another day of denver protests

_posts/2020-05-30-denver-protests.md

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ description: >-
     Craziness
 ---
 
+# Saturday, May 30th
+
 We went to the May 30th protest at Civic Center Park. We were there for a few
 hours during the day, leaving around 4pm. I would describe the character of the
 protest as being energetic, angry, but contained. A huge crowd moved in and
@@ -13,8 +15,7 @@ around civic center, chanting and being rowdy, but clearly was being led.
 After a last hurrah at the pavilion it seemed that the organized event was
 "over". We stayed a while longer, and eventually headed back home. I don't feel
 that people really left the park at the same time we did; mostly everyone just
-dispersed around the park and found somewhere to keep hanging out. Again, we
-left around 4 pm.
+dispersed around the park and found somewhere to keep hanging out.
 
 Tonight there has been an 8pm curfew. The police lined up on the north side of
 the park, armored and clearly ready for action. We watched all of this on the
@@ -26,8 +27,8 @@ between them, occasionally earning themselves some teargas.
 
 The police began pushing forward just before 8 a little, but began pushing in
 earnest just after 8, after the howling. They would advance, wait, advance, wait
-again. An armada of police, ambulance, and fire trucks followed the line as it
-advanced.
+again. An armada of police cars, ambulance, and fire trucks followed the line as
+it advanced.
 
 The police did not give the protesters anywhere to go except into Capital Hill,
 southeast of Civic Center Park. We watched as a huge crowd marched past the
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ generally dumpster fires, generally placed such that they were away from
 buildings, clearly being done more to be annoying than to accomplish anything
 specific. A very large set of fires was started a block south of us, in the
 middle of the street. The fire department was there within a few minutes to put
-that one out, before moving on.
+those out, before moving on.
 
 From the corner of my eye, sitting back on the stoop, I noticed our neighbors
 running into their backyard. We ran after them, and they told us there was a
@@ -56,8 +57,8 @@ ran inside to grab some of our own. By the time we got to the backyard the fire
 was only smouldering, and the fire department was coming down the alley. We
 scurried back into the backyard. A few minutes later I peeked my head around the
 corner, into the alley, to see what happening. I was greeted by at least two
-police in riot gear, guarding the dumpster as the fire deparment worked. They
-saw me but didn't move, and I quickly went back to the yard.
+police in riot gear, guarding the dumpster as the fire department worked. They
+saw me but didn't move, and I quickly retreated back to the yard.
 
 Talking to our neighbor later we found out she had seen a group of about 10
 people back there, and watched them jump the fence into another backyard in
@@ -75,15 +76,15 @@ are present but not really doing anything.
 It's hard to get a good view of everything though. All we have is livestreams on
 youtube to go on at this point. There's a couple intrepid amateur reporters out
 there, getting into the crowds and streaming events as they happen. Right now
-we're watching people moving down Lincoln towards Civic Center park, some of
+we're watching people moving down Lincoln towards Civic Center Park, some of
 them trying to smash windows of buildings as they go.
 
 The violence of these protests is going to be the major story of tonight, I know
-that already. That I know of there's been 3 police injured, and some broken
-windows. I do believe the the tactic of pushing everyone into Cap Hill had the
-desired effect of reducing looting (again, as far as I can tell so far), but at
-that expense of those who live here who have to endure latent tear gas, dumpster
-fires, and sirens all through the night.
+that already. That I know of there's been 3 police injured, some broken
+windows, and quite a bit of graffiti. I do believe the the tactic of pushing
+everyone into Cap Hill had the desired effect of reducing looting (again, as far
+as I can tell so far), but at that expense of those who live here who have to
+endure latent tear gas, dumpster fires, and sirens all through the night.
 
 Even now, at midnight, from what I can see from my porch and from these live
 streams, the protesters are not violent. At worst they are guilty of a lot of
@@ -94,11 +95,11 @@ of those out right now are civily disobeying an unjust curfew, trying to keep
 the energy of the movement alive.
 
 My thoughts about these things are complicated. When turning a corner on the
-street I'm far more afraid to see the police than other protesters. The fires
-have been annoying, and stupid, and unhelpful, but were never threatening. The
-violence is stupid, though I don't shed many tears for a looted Chili's or Papa
-Johns. The police have actually shown more restraint than I expected in all of
-this, though funneling the protest into a residential neighborhood was an
+street I'm far more afraid to see the police than to see other protesters. The
+fires have been annoying, and stupid, and unhelpful, but were never threatening.
+The violence is stupid, though I don't shed many tears for a looted Chili's or
+Papa Johns. The police have actually shown more restraint than I expected in all
+of this, though funneling the protest into a residential neighborhood was an
 incredibly stupid move. Could the protesters not have just stayed in the park?
 Yes, the park would likely have been turned into an encampment, but it was
 already heading into that direction due to Covid-19. Overall, this night didn't
@@ -106,5 +107,55 @@ need to be so hard, but Denver handled this well.
 
 But, it's only 1am, and the night has a long way to go. Things could still get
 worse. Even now I'm watching people trying to break into the supreme court
-building. Civic Center appears to be very populated again, and the police are
-very present there again. It's possible I may eat my words.
+building. Civic Center Park appears to be very populated again, and the police
+are very present there again. It's possible I may eat my words.
+
+# Monday, June 1st
+
+Yesterday was quite a bit more tame than the craziness Saturday. I woke up
+Sunday morning feeling antsy, and rode my bike around to see the damage. I had a
+long conversation with a homeless man named Gary in Civic Center Park. He was
+pissed, and had a lot to say about the "suburban kids" destroying the park he
+and many others live in, causing it to be shut down and tear gassed. The
+protesters saw it as a game, according to him, but it was life and death for the
+homeless; three of his guys got beat up in the street, and neither police nor
+protesters stopped it.
+
+Many people had shown up to the park early to help clean it up. Apart from the
+graffiti, which was also in the process of being cleaned, it was hard to tell
+anything had actually happened. Gary had some words about them as well, that
+they were only there for the gram and some pats on the back, but once they left
+his life would be back as it was. I could feel that, but I also appreciated that
+people were cognizant that damage was being done and were willing to do
+something about it.
+
+I rode around 16th street mall, down colfax, and back up 13th, looking to see if
+anything had happened. For the most part there was no damage, save the graffiti.
+A mediterranean restaurant got its windows smashed, as well as the Office Depot.
+The restaurant was unfortunate, Office Depot will be ok.
+
+The protest yesterday was much more peaceful. The cops were nowhere to be found
+when curfew hit, but did eventually show up when the protest moved down Colfax.
+They had lined the streets around their precinct building there, but for the
+most part the protesters just kept walking. This is when the "violence" started.
+The cops moved into the street, forming a line across Colfax behind the
+protesters. Police cars and vans started moving. As the protest turned back,
+presumably to head back to the capitol lawn, it ran into the riot line.
+
+Predictably, everyone scattered. The cat-and-mouse game had begun, which meant
+dumpster fires, broken windows, tear gas, and all the rest. Watching the whole
+thing it was extremely clear to us, though not the news casters, unfortunately,
+that if the police hadn't moved out into Colfax nothing would have ever
+happened. Instead, the news casters lamented that people were bringing things
+like helmets, gas masks, traffic cones, shields, etc... and so were clearly not there
+"for the right reasons".
+
+The thing that the news casters couldn't seem to grasp was that the police
+attempting to control these situations are what are catalyzing them in the first
+place. These are protests _against_ the police, they cannot take place under the
+terms the police choose. If the police were not here setting terms, but instead
+working with the peaceful protesters (the vast, vast majority) to quell the
+violence, no one would be here with helmets, gas masks, traffic cones,
+shields... But instead the protesters feel they need to protect themselves in
+order to be heard, and the police feel they have to exercise their power to
+maintain control, and so the situation degrades.