I'm back at the Capitol for tonight's George Floyd protest in Denver, working with @EliseSchmelzer. A sizeable crowd has gathered here. I'll keep this thread going all night.
Looks like the crowd is about to start marching.
Marching and chanting are underway
As it turns out, just a short march to Civic Center Park for now.
Back on the move!
Headed toward 16th Street Mall
Very light police presence right now, at least visibly
Crowd pauses at Welton and 21st. The march stretches out of sight.
Marching again
Arapahoe St and 26th Street "Change starts here."
Protester walk by workers putting up plywood on the windows of a Patagonia store.
Crowd passes balconies full of people and shouts "Walk with us!" And "Out of your homes, into the streets."
Crowd fills Blake Street from 24th to Broadway and curves around the corner
The organizers remind everyone that this protest is peaceful. And it has been so far today.
Although this is peaceful, officers in riot gear are blocking some areas and intersections along the march route. They are staying back.
A second group of marchers is joining the first march
Pausing at 16th Street Mall and Wynkoop. Organizers ask people to go home tonight before the 9 p.m. curfew and thank everyone for continuing to show up. It's a large crowd.
The protesters are headed slowly back toward the Capitol
Approaching the Capitol now
"This is a peaceful protest!"
The march returns to a large crowd of protesters at the Capitol who now join
The citywide curfew alert just hit people's cell phones, causing shouts of "Fuck your curfew!"
Crowd showing few signs of leaving as the 9 p.m. curfew approaches. But also officers are keeping distance for now.
Fireworks shooting off. No close police. Maybe 1,000 here now, smaller than the earlier march.
These folks have blocked this intersection, sitting between protesters and police cars a block away
The large goup is on the move
Marchers have stopped for nine minutes of silence in honor of George Floyd.
More marching
"Fuck your curfew, we want justice."
Broadway and 17th
March is back at the Capitol
It's calm right now
Ok spoke too soon, a loud bang caused a brief panic and small stampede
Alright just spoke to two witnesses who said they saw a man fire three shots in the air. They ran, no one was hurt. I heard the bang but did not know what it was.
It is calm here now.
Kaelah Esposito, 22, said she saw a man point a gun in the air and fire three times. "We saw the fire go off," she said. The man ran after firing, she said. Another woman with her, Madison Hill-Christensen said she saw the same thing.
Here is the scene now, folks holding their phones in the air
Moment of silence
I called Denver police to ask if they received any reports of shots fired and did not reach anyone.
Folks are just milling about here, still a large crowd
Ok now police confirm they did receive a report of shots fired in this area. PIO Tyrone Campbell says police are looking into it, no reports of injuries
Speeches happening on the Capitol steps. Sorry it's hard to see, the city's lights are shut off
Some fireworks now, crowd is dwindling from earlier but there arw still a couple hundred folks out I'd guess
Speakers talking about wrapping it up
Most of the remaining crowd looks to be heading home
Most protesters urging folks to go home, others shouting, "No, it's not over!" "Are you scared of tear gas?"
I am headed home. Police are still keeping their distance and there maybe 100-200 people still at the Capitol, just milling. We'll see if the night eventually ends with tear gas, but for now all is calm.
I'm out at the Capitol building in Denver tonight for anticipated protests in response to the decision not to directly charge any officers with Breonna Taylor's killing. So far a few dozen are here. I'll keep this thread updated tonight. denverpost.com/2020/09/23/bre…
Here's what it looks like now
The crowd is growing steadily here. Sounds like organizers plan to rally here for a while, them march.
I'm out at a Black Lives Matter protest in Westminster this afternoon, right now it is pretty small, but a handful of counter protesters are gathering across the street and the two groups are shouting at each other. I'll keep this thread updated.
Just about 100 people here now at the intersection of Orchard Parkway and 144th, with plans to march somewhere, I believe. The counter protesters have quieted down.
Fin Joyce, 16, said he is here because he wants justice for people like Elijah McClain. "There is strength in numbers and it shows, with all of our physical bodies here in this space, that this is what we want as citizens, for our fellow people to be safe."
I'm out at the Martin Luther King Jr Library in Aurora, where a group is gathering and preparing to march and drive about 5 miles to Denver's City Park as a protest against police brutality. I'll keep this thread going as the day unfolds.
Just talked with a father daughter pair, Gregory and Abigail Strickland, who plan to walk the whole five miles. "We come from a place of privilege, and you realize that after a while," Gregory said, adding he felt he could no longer stand by without participating.
He was at the march in Aurora where a protester fired shots at a truck that drove through the crowd, but said he is not worried about safety today. He and Abigail think the protests will keep momentum. "Just when you think it is over, another ugly incident happens," Gregory said.
I'm out at the scene of a shooting with reported multiple victims on West Byers Place. Neighbors say they heard shots and saw people running.
Looks like there was some sort of gathering in this park when the shooting happened, there are overturned chairs and abandoned tables of food and drinks.
Expecting Denver police to give an update here shortly.
Law enforcement and workers are working to clear out the large homeless camp in front of Denver's Capitol building. I've seen Colorado State Patrol here so far. The area is being fenced off.
There was just a conflict between a small group of about 10 people and police, I am not sure if they live here or came from outside to protest. One man was handcuffed after he climbed on a garbage truck apparently in protest of the removal.
That man is bleeding from his arm after being detained.
I'm out at the Capitol building in Denver, where a pro-police rally and a counter-protest are both scheduled for this afternoon. So far both groups have small crowds. Here is the counter-protest in the Capitol lawn. The police rally is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
I'll keep this thread updated today as both events unfold.
Lillian House, an organizer for the Party of Socialism and Liberation, said they organized the counter protest because a celebration of police is "unacceptable."