Activists to create "Free City" in Denver
4/9/2008 - 1:47pm
- Activists with the Recreate '68 alliance said Wednesday that Civic Center park will become "Free City" during the Democratic National Convention.
A new city is coming to Denver, representatives for Re-create 68 and other anti-war activists announced this afternoon at Civic Center park.
“Free City” as the four activists renamed the park, will attempt to open the Sunday before the 2008 Democratic National Convention gets underway, set up tents and exist all the way through convention week, Aug. 25-28.
The activists briefly set up a sky-blue sign with the words FREE CITY in white. Yellow tulip-like flowers that bloomed in the shape of fists brightened the borders. Within seconds of the four’s attempt to hammer the sign into the ground, wind blew it over.
The residents of “Free City” will attempt to occupy the park beyond the legal rights R-68 affiliates have to the park, Spagnuolo said. Last month, in a blind lottery, R-68 and its affiliates won permits to use the park on Aug. 25 and 27, a Monday and Wednesday. By allowing camping in the park after curfew, Free City will also be in violation of city rules that forbid overnight stays.
R-68’s Glenn Spagnuolo last month angrily charged that Denver was "creating a very dangerous situation” when it award a permit for the park – as part of the same blind lottery that gave R-68 its permits – for the Sunday to a party planner for the city’s convention host committee. Today he said Free City would be free of violence.
Ask what Free City would do if police tried to enforce the rules and tried to remove the occupants, Spagnuolo would only say that Free City’s occupants wouldn’t leave.
Spagnuolo has said many times in the past that the largest march of the protesters would be an anti-war march that started Sunday morning at Civic Center and made way for the Pepsi Center, site of the convention hall.
Today he said whatever happened Sunday would be organic and without leaders.
- Chuck Plunkett, The Denver Post
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