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I’m back out in the field. Day 4 of protest in Denver. I’ll tweet what I see.
This is the Colorado State Capitol right now.
Lots of people out here. Amphitheater at Civic Center, where some are making speeches right now, is basically full. So are the Capitol grounds. And many others spread out in the area.
Civic Center Park in Denver. 1,000+, by my estimate, packing in close — one speaker said he wanted to take a group selfie so that “the history books” and anyone following along today can see what’s actually going on here.
Here’s the man who encouraged that group photo, Quincy Shannon, discussing the police response in Denver. Says he gets that they need to address safety issues but that they are also intimidating people who are peacefully assembled.
State Patrol officer shouts from the Capitol balcony that this guy with the red hair has filled his pockets with rocks.
“Get him out of here!” the officer screams to protesters below. The protesters hazed him out of the area.
“Get him out of here!” the officer screams to protesters below. The protesters hazed him out of the area.
“This is peaceful protesting and it’s met all around the country with violence. Unprovoked violence from the police. That’s exactly why we’re here.” — Emily Graham, who’s been protesting the last couple days in Denver, and who said she was shot by a projectile from police.
George Floyd killing resonates with Maya Johnson, who’s been protesting in Denver this weekend. She knew Elijah McClain, worked with him at Massage Envy. “He was never an aggressor, always a helper. The way his life was taken wasn’t necessary.”
Aid for protesters is way more coordinated now than when this started. Stations with snacks, water, milk are all over the place, with volunteers staffing them.
It’s calm out here, with kind of witchy weather. Weird sky and weird breeze. To my knowledge no tear gas has been fired today by cops.
Big crowd on the move, at the moment ringing the Capitol.
In 15 hours state lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene in this building. I’ll be a bit surprised if that happens.
Pretty clear that this isn’t just a weekend of action and then back to normal.
Protester Heaven Javalera spoke to that: “Change needs to start somewhere. Hopefully more and more people come out here, because we’re tired of being silenced.”
Protester Heaven Javalera spoke to that: “Change needs to start somewhere. Hopefully more and more people come out here, because we’re tired of being silenced.”
Javalera is running an aid station with water and hand sanitizer. She said her group has spent $300 out of pocket on supplies.
“We don’t want people to feel like they need water. We want to have them stay here and keep going.”
“We don’t want people to feel like they need water. We want to have them stay here and keep going.”
When you graduate journalism school they should give you a portable phone charger.
Limited police presence so far, from what I can see. It’s busy but totally peaceful out here.
You can feel a change in the air when cops show up. Everything’s peaceful at the Capitol right now and a SWAT vehicle just rolled by blaring a siren — it turned and went away from the area, but it was quiet and tense for a second there.
Calm out here. Curfew’s in 68 minutes. I wonder — if the cops never show up at all tonight to enforce curfew (they will, I assume, based on mayor’s statements) will we see escalation, rock throwing and such, from protesters? Will people just get bored and go home after a while?
We’ll probably not find out, since the idea that cops would sit this out all night is far-fetched. But it’s an alternate reality I’m curious about. To what extent does the mere presence of cops in riot gear, not to mention the gas and projectiles, create or encourage the frenzy?
Half hour to curfew. The area around the Capitol remains packed.
It’s me and @ShellyBradbury for the Post tonight. Follow her too for updates. I know @EstebanHRZ is also out here.
More energy in the crowd as curfew approaches. 16 minutes. More people gearing up with masks, not so many lounging on the lawn like we’ve seen the last few hours.
That’s curfew. People howl. Massive crowd here. So far I can’t see any cops.
By this time last night the gassing was underway. Tension is up right now, with curfew having passed, but nothing much to report on the cop front, from my vantage point.
If you’re watching on the copter feed you might have seen this a second ago on Lincoln. Not tear gas. It’s just some motorcycle guys.
Lincoln is packed right in front of the Capitol. Car horns blaring.
Thousands heading up Colfax, eastbound.
There was a tension right after curfew that I don’t really feel anymore. Cops held off on enforcement and so people started moving en masse, cheering.
Businesses on Colfax are all boarded up, even blocks out from the Capitol.
People for blocks.
Cops aren’t down on the street, at least not in any real numbers or any easily identifiable way. But they’re watching.
Several bangs in the last couple minutes, just west of The Fillmore. And clouds. Unclear to me whether that’s tear gas, or who set it off.
People setting off fireworks. Many clouds right in front of Argonaut. Doesn’t smell like tear gas to me but I’m not sure, because I had to run back a couple blocks to see and they’d mostly dissipated. Many cops lined up on Clarkson next to The Fillmore.
Behind this pack of kneeling people at Colfax and Clarkson is a big line of cops in riot gear, with weapons.
Cops barking instructions on megaphone over and over, reminding everyone about the curfew. No one’s moving.
Tear gas at Clarkson and Colfax. Some run off but most stay. Lots of coughing now.
Just got hit by something. White powder all over me, but I’m fine. They just seriously gassed out Clarkson by the Good Times restaurant. Everyone’s coughing. All it seemed to do was move people a block east.
First trash fire I’ve seen tonight.
Half an hour ago everything was fine and peaceful and people were marching as a group. Somehow that all went to shit, right near where a squad of riot cops lined up.
Guy just threw rocks at Boost Mobile. A guy emerged from one of the doors next to Boost waving a handgun. It’s calmed down a bit in the last minute or so. The dude throwing rocks got yelled at by others in the crowd.
People pushing a burning dumpster down Colfax. Looked to me like they were moving in the direction of the police.
So much gas. At least about ten bangs just now, still near the Good Times. All this is doing is moving people a block away. There’s a helicopter above with a spotlight on the area.
And now people are actually spreading out from Good Times area, after a whole lot of gas and a guy with a gun. Some moving south down Emerson.
Amazingly, a whole bunch of people are still driving through this area. Most streets around here remain open.
I feel bad for the people who live in this area and have to deal with all the gas. And I feel bad for the dogs and cats who have to deal with all the loud bangs.
Big line of cops holding at the sex shop Romantix.
“Call me the waterboy,” shouts a shirtless guy handing out Dasani from a farmers market tote slung over his shoulder, a block from a huge line of riot cops.
Lots of people at Colfax and Pearl. Been a little bit since I’ve seen any tear gas. Some people in the intersection seem to have dragged a dumpster there, and they’re crouched behind it.
Window smashed right by the 7-11, or maybe at the 7-11. Then bang, bang, bang. People scatter south into Cap Hill, others stick around Colfax.
People scream and scatter and all you can see on Colfax is gas, and then this police vehicle emerges.
There are a lot of people out here. This isn’t just a few pockets of people who decided to hang after curfew and start shit. It’s hundreds. Mostly they look young. And it’s chaotic. Just a rolling scene throughout Cap Hill, with cops moving people around with gas.
Giant crowd at 14th and Grant, chanting FTP as the same police warning about curfew blares over megaphone for the millionth time. They’re now marching down 14th.
Back at the Capitol. Easily 1000+ still out here. That may be way understating it. It’s a lot. Cops keep blaring the warning over loudspeaker to a crowd that clearly isn’t gonna comply.
Now going south on Broadway. Just heard glass breaking at the Supreme Court.
And now on 13th, going west. More cohesive crowd than I’ve seen on other nights.
Crowd stops outside DPD HQ. Officers (these in the photo and many others) here waiting for them.
My phone is on low battery so I’ll be tweeting less often now to conserve.
That was definitely the most violent single moment I’ve covered over these four days. Major show of force by cops outside Denver PD headquarters. People scrambled. I got hit several times with what I think are foam bullets. One in leg, one on my side, one at my head. I’m fine.
Lots of people back at the Capitol. And tear gas. I had wondered where everyone went after scattering from PD HQ. Here, I guess. Lots of bangs and gas, more scattering.
A cop just shouted at @EstebanHRZ and me to walk in other direction — toward an epic amount of tear gas. We shouted “press!” and Esteban is even wearing a neon press vest. Cop points weapon right at us. We were forced back into the chaos and we both took a ton of gas to the face.
Back at my car to recharge. I’ll drive around and see what I see.
The show of force from police over the last hour in Denver has been way above and beyond anything else I’ve seen since all this started four days ago. In fact it’s beyond anything I’ve seen from police in my life.
And to those who are asking, I am fine. Just have some welts and red eyes.
Just drove a couple big laps around the Capitol and through Cap Hill. Saw a couple dumpster fires but otherwise pretty quiet. I didn’t see many protesters. There are still cops everywhere. And “cops” doesn’t really do it justice — SWAT trucks, tons of them. Debris all over.
Home now.
