Police Deny Using Excessive Force Against Occupy Denver Protesters
DENVER (CBS4) - There were more arrests downtown Denver after another confrontation between police and Occupy Denver on Saturday.
The dispute concerned blocking the sidewalks. People are allowed to stand on the sidewalk and protest, but since Wednesday Denver police have been circulating a notice to the Occupy Denver protesters warning that anything blocking the sidewalk needs to be removed. If not, the person may be jailed for up to a year and/or face a fine of $999.
Smoke was rising from the Occupy Denver camp at Civic Center Park as police used fire extinguishers to put out a grill, which they say creates a safety hazard.
"About 20 minutes later, they rushed in spraying tear gas," a protester said.
"As far as any deployment of tear gas, pepper ball, or anything like that, no there was not," Sonny Jackson with Denver police said.
Since Thursday Denver police have been talking to the Occupy protesters about needing to move personal belongings such as chairs and tents off the sidewalk at Civic Center Park.
"The blocking the right of way is a trip hazard, forcing people to walk out in the roadway," Jackson said.
"This is important that you know the police told us they were going to give us ample time to clear the park. Within minutes after that they charged us, they were violent, we were not violent. A policeman jumped out of line and hit me with a baton as hard as he could," a protester said.
Police deny accusations of excessive force and say most protesters complied with orders to remove belongings from the sidewalk, but not everyone.
"There are a handful of folks that don't comply, they want to be confrontational. So they're the ones we're having to deal with in this type of scenario," Jackson said.
The removal of items blocking the sidewalk is not expected to end the Occupy movement at the park.
Police arrested three people during the sidewalk confrontation. A dozen others were arrested for criminal mischief and blocking roadways as they marched through downtown.
