On Wednesday eleven people were arrested while protesting in solidarity with folks in Baltimore over police abuse, sparked by the death of Freddie Gray. Police say that one of the arrest was for felony assault of a police officer after; that resulted when police claim a protester knocked a cop off his motorcycle. According to the Denver Post:
A protest in downtown Denver on Wednesday evening turned violent and police used force and pepper spray on demonstrators.
Eleven adults were arrested, police said: Eight men and three women.
Two of the arrests were felonies for assault on police and robbery. The rest of the arrests were on misdemeanors of resisting police, disobedience of lawful orders, obstructing roadways, and interference, police said on Twitter.
The confrontation began shortly after 7 p.m. About 100 people were protesting police officers’ use of force in incidents around the country. The protest rounded the corner along Colfax Avenue and turned south on Broadway on the edge of Civic Center.
The scene of an anti-police protest, where demonstrators were pepper sprayed in Denver on April 28, blocking Broadway and Colfax. (Joe Rubino, The Denver Post)
A line of police officers on motorcycles shadowed the protesters as they neared Broadway. Officials say police employed force only after one of the protestors assaulted one of the officers in the escort, knocking him off of his motorcycle as people moved down Broadway.
“An officer got knocked of his motorcycle as he was basically patrolling and that was lead to the assault charge arrest,” Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. “That is what stirred up a lot of things at that point.”
At least five protesters — including one with a bloody face — were taken into custody on the scene as police in riot gear with military style weapons, sticks and pepper spray cans flooded Broadway, shutting it down.
Luckily for us there is video of this protest and one such video was emailed to me – which is what put this story on my radar – and it proves, IMO, that this officer dumped himself off his motorcycle. See this video:
The video doesn’t show any protestor pushing, pulling or touching this officer at all. It appears that he did in fact dump himself off the motorcycle. It’s also clear that the jackboot thugs near by went into full police state mode once they saw their buddy fall off his bike. Yet, the media reported it like this:
From my perspective it seems the cops in riot gear were looking for any reason to get aggressive with protesters. Once their buddy fell off the bike, they seized the moment and started thumping skulls. Consider making a call (720-913-2000), comment or leave a review on the Denver Police Department Facebook page. Let them know that arresting peaceful people is wrong and that their officers need to stop escalating situations.
was born and raised in Wisconsin, traveled the country in a RV dubbed "MARV" and is an advocate of a voluntary society, where force is replaced with voluntary interactions. He's partaken in projects such as, Motorhome Diaries, Liberty on Tour, Free Keene, Free Talk Live and is the Founder of CopBlock.org.
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