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title: >- |
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Denver Protests |
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description: >- |
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Craziness |
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We went to the May 30th protest at Civic Center Park. We were there for a few |
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hours during the day, leaving around 4pm. I would describe the character of the |
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protest as being energetic, angry, but contained. A huge crowd moved in and |
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around civic center, chanting and being rowdy, but clearly was being led. |
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After a last hurrah at the pavilion it seemed that the organized event was |
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"over". We stayed a while longer, and eventually headed back home. I don't feel |
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that people really left the park at the same time we did; mostly everyone just |
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dispersed around the park and found somewhere to keep hanging out. Again, we |
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left around 4 pm. |
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Tonight there has been an 8pm curfew. The police lined up on the north side of |
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the park, armored and clearly ready for action. We watched all of this on the |
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live news stations, gritting our teeth through the comentary of their reporters. |
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As the police stood there, the clock counting down to 8, the protesters grew |
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more and more irritated. They taunted the police, and formed a line of their |
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own. The braver (or more dramatic) protesters walked around in the no-man's land |
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between them, occasionally earning themselves some teargas. |
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The police began pushing forward just before 8 a little, but began pushing in |
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earnest just after 8, after the howling. They would advance, wait, advance, wait |
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again. An armada of police, ambulance, and fire trucks followed the line as it |
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advanced. |
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The police did not give the protesters anywhere to go except into Capital Hill, |
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southeast of Civic Center Park. We watched as a huge crowd marched past the |
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front of our house, chanting their call and response: "What's his name?" "GEORGE |
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FLOYD". The feeling wasn't of violence still, just anger. Indignant at a curfew |
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aimed at quelling a movement, the protesters simply kept moving. The police were |
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never far behind. |
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We sat on our front stoop with our neighbors and watched the night unfold. I |
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don't think a single person in our building or the buildings to the left and |
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right of us hadn't gone to protest today in some capacity. We came back from our |
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various outings and sat out front, watching the crowds and patrolling up and |
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down the street to keep tabs on things. |
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Around 9pm the fires started. We saw them on the news, and in person. They were |
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generally dumpster fires, generally placed such that they were away from |
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buildings, clearly being done more to be annoying than to accomplish anything |
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specific. A very large set of fires was started a block south of us, in the |
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middle of the street. The fire department was there within a few minutes to put |
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that one out, before moving on. |
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From the corner of my eye, sitting back on the stoop, I noticed our neighbors |
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running into their backyard. We ran after them, and they told us there was a |
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dumpster fire in our alley. They were running with fire extinguishers, and we |
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ran inside to grab some of our own. By the time we got to the backyard the fire |
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was only smouldering, and the fire department was coming down the alley. We |
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scurried back into the backyard. A few minutes later I peeked my head around the |
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corner, into the alley, to see what happening. I was greeted by at least two |
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police in riot gear, guarding the dumpster as the fire deparment worked. They |
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saw me but didn't move, and I quickly went back to the yard. |
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Talking to our neighbor later we found out she had seen a group of about 10 |
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people back there, and watched them jump the fence into another backyard in |
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order to escape the alley. She thinks they, or some subset of them, started the |
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fire. She looked one in the eye, she says, and didn't get the impression they |
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were trying to cause damage, just to make a statement. |
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The fires stopped not long after that, it seems. We're pretty sure the fire |
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trucks were just driving up and down the main roads, looking into alleys and |
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stopping all fires they could find. In all this time the police didn't do much. |
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They would hold a line, but never chase anyone. Even now, as I write this around |
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midnight, people are still out, meandering around in small groups, and police |
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are present but not really doing anything. |
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It's hard to get a good view of everything though. All we have is livestreams on |
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youtube to go on at this point. There's a couple intrepid amateur reporters out |
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there, getting into the crowds and streaming events as they happen. Right now |
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we're watching people moving down Lincoln towards Civic Center park, some of |
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them trying to smash windows of buildings as they go. |
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The violence of these protests is going to be the major story of tonight, I know |
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that already. That I know of there's been 3 police injured, and some broken |
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windows. I do believe the the tactic of pushing everyone into Cap Hill had the |
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desired effect of reducing looting (again, as far as I can tell so far), but at |
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that expense of those who live here who have to endure latent tear gas, dumpster |
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fires, and sirens all through the night. |
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Even now, at midnight, from what I can see from my porch and from these live |
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streams, the protesters are not violent. At worst they are guilty of a lot of |
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loitering. The graffiti, the smashed windows, the injured officers, all of these |
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things will be held up as examples of the anarchy and violence inherent to the |
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protesters. But I don't think that's an honest picture. The vast, vast majority |
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of those out right now are civily disobeying an unjust curfew, trying to keep |
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the energy of the movement alive. |
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My thoughts about these things are complicated. When turning a corner on the |
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street I'm far more afraid to see the police than other protesters. The fires |
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have been annoying, and stupid, and unhelpful, but were never threatening. The |
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violence is stupid, though I don't shed many tears for a looted Chili's or Papa |
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Johns. The police have actually shown more restraint than I expected in all of |
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this, though funneling the protest into a residential neighborhood was an |
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incredibly stupid move. Could the protesters not have just stayed in the park? |
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Yes, the park would likely have been turned into an encampment, but it was |
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already heading into that direction due to Covid-19. Overall, this night didn't |
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need to be so hard, but Denver handled this well. |
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But, it's only 1am, and the night has a long way to go. Things could still get |
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worse. Even now I'm watching people trying to break into the supreme court |
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building. Civic Center appears to be very populated again, and the police are |
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very present there again. It's possible I may eat my words. |
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