[SaLifHoq]

GQ: The Mess We Made
An Oral History of the 1968 Convention

By HILARY ELKINS, SARAH GOLDSTEIN, LAURENCE LOWE, TRENT MACNAMARA, ALEX PROVAN, MAXANDRA SHORT, and CHRISTOPHER SWETALA
—

Compiled by David Gargill

In August 1968, a party divided over race and political tactics and a hugely unpopular war (sound familiar?) erupted in rage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

GQ interviewed more than seventy five people who were there in '68, from former presidential candidates to activists of all stripes to retired Chicago cops, and asked them to re-create what took place over the days of August 22 to 30. Among the participants are: Dan Rather, then a floor reporter for CBS News; John Berendt, who long before he went on to write Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil worked as an associate editor for Esquire and was charged with making sure the magazine's reporters (William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, and Jean Genet) didn't get lost among the chaos in Chicago; Donald Rumsfeld, then a young congressman from Illinois who was there as part of a Republican "listening post" organized by Pat Buchanan, who also takes part in the oral history. The list also includes George McGovern, Walter Mondale, Gore Vidal, Harold Ickes, Julian Bond, Tom Hayden, Dick Gregory, and Shirley MacLaine, among many others.

This excerpted highlight describes the events of the third day of the convention, Wednesday, August 28, when the violence in Chicago reached a climax, in what is now referred to as the Battle of Michigan Avenue. The excerpt begins in the early morning of the 28th, as protesters gather outside the Conrad Hilton, where convention delegates are staying. It continues throughout the next 24 hours, taking in the events at the convention hall, where the peace plank (a commitment to pulling troops out of Vietnam that divided the party) is defeated, and then the violence that explodes in the city as police and National Guard troops clash with protesters on the streets.

Wednesday, August 28, 1968

1:00 a.m. Police and National Guard set up perimeter around Conrad Hilton.

George Hitzman (National Guardsman): When we were called up, the hippies were really going wild. We pulled up our transports in the park across from the Hilton. Oh, they were really giving us a good mouth job, all kinds of insults. They were calling us the baby killers and all that. They would come walking down the line and stick little daisies in the ri?es. Once we got into formation, though, all of a sudden they weren't so brave. Then we shut them up.

3:30 a.m. An army vet in crowd at Grant Park grabs microphone and asks delegates in their hotel to blink their lights in support of the protesters outside.

Peter Yarrow (folksinger, Peter, Paul and Mary): I put on my three-piece suit and went into the convention hall and started buttonholing people. I went to Birch Bayh, who I had worked with before, and I said to him, "You can't expect me to support you from here on out unless you support this peace plank." And from the look on his face, I knew my ability to use Peter, Paul and Mary's history of campaigning was going to be very minimal. I went back to the Hilton that night feeling very discouraged. I went up to my room, which overlooked Grant Park, and I heard someone down below saying into a microphone, "Delegates, if you are with us, flash your lights!" So I went over and started flipping the light switch up and down, and then I heard a huge cheer come up from the crowd. I realized that the wall of this hotel looked like a Christmas tree.

So I went downstairs with my guitar in hand, and at that exact same moment, Mary [Travers] made the same decision. We went down together, and in front of the hotel were two linesthe Chicago police and the National Guard, their guns in a ready position.

Someone thrust these two microphones in front of us, and Mary looked at me, and I said, "Sing, Mary!" So we started singing "If I Had a Hammer," and then they said, "Sing 'Puff, the Magic Dragon.'" Underneath a helmet was a 19-year-old kid who had grown up on "Puff, the Magic Dragon." It was absurdity.

12:02 p.m. Session reconvenes. Mahalia Jackson sings national anthem, then "Ain't Gonna Study War No More," and receives loudest applause of convention to date.

Marty Oberman (Staffer for McGovern Campaign): A lot of us young people really believed in this. We were there to stop the war, and it failed. And sort of spontaneously on the convention floor, delegates started forming a huge circle. I mean, across the whole convention floor was a circle. Many, many delegates, and I remember getting in the circle, all of us holding on to our neighbor, and we started singing "We Shall Overcome" and swaying. I think this went on for an hour. After the vote was taken, we just took over the floor and, in defeat, stood there and sang this protest song. And it wasn't just young people. There were lots of older people, establishment people, who were really upset. To me, it was probably the most moving moment of the convention.

George McGovern: It's just a tragedy that it wasn't adopted. I think if we had passed that peace plank, Hubert Humphrey would have been elected president.

5:40 p.m. McGovern announces he can't support majority Vietnam plank and therefore can't run as vice presidential candidate with Humphrey.

6:05 p.m. Police use tear gas to halt attempt of protesters to march from Grant Park toward the amphitheater. Gas drifts into rooms at Hilton, where Humphrey is reportedly affected.

Donald Rumsfeld (Congressman, Illinois): Governor John Love of Colorado and I went down into Grant Park. No one knew who we were, and we just moved around and tried to get a sense of what people were saying and thinking. When the violence started, we went back to our hotel room and stayed out of it. When you're in a hotel, and the hotel ?lls with gas, and there's that smell, that odor, and there are police around -- it creates an unpleasant environment.

Pat Buchanan (Aide to Richard Nixon): I was coming back to my hotel, because there was tear gas all over the place. The hotels along Michigan Avenue were all sealing their doors. You couldn't get out.

Tom Hayden (Activist, National Mobilization Committee to End the War): We were in the park, and a young man named Angus MacKenzie climbed a flagpole, intent on bringing the American flag down halfway and turning it upside down, which of course is an international symbol of distress. Well, this aroused the police, who were all lined up on the Michigan Avenue side of the park, and they charged into the crowd. It was madness.

I urged people to head back toward the Hilton by any means. If there was gonna be blood or gas, let it be all over the city. So people started up the long, narrow park along Lake Michigan. There are small bridges along the way that get you to the Grant Park area adjacent to the hotel, but all these bridges were occupied by troops with bayonets. And there were submachine guns mounted on tripods pointed at the protesters as we went from bridge to bridge.

Finally, though, like the Red Sea parting, we came upon a bridge that was open. And there was this cheering, and this large crowd of people rushed across the bridge as if they had been liberated, and they arrived on Michigan Avenue. We simply had to turn left and march towards the Hilton, which was a mile or a mile and a half away.

Before he was murdered, Martin Luther King had agreed to send people from his proposed Poor People's March to march with us against the war. And suddenly here they were, too, this mule train from the South, with sharecroppers in blue Levi's shirts, overalls, and horses -- clop, clop, clop -- joining us and marching forward. It was kind of a joyous, delirious half an hour. There were no police in front of us. But as we arrived at Michigan and Balbo, with the Hilton on the right and the park on the left, suddenly the line was blocked.

James P. Turner (Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice): I was there to investigate police abuse. The idea was that the attorney general needed a lawyer's eye on the ground, because everyone else had an ax to grind. So I went down there to look around. The police had cleared out Grant Park, on the east side of Michigan Avenue, so that gave you just kind of a dead end where the marchers and the demonstrators and the mules and the wagons and everybody just kept pounding in. Didn't just stop; they just kept packing tighter and tighter. It was pretty solid humanity.

Rumsfeld: The police had the diffculty of trying to determine what their response should be. They responded against people who were instigators and also noninstigators, and I suspect the latter was much larger than the former. All I know is, when things are that hostile, there's no way any one individual can tell you what took place and whose fault it was.

Hayden: At the sight of the police, people expected to be beaten and gassed again. And so they just sat down. They sat down in the street and on the sidewalk at the corner of Michigan and Balbo. The street was completely occupied by police vans and police cars and police o8cers and I'm not sure what other military forces. And there were lights from media cameras, I guess. People sat down. And then somebody invented the chant "The whole world is watching."

Turner: The protesters were singing songs -- "This Land Is Your Land" -- and they had cheers -- "The whole world is watching" -- and everybody was pretty rowdy but behaving all right. At some point, a platoon of police offcers came east on Balbo Street, and they just marched right into the crowd, knocking people around. Of course, the crowd then backed off, away from the cops, but if you push one side of a balloon the other side goes out. And so over on the Grant Park side, they began pushing into the cops, and the cops over there thought they were being assaulted by the crowd, so they start in. And first thing you know, it just. . . Everything hit the fan.

Buchanan: I was in my room, and who walks in but Norman Mailer. José Torres, the boxer, was with him. We watched from the nineteenth ?oor. Mailer and I were hanging out the window with Torres. We were up there drinking. It was late afternoon, as I recall, spilling into evening. The cops were marching down there like a military unit, and then all of a sudden they took off after these demonstrators. From nineteen floors up, they all looked very tiny. Torres was cursing out the cops, and I was rooting for the cops -- though I didn't say anything out loud. José Torres is a pretty tough guy. It was just a big battle, and what I thought at that point was that the Democratic Party was a horribly divided institution. And I knew that the American people's perception of the Democratic Party as a party in chaos would be of enormous bene?t to Richard Nixon. And there's no doubt it was.

Hayden: I found myself in a crowd of people against the glass window of the Haymarket Lounge at the hotel on the corner. The police walked into us, spraying Mace on everyone and clubbing people. I remember somebody shouting that a woman was having a heart attack. This was a big mass of humanity being crushed. And as the mass fell backwards, my back was to the window, and I could hear this glass breaking. And all of a sudden the whole window collapsed, and everybody fell into the bar, where delegates were sitting there drinking and talking as if this was routine for a political convention. The police came charging in after us, and there were people all over the place, bleeding, cut. They were just arresting anybody who looked like they didn't belong in the hotel. I don't know what happened, but I walked out. I don't even know where I went.

Buchanan: After the battle on Michigan, I was wakened by Nixon's call. He said, "What's going on?" So I said, "You want to know what's going on, sir?" And I held the phone to the window, where nineteen floors below they were yelling, "F--- you, Daley! F--- you, Daley!"

Turner: The signature shot of the whole convention was these four cops, each with an arm or a leg of this demonstrator, dragging him to a paddy wagon, while a fifth cop walked alongside. The fifth cop kept whacking the victim with his stick the whole way over, every step. I followed him around, and I wrote down his name off of his nametag, and I have the name of the meanest cop in Chicago. But I never could put together a case, because I couldn't find the victim. I just saved his name for Judgment Day. He's got one coming.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

*****

Huge protests expected at political conventions


Published: Friday August 15, 2008
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters are expected to jam the streets of Denver and St. Paul at the Republican and Democratic conventions in a noisy counterpoint to the parties' carefully scripted speeches.

In St. Paul, where John McCain will accept the Republican nomination early next month, anti-war and anti-abortion activists could be joined in the streets by off-duty cops picketing for higher pay, while self-described anarchists aim to paralyze the city.

In Denver, where Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination later this month, the City Council recently outlawed the possession of "noxious substances" after a councilman warned that activists could use buckets of urine or feces against police.

Activists say their plans don't involve human waste.

"The intent of this ordinance is to smear protesters and make them appear as if they're somehow criminal," organizer Glenn Spagnuolo said at a recent council hearing

U.S. presidential nominating conventions historically have drawn activists of every stripe who hope to confront the political establishment and elbow their way into the media spotlight. The 2004 Republican convention in New York attracted more than 100,000 demonstrators.

The FBI officials in each city said they are unaware of any specific, credible security threats this year. The street protests are expected to be largely peaceful, though the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota expects 800 arrests in St. Paul, most for minor infractions during an anti-war march that could draw between 30,000 and 60,000.

Still, they will pose an additional challenge for security officials who will also have to protect senators, governors, President George W. Bush and thousands of other political bigwigs, along with the actual nominees for the November election.

St. Paul's 600-member police force will swell to 3,500 for the convention, police spokesman Tom Walsh said. Denver's police force of 1,400 will also receive reinforcements from around the region. Both cities have received $50 million each in federal funds to pay for overtime, training and equipment like surveillance cameras.

Federal agencies have been planning for the events since 2007, Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said.

The Secret Service won't have a problem securing Invesco Field, the open-air football stadium where Obama will accept the nomination, Wiley said, as the agency handled Pope Benedict's two April masses at baseball fields in New York and Washington, as well as Bush's appearances at baseball games.

"Whereas it's a new venue it's not a new challenge for us," Wiley said.

AIRSPACE RESTRICTED

Airspace around Denver will be restricted and the interstate that runs by the stadium may be closed, he said.

Others see possible problems.

"It could be a real nightmare to get 76,000 people into Invesco Field," said Denver City Council member Charlie Brown. "Do we close the interstate or will the protesters? That's a very big issue."

Protest organizers have also been sparring in court with local officials over when and where they'll be able to rally. Both cities have laid out march routes and designated "free speech zones" near the convention halls, and both cities will provide a stage and sound system for protesters.

But some have vowed to ignore these restrictions.

In St. Paul, a self-described anarchist group dubbed the RNC Welcoming Committee aims to blockade downtown St. Paul and bridges and disrupt transportation shuttles.

In Denver, anarchist groups plan to target fund-raisers and hotels where Democratic delegates are staying.

Groups espousing similar tactics have managed to wreak havoc at other events, most notably the 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle, where protesters smashed store windows, set fires and caused an estimated $2 million in property damage.

"These noises do need to be taken seriously," said Norm Stamper, Seattle's police chief at the time.

"If you identify the anarchists early and they engage in criminal behavior, snatch them up right now," he said. "The further you delay the more damage they can do to the process of legitimate protest."

(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

*****

Police preparing for anarchy at GOP convention
This video is from WCCO-TV Minneapolis, broadcast August 12, 2008.

*****

Pro-impeachment group sues over 'Free Speech Zones' at Republican convention

RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday August 12, 2008

Impeach for Peace, a Minnesota-based group which plans to demonstrate at the upcoming Republican National Convention at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, has sued for space to demonstrate within sight and hearing of convention attendees.

Backed by the ACLU, the group calls the designated spaces to demonstrate "inadequate and unacceptably small," and too far from the venue to allow for free speech to be effectively executed.

The City Council and police also denied Impeach for Peace their due process, such as a window for public comment and public hearing, by not giving notice of the restrictions to be placed on demonstrators, the suit alleges. In addition, the city has reserved the right to change its guidelines at any time in ways that the ACLU contends violates the Minnesota State Constitution.

The entire complaint can be read at this link, courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union.

*****

'Gitmo On The Platte' Set As Holding Cell For DNC

Written By Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ― CBS4 News has learned if mass arrests happen at the Democratic Convention, those taken into custody will be jailed in a warehouse owned by the City of Denver. Investigator Rick Sallinger discovered the location and managed to get inside for a look.

The newly created lockup is on the northeast side of Denver. Protesters have already given this place a name: "Gitmo on the Platte."

Inside are dozens are metal cages. They are made out of chain link fence material and topped by rolls of barbed wire.

"This is a secured environment," Capt. Frank Gale of the Denver Sheriff's Department told CBS4. "We're concerned about how that's going to be utilized by people who will be potentially disruptive."

In past conventions, mass arrests have taken place.

With Denver's jails already overflowing, new space had to be created and officers trained.

Each of the fenced areas is about 5 yards by 5 yards and there is a lock on the door. A sign on the wall reads "Warning! Electric stun devices used in this facility."

CBS4 showed its video to leaders of groups that plan to demonstrate during the convention.

"Very bare bones and very reminiscent of a political prisoner camp or a concentration camp," said Zoe Williams of Code Pink.

Williams was one of those arrested at the Republican Convention in New York in 2004.

"That's how you treat cattle," said Adam Jung of the group Tent State University. "You showed the sign where it said stun gun in use and you just change the word gun for bolt and it's a meat processing plant."

Gale would not discuss the facility at this time.

"We want to make sure we got our game plan set," he said, "We want to make sure the entire procedure is laid out all the personnel know what they are supposed to do."

The plans were to keep this lockup a secret, at least for now. The sheriff's department said late Tuesday the mayor's office would be releasing a statement about it early next week.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it will ask the City of Denver how prisoners will get access to food and water, bathrooms, telephones, plus medical care, and if there will be a place to meet with attorneys.

[CGH1KZzy]

...the 1968 convention, I remember my dad being so angry at (I think) Chuck Scarborough, who stated that the police started the riot. Dad was so pissed, that he called the TV station to chew him out.... of course he never got through. I can distinctly remember dad being under the impression that some in the protest crowd started throwing items spiked with nails at the police. Anyone else remember this detail?

[Shemker394]

City panel to cops: Hold off on pot arrests during Democratic Convention

Nick Langewis
Published: Wednesday August 20, 2008

Denver police should refrain from penalizing adults for possession of small amounts of cannabis, up to an ounce, during the Democratic National Convention, the mayor's advisory panel said Wednesday.

While simple possession of small amounts is the city's lowest law enforcement priority thanks to initiatives passed by voters in 2005 and 2007, state law remains in place and enforceable. "We've always enforced the state statute," Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Monday. "That was the law before the initiative and it's nothing new. I don't know why we'd relax any law."

The Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel, assembled by Mayor John Hickenlooper on December 21, 2007, has adopted a resolution:

The Marijuana Policy Review Panel recommends that the Denver Police Department should refrain from arresting, detaining, or issuing a citation to any adult 21 years of age or older for the private possession of up to one ounce of marijuana during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

"The People of Denver have made it clear they do not want adults in this city punished for simply possessing a drug less harmful than alcohol," said SAFER founder and panel member Mason Tvert. "Tomorrow we will deliver an official memo from the panel to the chief of police and the mayor, and we expect police to abide by this very logical recommendation."

"If police expect the taxpayers to cover their $1.2 million in overtime during the DNC," he added, "it is only fair that they respect the laws adopted by those taxpayers. There will be plenty for police to do during the DNC aside from arresting or citing adults who are simply making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol."

A press conference will be held at Denver's City and County Building, 1437 Bannock Street, on Thursday, August 21, at 12 noon. The official memorandum will then be delivered to Mayor Hickenlooper and the police chief.

A PDF copy of the memorandum is available to view HERE.

*****

Police to enforce pot laws during Dem. convention

Posted 2d 12h ago
DENVER (AP) — Pot smokers who light up during the Democratic National Convention can expected to get busted under state laws, even though a voter-approved city ordinance makes small amounts of marijuana the "lowest law enforcement priority," Denver Police said Monday.
"We've always enforced the state statute," police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. "That was the law before the initiative and it's nothing new. I don't know why we'd relax any law."

Mason Tvert, leader of the group that sponsored the ordinance that discourages marijuana busts, said city officials are ignoring the will of the voters.

He said a community-based panel on marijuana enforcement will meet Wednesday to get updated figures on enforcement, but preliminary figures show arrests are rising, not declining.

Last year, the city prosecuted 1,600 cases. Tvert said based on current numbers, the city is on track to increase that to 1,900 this year, not counting any surge of arrests that might take place during the convention.

"We're concerned during the Democratic National Convention that they are going to use the law to cite people or detain them," Tvert said.

The initiative passed easily in November 2007, despite protests from city officials who said it was meaningless because state law takes precedence over city ordinances.

Tvert and his group successfully pushed a 2005 initiative to legalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for adults over 21, but the move failed to blunt arrests because authorities continued to enforce state laws.

Tvert tried to pass an identical measure at the state level but was rebuffed by statewide voters.

City Council member Doug Linkhart, who sits on the marijuana enforcement panel, said he believes police have made pot possession a low priority and doesn't think there will be any problem during the convention.

"The ordinance says lowest priority, it doesn't say stop prosecuting. I'm not concerned police will get carried away. I want police to focus on what's important, and I expect they will," Linkhart said.

[mikeydesignzinc]

When was the last time you saw a violent action instigated by a stoner?

Hell, that stuff should be REQUIRED to attend most political protests just to keep the shee...i mean citizens docile and cooperative!


I am partially kidding with that, but still, having protesters on a sedative makes more sense than not.....

[JoZertekAdv]

Denver to hunt protesters with maps, bicycles, football helmets

John Byrne
Published: Thursday August 21, 2008

Almost everyone can be a potential violent protester at the Democratic National Convention, according to a new bulletin issued by the Denver Police Department and leaked to the ACLU.

The bulletin lists myriad items police should watch out for, including "caches of supplies that could be used by violent demonstrators." The publication intended for commissioned police officers was provided to RAW STORY Thursday.

On the list? Plastic shields, football helmets, gas masks, baseball catch protectors, cases of nails, hand held radios, maps, bicycles, and protest sign handles ("perfect for swinging at first responders"). The police say they're also worried about people with large numbers of city maps or "camping information."

"Football, baseball, motorcycle and bicycle helmets are all used by violent protesters," the bulletin warns. "Bicycles are used to blockade sidewalks, streets and can be used to slow down responding emergency vehicles."

Camping information is a threat, too, such as "information concerning the camping, boarding or housing of potential violent protesters that have rented camping spaces, rented farms or land for the time period around the DNC."

Maps are worrisome because they're "frequently used by violent protester [sic] to plan direct actions against conventioneers."

"Baseball/softball catcher protectors" are also of concern, police warn.

ACLU spokesmen will hold a press conference Thursday afternoon. The nonprofit criticized the document in a press release, saying many of the items are "innocuous."

"Although the bricks were acquired for masonry repairs, Denver police accused the activist of 'stockpiling' the bricks for the DNC," the press release reads. The activist will speak at Thursday's press conference, but ACLU officials did not release a name Wednesday.

The document follows.

[Sydneyfonzi]

On the list? Plastic shields, football helmets, gas masks, baseball catch protectors, cases of nails, hand held radios, maps, bicycles, and protest sign handles ("perfect for swinging at first responders"). The police say they're also worried about people with large numbers of city maps or "camping information." ???

OK, Orange I can see being warning signs, red, definitely things to keep an eye out for (although sometimes you need nails to, well, nail things to the protest sign handles!!!).

But the purple?

Those are just plain silly.

Maybe they should look out for protestors with 2 arms as they can be used to hit people.

[mygalinasoo]

A brain, a heart and a conscience are also tell-tale signs of potentially dangerous protestors ...

[JacksHH]

[Immampdah]

Security Makes U.S. Conventions Virtual Fortresses (Update2)

By Jeff Bliss
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Two U.S. cities will become virtual fortresses during the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions, protected by airplanes, helicopters, barriers, fences and thousands of police officers, National Guard troops and Secret Service agents.

In Denver, where Democrats assemble next week, police are spending $18 million on equipment alone and will be bolstered by National Guard troops and hundreds of officers from surrounding suburbs. In St. Paul, Minnesota, site of the Sept. 1-4 Republican nominating convention, police are calling on 80 law- enforcement agencies to provide 3,000 officers to supplement the city's 500-person force.

Congress earmarked $100 million for security at the two meetings, where federal and local authorities are trying to guard against any dangers to candidates or convention-goers.

``We are constantly looking at what threats could harm us,'' said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, which is overseeing security operations.

Safeguarding the quadrennial gatherings is difficult, in part because so many public officials are among the thousands of people in attendance, said Andrew O'Connell, a former Secret Service agent who runs the Washington office of New York-based Fortress Global Investigations & Security. ``It will be a challenge,'' he said.

Offices Evacuated

The federal money, $50 million for each convention, is being spent for security measures such as fencing and high-tech camera-surveillance systems. The security costs will roughly equal the amount the two cities' host committees plan to raise for other convention costs.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign offices in Denver and in Manchester, New Hampshire, were evacuated yesterday after a Denver employee opened an envelope containing a threatening letter and white powder. The New Hampshire office received a letter addressed in similar handwriting, which wasn't opened.

Powder in the Denver envelope was harmless, and the letter was traced to an inmate in the Arapahoe County, Colorado, jail the Denver Post reported.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be on ``heightened alert'' to track potential threats, said Russ Knocke, a department spokesman.

``We're really making sure we're amping up our focus,'' Knocke said.

Tight Security

Security in St. Paul and Denver will be so tight that former Secret Service agent Chris Falkenberg said terrorists searching for a target might look elsewhere. ``The possibility of having a major attack is very, very slim'' at the convention sites, said Falkenberg, president of New York-based Insite Security Inc. ``It would be a good time to pull off an attack in Chicago, Boston.''

Security in St. Paul focuses on the Xcel Energy Center, where Republicans will meet to nominate Arizona Senator John McCain for president. In Denver, where most convention activities are scheduled for the Pepsi Center arena, security officials had to adapt their plans when Illinois Senator Barack Obama decided to accept his party's nomination at the 76,000- seat Invesco Field at Mile High.

``I'm not going to sit here and say, `Oh, it was a piece- of-cake,''' Secret Service Assistant Director Nicholas Trotta said of Obama's move. Still, he said the Secret Service wasn't thrown by the change because agents often ``have to modify, change, add and subtract when we get to a venue.''

Highway Closed

The Colorado Department of Transportation will close Interstate 25, the main north-south route through the state's biggest city, during the Aug. 28 stadium event. Trucks carrying hazardous cargo are prohibited from using I-25 near downtown Denver for a week, starting tomorrow.

Federal, state and local officials have been planning security precautions since last year, consulting on details such as motorcades for VIPs and road closures.

More than 1,000 National Guard troops will help with communication and supplies in Denver, said Captain Robert Bell, a spokesman for the Colorado National Guard. More than 1,000 Minnesota National Guard troops will help provide security at sites outside the Xcel Center that are being used by convention participants, said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Olson, a guard spokesman.

Air Cover

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command, based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, will participate. Lieutenant Desmond James, a spokesman, wouldn't give specifics about NORAD's involvement. At previous conventions, the Northern Command provided medical and planning assistance and NORAD provided air cover, said Lieutenant Commander Gary Ross, a spokesman for both commands.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation plans to use a new version of a computer network that lets all its branch offices build leads on cases. ``We've got the capability of communicating instantaneously on case-specific matters,'' said Ray DiNunzio, the FBI's acting section chief for domestic terrorism and response.

The Coast Guard will monitor the Mississippi River near the Xcel Energy Center.

Protest groups say they expect large demonstrations. The American Civil Liberties Union's Colorado chapter filed suit challenging police plans to limit marches and protests to designated areas. A federal judge upheld the restrictions.

Mark Silverstein, legal director of the ACLU in Colorado, said he's afraid that crowd-control officers from a hodgepodge of different police departments might not all respond appropriately to protesters.

``Denver is getting reinforcements from dozens of other law-enforcement agencies,'' Silverstein said. ``When the visiting officers come, do they play by the visiting team's rules or by the home team's rules?''

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington at jbliss@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: August 22, 2008 17:59 EDT

[mArVHDO6]

Man arrested with weapons at Pelosi hotel

The Associated Press
Published: August 24, 2008

DENVER: A man who tried to carry two hunting rifles and two pistols into the Denver hotel where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is staying remained in police custody Sunday.

Pelosi and other guests briefly left the hotel during the Saturday incident but were never in danger, Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said.

The man, Joseph Calanchini, 29, of Pinedale, Wyoming, faces a charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon. Police officers at the Grand Hyatt hotel hotel noticed him carrying a rifle-type case at the entrance and detained him.

Wiley said he didn't know if the weapons were loaded.

"The speaker was never in any danger and she appreciates the quick and professional response of the police," said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly.

[Noxassope]

LEFTIST PROTESTERS GATHERING FOR BIG RALLY IN DENVER
Fox News Live on the Scene

Talk about playing to stereotypes... LOL!

The intrepid correspondent Griff Jenkins' blog.

There is reason to believe that 'radical organizer' of "Recreate 68" Glenn Spagnuolo is a COINTELPRO astroturfer.

Is it any wonder why Fox was on scene to document these mask wearing 'radicals'?

[WebDocMan]

AT&T Throws Party to Support Dems Who Voted to Grant Telecoms Immunity for Illegal Domestic Wiretapping
Democracy Now! goes from the streets to the suites to try and cover one of the first of over 1,200 parties during the Democratic National Convention–this one thrown by AT&T to support Democrats who voted to grant the company immunity for illegal wiretapping of Americans.

*****

Antiwar Activists Take to the Streets to “Defend Denver”
Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill heads to the streets of Denver to report on day one of protests outside of the Democratic National Convention.

*****

Massive Security Operation Mobilized for DNC
Thousands of delegates descended on Denver over the weekend for the Democratic National Convention as did thousands of journalists as well as protesters from across the country. We hear some of the voices of the protesters and speak with Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill who covered the events from the ground.

[EmxATW5m]

ACLU: Denver cops could get 'amped up' by anti-protester memo

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Monday August 25, 2008

CNN reports that tight security arrangements for the Democratic National Convention in Denver are drawing complaints from both activists and civil liberties advocates.

Protesters are upset about being confined to a fenced-in parking lot, which they describe as "a 'freedom cage' two football fields away from the Pepsi Center, where they will have no meaningful opportunity to bring their concerns to the attention of delegates."

CNN, however, describes the lot as being "around the corner from the convention center," and the Secret Service insists that delegates will see the protesters first thing as they enter the convention hall.

When a judge rejected a legal challenge to the restrictions earlier this month, Mark Silverstein, Colorado legal director of the ACLU, stated, "Overall the regrettable thing is courts are deferring to security planners who base their plans many times on risks that are extremely speculative ... and the result is all of our First Amendment rights are diminished."

The ACLU is also "irate" over a police bulletin (pdf) which tells officers to be on the lookout for unusual stockpiles of supplies -- such as maps and bicycles -- that could potentially be used for violence or destruction of property.

Silverstein called the bulletin "unnecessarily provocative" and warned, "It has the potential to get police officers all amped up and looking for a confrontation at a time when what we need is cool heads and restraint."

One Denver activist said she had been subjected to police questioning over a delivery of bricks to her home that was intended solely for masonry repairs.

A police spokesman told CNN, "We're set to take action when it needs to be taken, and I'm hoping we don't have to take any." Activists insist their plans are peaceful.

This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast August 25, 2008.

[goldcigarettes]

Protesters interrupt Pelosi speech

By Colleen O Connor
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 08/25/2008 12:23:14 PM MDT

A major CodePINK for Peace action disrupted the Unconventional Women symposium Monday morning, delaying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's talk with former U.S. Ambassador Swanee Hunt at the Buell Theater.

When Pelosi sat down on stage, CodePINK protestors who had infiltrated the sold-out auditorium unfurled anti-war banners reading "IMPEACH!" and "STOP THE WAR" and shouted at Pelosi.

"Nancy, you lied to my face," one yelled. "Do your job!" said another.

Some peace activists say Pelosi, one of the most powerful women in American politics, sold out on the issue of the war in Iraq.

Many of the women, most wearing the trademark hot-pink hats of the peace group, were escorted from the auditorium.

Those left in the audience continued their verbal assault. Toby Blome, who traveled from San Francisco for convention protests, screamed "stop the torture," as security escorted her from the theater, her arm bent behind her back.

The initiative lasted about 5 minutes and may have backfired. Many women in the audience "shushed" the protestors; a group of Girl Scouts in the front row looked to be on the verge of tears.

But the outburst did allow Pelosi to divert from the scheduled discussion about health care and how women might balance their family, political and professional ambitions.

After one women shouted "Stop our sons from dying," Pelosi responded: "If you want to stop the war, elect Barack Obama."

*****

This supports the view that Pelosi et al. refrained from taking a stand against Bush for fear of triggering a republican backlash and imperiling the democrat nominee. Providing the political cover allowing "the Democrats to trade blood for the White House" is David Ignatius in the Washington Post wherein he depicts Pelosi and Reid as "red-hot politicians," "the Get-Even Gang," and inexplicably claims they are "effective partisan brawlers." This absurd recasting of recent history caused Salon's heroic Glenn Greenwald to exclaim:
"Since Pelosi and Reid took over Congress, the Congress has funded the Iraq war without even a symbolic condition. It has rejected every proposal to limit war spending. It has enacted one right-wing proposal after the next, from warrantless surveillance and telecom immunity to declaring parts of the Iranian Government a "terrorist organization." It passed a housing bill and "stimulus" package approved by the administration. It has done nothing to reverse the radical executive power theories and has done much to institutionalize them. If there is one predominant trait of the Congress over the past several years, it has been a willingness to grant every item on the the President's wish list regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in control.

It's literally hard to imagine how Congress could possibly be weaker and more pliant than they've been."

[Qwjyrgij]

TV pundits on the ground in Denver are starting to admit that the whole "Hillary Supporters Against Barack" scene is mainly BS -- and that there are just a few dozen of those types making all the noise. And that the TV Talking Heads, in their desperation to create a story, have blown this up from nearly nothing.

[Lhiistyssdds]

Protesters: We're being treated like prisoners
4 hours ago
DENVER (AP) — A small group of protesters has marched to the demonstration zone outside the Democratic National Convention, complaining they are being treated like political prisoners.
A contingent from the protest group Recreate 68 Alliance went to the fenced-off zone on Monday, even though they had vowed earlier they would never return.
Protesters derisively call the 47,000-square foot zone the "Freedom Cage." It's separated from the parking lot around the convention hall by metal fences atop concrete barriers.
It's about 700 feet from the Pepsi Center, where the delegates will gather starting Monday night.
Recreate 68 organizer Mark Cohen says the city and the Secret Service are treating demonstrators "like political prisoners, like pariahs."

*****



Sniper tower overlooking "Freedom Cage?"

[AutoCadPhotoSHOP]

Anti-war protest tame affair as Democrats gather

Mike Blanchfield , Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008
DENVER - Propping up a large banner beneath the steps of the Colorado State Capitol dome, 25-year-old Weston Wilson was clearly underwhelmed with the anti-war protest taking shape around him.

"I'm a little bummed out," the Denver English major and seasonal landscaper said Sunday morning, estimating his fellow anti-Iraq war marchers at no more than 700.

Wilson was well aware of the hype that preceded this day: one group, calling itself Re-create 68, was hoping for a turnout of 10,000 to 20,000 and was advocating for a re-creation of the infamous 1968 Chicago Democratic convention when protesters battled police for more than a week.

"I think maybe they're romanticizing the size and urgency of the movement. I don't think there's going to be any big clashes but if there is, I'm dropping my sign and running," said Wilson.

A few blocks away, 29-year-old Brian Wise stood on a small square as a New Country version of 'God Bless America' blared from loudspeakers. "It seems the success in Iraq has hurt their numbers and their resolve to make the unpatriotic demonstrations that they've been making," observed Wise, the executive director of a military support group called Families United.

On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, those two solitudes offered a vignette of America's ambivalence towards its five-year-old war in Iraq. The protesters, some of them Vietnam-era peaceniks, lamented that their numbers were so small, while the pro-military group were also haunted by their lingering sadness over friends killed in Iraq, and the need to bring those still fighting home one day, but in victory.

Neither side appeared confident that this week's star attraction, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, had the answers their country needed to move forward.

The protest unfolded peacefully, bowed by the overwhelming show of force by black-clad, heavily armed police, many in black riot gear, with blue plastic handcuffs dangling, amid the never-ending whir of low circling helicopters across Denver's blue, sun-scorched skies.


Policemen divide pro and anti-war activists taking
part in a protest march to the Pepsi Center, site of the
Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado August 24, 2008.
Reuters/Damir Sagolj

After a morning of speeches that included Texan Cindy Sheehan, the staunch critic of the Iraq invasion that claimed her son's life, the protesters marched through downtown, past the small square where Wise and his pro-military group were set up.

They traded taunts - "war machine, tear it down!" and "let the men do their mission" - but never physically crossed paths.

The marchers were allowed to reach the gates of Pepsi Arena, the convention site, before they peacefully moved on.

They one thing they managed to do was effectively bar several hundred of the 15,000 journalists in Denver from the convention site because the Secret Service closed the main entry point.

The $50 million in federal grants, the co-ordination of some 60 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, not to mention the $1.2 million overtime bill the Denver police department was looking at shelling out, appeared to have been money well spent.

For many marchers, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

As he walked, 68-year-old Don Swall, a gray and suntanned Northern Californian, couldn't hide his discouragement as he reflected on the changes he has witnessed since he began protesting the Vietnam War.

"The main thing is there is no draft. That was one of the main things that caused the end of the Vietnam War. When middle class and upper class saw their kids not being able to avoid the draft, it was not just poor minority kids going to get their balls blown off," Swall said.

"Here it's safe. They're recruiting poor guys from Appalachia and minorities and let them go get killed."

Still, Swall said he was headed to St. Paul, Minn. next week to continue his protest at the Republican National Convention because, "it's my country God damn it."

Over at the pro-military gathering, Bob Calvert, 61, said the violence and uncertainty of the Vietnam era, and the Cold War, were nothing compared with the threats his country's soldiers now face.

"I don't think the anti-war movement is as big as it is then. The difference is we have a war on terrorism," he said. "How do you fight somebody that's going to stand in line with a bomb belt around their stomach?"

As the last of the marchers filed past him, Wise reflected on his best friends growing up in Clovis, Calif., brothers Nathan and Jared Hubbard who were both killed in Iraq.

"The biggest proponents of peace are our soldiers, airmen and marines. They want to come home as soon as possible as soon as they finish their job," he said.

"They're having success in Iraq, and we can't wait for them to come home."


© Canwest News Service 2008

[Avoireeideree]

Part of Pepsi Center flooded by sprinkler system

posted by: Sara Gandy 8 hrs ago
DENVER - A sprinkler system partially flooded part of the Pepsi Center Monday morning.

The Denver Fire Department, which has a crew stationed at the center all week, was able to respond quickly before 5 a.m. when the sprinkler went off.

The sprinkler was located on the club level in a skybox which had recently been renovated to host a news crew. It appears the skybox belongs to Fox. [LOL!!]

After going off, the sprinkler released 50 to 100 gallons of water per minute and 9NEWS crews estimate it was on for around 5 minutes.



The cause of the sprinkler is under investigation but early reports indicate it was likely bumped or the heat sensor may have been affected by equipment in the room.

Water leaked down to the first level concourse and crews are mopping up that area. A significant amount of water filled the club level and DFD used shop vacuums to remove the excess water.

All of the equipment in the skybox had to be removed quickly due to the possible electrical issues. No one was injured.

[Deengealf]

City reopens roads due to lack of protestor attendance

posted by: Sara Gandy reported by: Chris Vanderveen updated by: Jeffrey Wolf 3 hrs ago
DENVER – The city of Denver reopened some of the closed roads in downtown Denver on Monday because of lack of participation and low attendance in a protest parade.

The city reopened westbound Colfax Avenue from Bannock Street to Speer Boulevard and southbound Speer Boulevard from Arapahoe Street to Colfax.

The city says these roads will stay open if the scheduled parades can be safely accommodated.

The roads were originally supposed to reopen at 3 p.m. on Monday after being closed at 11 a.m., but the city reopened them by noon instead.

A few hundred protestors did show up for a protest during the lunch hour on Monday. They walked from Civic Center Park to the U.S. Courthouse at 19th and Stout on Monday much to the bewilderment of lunch goers on the 16th Street Mall.

Chanting "No Justice, No Peace!" the group caused a few minor traffic delays, but no major issues were seen.

The group is seeking more attention of political prisoners in the United States as well as abroad.

Many people eating lunch along the 16th Street Mall were clearly caught off-guard by the protest. Many simply chose to wait it out by snapping a few pictures with their cell phone cameras.

[Obsententicab]

It seems that only PBS is actually showing the whole of the convention, rather than promoting Talking Heads and selling advertisements as are the cable & network gangs.