October 15, 2011 03:03 AM UTC

I Stood With Occupy Denver

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• by: AndrewBateman

(Timestamped first person account of last night’s #OccupyDenver eviction, worth a read & Andrew says he’ll respond to comments following Occupy assembly today. – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl)

By Andrew Bateman

Candidate for State House

Colorado District 41

www.BatemanForColorado.com

I was with the crowds in Lincoln Park from the afternoon yesterday until the last arrest was made this morning. This was not my first time visiting the protest, but it was certainly be the most memorable.

I stood with them because the right to free speech and assembly is, by far, the most sacred of our constitutional values.

I do not agree with everything that the group stands for, much less each individual within the group, but if we do not all stand behind them and support their right to protest, we are all sacrificing something.

And to be clear, we cannot pretend that this was about camping, nor can we allow others to frame the debate that way. The tents were removed from the park nearly an hour before the arrests began and well before police started forcefully removing individuals from the public space. Most of the arrests took place after 5am, when the park was supposed to have re-opened. People who were arrested and charged were not sleeping in tents, they were standing or sitting on the sidewalk with signs. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, people camped out on the sidewalk waiting for the new iPhone 4s were undisturbed.

Freedom of Speech and the Freedom to Assemble does not have a curfew. If someone wishes to protest at 3am, they have just as much right to do so as someone who protests at 3pm.

Full firsthand account after the jump…

I went downtown yesterday with the intention of being an observer and, if necessary, to provide first aid to injured protesters. I did not intend to be a part of the protest itself, but to stand with them in solidarity.

At 10:40pm,

twenty minutes before the 11pm deadline to vacate, I held a press conference along with John Fleck, President of the Denver Area Labor Federation and Dwayne Stephens, President of the Colorado AFL-CIO. Together, we expressed support for the protesters and their right to remain if they choose.

At 2:45am,

an unmarked Chevy SUV with police lights pulled up to the corner of the park farthest from the protesters and announced that, pursuant to CRS 18-9-117, Lincoln Park was closed from the hours of 11am – 5pm. Anyone remaining in the park at 3:15am would be arrested and any property would be seized.

This announcement was repeated continuously until 3:15, when hundreds of officers in riot gear from the Colorado State Patrol (CSP), the Denver Sheriff, and the Denver Police Department (DPD) marched in formation from their staging area (a parking garage at 14th and Lincoln), down to Lincoln Park.

One of my biggest objections

to the police action was that the officers in riot gear did not have their name or identification displayed anywhere on their uniform, and all of them had been instructed not to speak or respond to protesters in any way. Many protesters, who believed that a particular officer was being excessively forceful, requested the officer’s name so they could file a complaint against them. They did not receive a response from the officer or the supervisors standing behind the line.

I experienced this myself

when I was trying to film officers dragging protesters away from the kitchen area. As I tried to hold up my camera to get a good shot, an officer struck me with his baton, first to the side of my head, behind my right ear, and than shifted his grip and struck me in the genitals. The Denver Post camera crew was standing right behind me when it happened and filmed my attempts to request the officer’s name and badge number, which was unsuccessful.

I will be filing a formal grievance with the state patrol at a later time. Today, I am focused on telling the story.

By 4:30am,

All of the tents had been removed, mostly destroyed by CSP officer and thrown into the back of dump trucks operated by CDOT.

With all of the tents gone, but protesters still remaining inside the park, many believed that the police would begin withdrawing in preparation for the park’s re-opening at 5am.

Instead, one of the officers announced to the group that the first aid and kitchen structures were required to be deconstructed within fifteen minutes.

At 4:45am,

The SUV which had been repeating the announcements all night, changed the language to now say that the park was closed indefinitely and that everyone was required to leave.

The remaining protesters had formed a circle around the kitchen, determined to protect it. They were seated on the ground with arms locked.

At about 5am,

long after the original fifteen minute deadline, and at the point when the park was originally supposed to re-open to the public, Police reformed the lines and began forcefully shoving protesters, reporters, legal observers and medics all the way across the street into civic center park, well out of range to closely observe and document what happened next.

A second line of police approached the protesters seated around the kitchen and began to drag them, one by one, away from the kitchen against their will. Protesters did not actively resist or retaliate in any way, but also did not cooperate.

These protesters were handcuffed and lifted onto the back of motorized carts, which transported them to the holding facility constructed between the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Public Library.

The first aid and kitchen structures when then destroyed by CSP officers and thrown into the back of CDOT dump trucks, along with all of the donated food and medical supplies within them.

By 7am,

Protesters still present in the park were continuing to be arrested.

When I attempted to follow one of the arrested protesters to film what was happening, I was by a line of CSP officers who were obstructing the south third of Civic Center Park, preventing me from following the arrested individual. Instead, I had to walk all the way around the park to reach the holding facility. The police had erected a barrier along 14th ave and I could not get any closer, but I was able to observe and document some of the procedures. Officers in the holding area were continuing the policy of not identifying themselves when requested.

Final Points

Until 3am, the protest was nothing more than a peaceful demonstration on public land.

When the decision was made to send in hundred of riot police, cdot crews, paramedics, and countless other personal (at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars to the taxpayers), it then became a massive obstruction to the morning traffic. Broadway and Colfax were both closed until 6am and Broadway remained closed until 7:30am.

The state action was expensive and unnecessary, to say nothing of the fact that it was a violation of the first amendment right to assembly.

At the Press Conference last night, CSP Chief Col. James Wolfinbarger said that the purpose of the action was to have the park ready to be open to the public at 5am. Yet, the park has remained closed to everyone, protester or not, long after the 5am point passed.

The Sad Conclusion

Elected officials, celebrities, and others who had previously expressed support for the movement and participated by staying in the park overnight all left before the police action began. I was discouraged to see how few candidates or elected officials were willing to remain at or near Lincoln Park and witness the events. If our representatives are unwilling to stand by their people at the most difficult times, they are not truly our representatives.

By Andrew Bateman

Candidate for State House

Colorado District 41

www.BatemanForColorado.com