News Cut: August 26, 2008 Archive

Denver Diaries: What are Denverites like... really?

Posted at 2:05 AM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

I noted in a post on Monday that I hear the "a" word being hurled quite a bit since I arrived in Denver. I heard it twice more from drivers while covering events downtown. A delegate was walking against the light and a driver who was apparently in a hurry, nonetheless took the time to assess the delegate's anatomy. Our rental van has Texas plates and the people who drive it say they've been the target of an "a-bomb" or two.

What gives, Denver? Are those real Denverites? Is that the spirit of Denver? Or is there a difference between those who drive and people you might run into on the ground. I haven't been here long enough to know and despite what you may have read in a local weekly that has an off-and-on relationship with accuracy, I'm not prepared to judge an entire population on the anecdotal evidence.

Just consider these as data points and see if, maybe, the Twin Cities can strive to make our guests feel welcomed next week.

I've found the volunteers to be predictably helpful and friendly. They're supposed to be. And, besides, I've got a press credential around my neck. And even the cops have been friendly. On Monday, however, I spent some time "undercover."

I posted myself at several corners for 15 minutes at a time, with a map unfurled, scratching my head, and looking as helpless and lost as I possibly could, to see if anyone would say, "can I help you find something?" I also counted the number of people who walked by me during my time as the country bumpkin.

Seven-hundred-17 people walked by me, and none volunteered to assist the more distressed elderly man I was -- quite fictionally, mind you -- portraying. Are you getting this, St. Paul?

But here's the kicker. About an hour after that, I was on my way to an appointment near the Denver mint. I was no longer "pretending" to be lost. I really was. I took out my map, and looked up to check the street signs. A young couple walked past me, then turned and walked back to me.

"Can I help you find something?" he asked.

I'll bet if he were in a car, he'd even let me cross against the light.

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The Fizzle Festival: Coming soon to St. Paul

Posted at 2:23 AM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

Protest groups often complain that if money weren't being spent on the military, it could be used to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and rebuild our broken bridges. This week in Denver -- and certainly next week in St. Paul -- the same can be said for the money it takes to keep the protesters under control, if not under wraps.

In St. Paul, there'll be a significant number of relevant protests. There'll also be plenty of levitating wizards.

Update: It turns out the wizard, Mark Cohen of the umbrella protest group Recreate '68, intended to levitate the mint. It didn't levitate either. Some news reports said police estimated the crowd at 50-75. I counted 3. Later, perhaps, people looking for something to protest stopped to watch.

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Denver Diaries: The right to privacy among 15,000 cameras

Posted at 9:30 AM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions, The political conventions

MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki reported last week on an effort by the ACLU to train attorneys to help out during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul next week. The effort seems to focus on making sure due process is followed once any protesters are arrested.

In Denver, I got a look at a similar effort, only this one provides legal representation and assistance when dealing with the biggest show of force in Denver -- the media.

A cameraman from World News in Canada was filming some protesters who were "being treated for injuries." There had been no confrontation with any police.

Some of the protesters made a high-decibel request to stop photographing, and damaged the man's camera. A crowd gathered, and cameras and microphones appeared like mosquitoes to bare skin.

That's when the legal adviser stepped in to inform us that it was illegal to be filming people.

"You wouldn't go into a hospital ward and film," he said.

"But you're in a public place," the cameraman informed him, "and I have a right to film."

"Under the Constitution, they have a right to privacy," the legal expert informed him, staking out an odd week, odd location, and odd activity to be asserting a privacy right.

Al Crespo, a photographer who documents major protests and is a well-known gadfly in the protest community, stepped in and told the cameraman he needed to "stop whining about your rights and move on."

Irony is not in short supply in Denver.

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Denver Diaries: Confrontations on cue

Posted at 12:39 PM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions, The political conventions

I was standing on a corner in Denver Monday afternoon when a confrontation headed toward me. Or it sounded like a confrontation. It turned out to be one guy with a very loud voice playing to the cameras as he berated Michele Malkin.

This is her in the front, trying to make a dignified getaway from the horde. She's a conservative blogger and Fox News commentator.

She was followed by 10-20 YouTubers and this guy...

... who had a remarkable ability to appear to be on the verge of physical assault and repeatedly give the full URL of his Web site.

She disappeared, he calmed down on cue and the throng disappeared.

A newspaper story from Ft. Collins documented it for history.

... Today it was radical Alex Jones, from the group 9/11 Truth, which believes that the September 11 terrorist attacks were planned by the U.S. government, verbally confronting Michelle Malkin, a conservative columnist and Fox News contributor.

"You support torture. Shame on you, you fascist piece of trash," Jones yelled. He also accused Malkin of supporting the U.S. Marines when they drown puppies.

Malkin found an ally in Recreate 68's Sanchez, who pushed his way into the crowd of TV cameras to yell at Jones: "Michelle Malkin is a true patriot!"

Sanchez later said he had no idea why Jones was attending the protest and added that Recreate 68 does not support Jones' ideas. He added that although they strongly disagree with her views, Recreate 68 supports Malkin's right to free speech.

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On probable cause

Posted at 11:37 AM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

I don't know if Denver authorities uncovered an actual assassination plot against Barack Obama when they arrested three men in suburban Aurora. Two were picked up in what police say was a "routine traffic stop" (there are so many cops being deployed downtown, that I'm not convinced there are routine traffic stops being made by the few officers left to make them.)

Was it really just luck that they happened to stop a car with rifles in it, and were led to a hotel, where a third man tried to jump out of a sixth-story window to get away?

One of the men was interviewed on local TV today and when asked if his colleagues could kill Obama, he paused for a long time and said, "I don't want to say 'yes,' and I don't want to say 'no.'"

The threat sure looked credible. If it was just the luck of a "routine traffic stop," that's pretty frightening. If it's because somehow, someway, the cops "just know," that's a little disconcerting, too.

These lads ran out of luck today.

Somehow, some way, the police knew that the boys had a couple of cases of spraypaint and other paraphernalia in their car. How?

If it's just a matter of luck, then perhaps there's the threat of the erosion of probable cause as police stop and detain more people. The more people you detain, the greater the likelihood you'll get lucky.

There's a little bit of evidence that 's the approach being taken in St. Paul. Last week, my colleague, Tim Nelson, revealed several circumstances in which people were -- at least momentarily -- detained for no apparent reason other than they were on a public way at the wrong time.

Today, three "independent journalists" were detained by Minneapolis police and questioned about their reporting plans, according to a spokesperson for a group, Glass Bead Collective.

If Denver is any indication, finding out probable cause or finding out how the police knew who to stop is going to be a critical question in the Twin Cities. And, surely, there'll be a discussion about the balance of individual rights vs. the need to protect society.

What's your opinion?

Update 4:45 p.m. Law enforcement officials say the Aurora arrest was not a credible threat. They were apparently tipped off by an unidentified woman. Authorities said those arrested were heavily into methamphetamines.

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Denver Diaries: A day at Invesco

Posted at 1:40 PM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions, The political conventions

MPR's information technology expert John Nicholson provides today's construction update from Invesco Field:

And engaged in a little star gazing while he was at it, capturing Anderson Cooper with who we believe to be Ratt.

Here, Cooper appears to be asking for a ride back to his hotel.

I don't really know who Ratt is, but, John, if you want to hang out there for a few days until Bruce Springsteen shows up, that'd be OK with me.

Holding the final night of the convention at Invesco Field is a big gamble, the Wall Street Journal reported today. There's so much money being poured into this that a rainstorm could ruin the entire convention for the Obama campaign.

However, the forecast says after some thunderstorms this afternoon, the hot weather will disappear and a cool front -- I'll defer to the Colorado people to tell me what constitutes cool in August in Colorado -- will settle in for the week and provide a more desirable backdrop on Thursday.

Update 1:55 p.m. MT - Colleague Steve Mullis says (in the comments section) these are the cast of The Daily Show, and -- in fact -- now that he mentions it, even I recognize Rob Riggle, the one guy remaining besides Jon Stewart and John Hodgman who still makes me laugh.

Nicholson provides a better photo:

Now I'm worried about Ratt? Where's Ratt?

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Denver Diaries: Tuesday's traffic report

Posted at 1:59 PM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

Here's your midday traffic report from Denver as we attempt to project the impact the Republican convention will have on our ability to get around next week.

Here's the afternoon situation around the Colorado Capitol, a stone's throw from the downtown convention center.

It doesn't appear traffic is a major problem yet.

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Instigation of police-protester clash is unclear

Posted at 3:36 PM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

The Recreate '68 protest organization has put out an "action call," trying to get people to call the mayor and governor's office in Denver to protest a clash between police and protesters on Monday evening.

What led up to the "small riot" is not entirely clear.

According to Glenn Spagnuolo, one of the organizers, "the incident last night started around 5:30pm, when heavily-armed police in SWAT gear began making random sweeps through Civic Center Park, harassing people sitting in the grass by poking them with nightsticks and telling them to get up and leave."

According to the time stamp on my camera (and audio recorder), this was the scene in the park at 5:41 p.m., about 10 minutes after I arrived.

All appears relatively calm. Five minutes after this, I did see a patrol of about 8 cops walking through the park, but I didn't see them taking any action against anyone.

At 5:39 p.m., I took a picture of this singer on the "main stage..."

But he sang to a generally disinterested audience...

On a Web site, the group posts this picture of the incident...

That's the state Capitol across the street. And I was walking by that location around 6:10 and the police I saw were sitting under trees.

The release continues...

I'd spent most of the afternoon in this location, and according to my cellphone, I called my wife from about a block away (within view) at 6:02 p.m.

That the incident happened is unarguable. Democracy Now has video and plenty of interviews with people (although the time of the film is unclear since it was dark). Sunset in Denver last night was 7:41 p.m. And Democracy Now's Amy Goodman said the problems started after 7, not at 5:30.

Video from ABC News -- also taken after dark -- shows some protesters getting in the faces of the police.

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Denver Diaries: 'How do you like us?'

Posted at 11:04 PM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions, The political conventions

If you're a civic-minded resident of the Twin Cities, you can probably relate to Seana Gates, left, and Kathleen McIntee, right. I met them Tuesday evening while navigating the obstacle course to get from Denver's light-rail system to the Pepsi Center. They had two passes into the hall courtesy of Kathleen's company. They were on their way to see Hillary Clinton speak.

But Kathleen didn't want to talk about that. She wanted to know what I thought of Denver, a common question I've gotten as I ride the rails this week. People here clearly love their city and they want us out-of-towners to like it, too.

She admits to being nervous this week that things wouldn't go off exactly as planned. She's holding her breath that nothing will go wrong. So far. So good. Denver is getting high marks.

With just a few days to go before the start of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, many volunteers and residents of the area are holding their breath, too. Are we interesting enough? Is there enough to do? Will delegates like us?

Like just about every other Denver-area resident I've talked with this week, Kathleen has Minnesota ties, too. She's lived here for 35 years, after being tossed out of the College of St. Benedict "for fooling around too much." She has family in the Cities and North Dakota.

Later in the evening, I talked to two other Denver residents on the train. One has lived here all of his life. The other moved here from Massachusetts years ago. Both say the best thing about Denver is the climate, a near universal reason.

And the obligatory Minnesota link? One just sent his son off to Mankato State. "He's found a true love and has followed her to Minnesota," he said. "The winter will test that

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