the streets, the whole incident was filmed. When the chief of police of Denver saw the film he remarked, “Well, that doesn’t look good.” He was probably thinking of the recent multi-million dollar settlement that was awarded to demonstrators in New York after a trial that dragged on for five years in which police were shown to have lied about the charges that were filed against these people.
I felt empathy for the police as they seemed to be more afraid of us than we were of them. In Denver and in Minneapolis there are “fusion centers” where the local police are in communication with and advised by the FBI and the Homeland Security people who have been brought in from other states. This also creates a climate of paranoia and intimidation which is part of the agenda.
Today I watchd the films from the streets of Minneapolis-St. Paul and saw the violence being perpetrated at the RNC. The police talked about “pre-emptive raids” on the mostly peaceful demonstrators in this city. This phrase is too close to “pre-emptive strikes” of the Iraq debacle for my comfort. In these raids, peaceful groups such as Food Not Bombs had their gathering places raided and when common household items were found, such as knives and rope, the demonstrators were labeled “anarchists.” National Lawyers’ Guild spokesman Bruce Nestor said the tactics were “designed to heighten public fear” and send the message to the public, “don’t get involved.” Colleen Rowley, a former FBI agent, said non-violent civil disobedience is now designated as “terrorism.” To be charged with “terrorism” takes away all our civil rights as was shown after 9-11 when 800 people were detained without rights to habeus corpus and none of them was ever charged with a terrorist act. Another label that was used in Minneapolis-St. Paul was a PC Riot which means “possible cause riot.” This is a denial of our constitutional right to be considered innocent of any crime until proven guilty by a jury of our peers. In other words, we are arresting you because we suspect you might do something illegal in the future. What kind of democracy is this?
The most outrageous brutality and arrests were made when police knocked to the ground two reporters, smashed the woman’s face into the cement, stomped on the backof the male reporter and then dragged them off despite their telling the police that they were legitimate news people. The filming of this incident can be seen on the “Democracy Now” Web site on the Internet.
We, the people, must exercise vigilance and critical thinking and the courage to protest in these times of increasing FBI, Homeland Security and police control of our freedoms. Do we want to end up like China, Russia and other countries who put state power above the civil rights of individuals?
