Parade protesters arrested, charged
by Jerry Roys
The Metropolitan
230 protesters were arrested in downtown Denver Saturday, Oct. 9 during
a Columbus Day parade sponsored by the Sons of Italy-New Generation.
One of those arrested was Metro Student Erin Durban who attended the
demonstration with The Red Earth Woman’s Alliance Group.
“I was put on the bus and they separated us by gender. It was low
maintenance,” Durban said of the arrest.
UCD student and Creative Resistance member Ben Ferguson was also arrested.
“Columbus himself was as close to a madman as you can get,”
Ferguson said. “He makes Mussolini look like a nice guy.”
Metro student Tom Mestnik has been protesting Columbus Day Parades since
1990.
“I worked all year at helping organize the protest,” Mestnik
said. He went to the demonstration with Creative Resistance, of which
he is also a member. He did not go to get arrested; rather, he worked
the demonstration as legal support to help those who did get arrested.
Mestnik said prior to the demonstration groups met with Denver Police
Chief Gerry Whitman and the mayor’s office to confirm that the demonstration
would be peaceful.
There were 575 Denver police officers working the event, which included
officers at the Capitol building, the City and County building, and along
the parade route, according to a news release from the Denver Police Department.
“We agreed that it would be civil disobedience in the tradition
of Martin Luther King,” Mestnik said.
Once the police opened up the barricades, the protesters sat in the street
to block the parade. They were arrested, led off one at a time to an awaiting
prisoner-transportation bus, taken to Denver’s City and County Building
and charged. Mestnik said all the protesters will have to appear in court
Oct. 25.
Durban said it took about four hours to get processed and that it was
a “cite and release charge,” which meant they were given a
citation either for loitering, disobeying a lawful order or interference
and then released.
“What I think is important is that it is not just one day, this
is an ongoing struggle,” Durban said of trying to get rid of the
name Columbus on the holiday and parade.
There were more people arrested than participated in the parade, Mestnik
said.
He went on to say it was clear that those who organized and participated
in the parade were not celebrating Columbus.
“It was about being Italian. Why can’t it be Galileo, DaVinci,
there are so many great Italians; why Columbus?” Mestnik said.
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