Protest Groups Picket At 'Gitmo On The Platte'---Denver defends 'secret jail' built for DNC

[seafan]

Protest Groups Picket At 'Gitmo On The Platte'



Inside are dozens are metal cages. They are made out of chain link fence material and topped by rolls of barbed wire.
CBS


By Rick Sallinger
August 17, 2008

DENVER (CBS4) ― Convention protest groups aren't happy with what they call a "clandestine" detention center. It's a warehouse filled with makeshift jail cells to be used if there are mass arrests during the Democratic National Convention.

Protesters gathered at the site Friday. They think the conditions will be inhumane. They say the warehouse wasn't even fit for the voting machines it once housed. But the sheriff's department says the facility will actually speed up the time many of those arrested will have to spend in custody should laws be violated at the convention.

Since its existence was revealed protesters have likened the facility to a prison camp.

"We don't need another Gulag or Stalag or prison or whatever you want to call it," protester Larry Hales said.

The city and county says it is not a detention center. It is only to speed up the processing of those who are arrested during the convention.

.....

Earlier this week CBS4 showed the warehouse has been converted into a series of cells topped with razor wire. There's a sign that warns of the presence of stun guns.

"We don't need those threats already. We are already going to be put inside of cages for doing nothing more than exercising our constitutional rights," Glenn Spagnuolo with the protest group Recreate '68 said.

"Typically you would have participants from both sides that would be arrested," Lovingier said about the razor wire. "We have an obligation to keep them safe. So we don't want people climbing fences and assaulting each other."

Air conditioners now stand outside. Water, bathrooms, medical staff and phones will be available. The city says no one should be there more than a few hours.

Those arrested will be taken to the facility and processed. If they make bond they'll be released at the Denver County Jail. If not, they'll be housed there or in a neighboring county while they await their appearance in court.

Mayor's Office News Release

Mayor John Hickenlooper's office sent a news release to CBS4 and other media explaining the purpose of the holding facility. It says there will be a community outreach program this week to explain the facility's function.

City defends 'secret jail' built for DNC

August 16, 2008

.....

The makeshift holding center, dubbed "Gitmo on the Platte" by activists, is located on city-owned property near Steele Street and 38th Avenue. Newly-installed security cameras guard the exterior, chain-link fences and barbed wire form cells inside.

"We feel the city should be ashamed of this secret prison they've set up," said Re-create '68 organizer Glenn Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo and other activists gathered outside the formerly-secret facility on Friday to protest the city's plan to use it as a processing center for all those arrested outside the DNC.

"The public was never going to view this place, it was just found out," Spagnuolo said. "They got caught with this place. They told our lawyers in negotiations that this place didn't even exist."

"This was never a secret site," said Undersheriff Bill Lovingier, the city's director of corrections.

Lovingier said the city had long planned to build a new holding facility for the DNC, which triples the processing speed of the city jail. Lovingier said the Steele Street warehouse will be able to process 60 arrestees an hour.

"This center is designed as an arrest processing site," Lovinger said. "There will be no housing or long-term detentions."

Activists said that claim was doubtful.

"What's going to happen here is police are going to detain people for an inordinate amount of time," said Unconventional Denver organizer Ben Yager. "They're going to use this as an excuse to keep people out of the courts and off of the streets."

.....

Has everyone had enough?

[Hawkeye-X]

1. It'll be used to hold Rethuglicans of Recreate '68 (which Malloy identified as fake) and PUMA's

Trust me on this.

Hawkeye-X

[liberalmuse]

2. So THAT'S what they think of our Constitution?

And those who exercise their 1st Amendment rights? Outright contempt. How cynical. How nice. They didn't have to have cages with barbed wire, or tasers for that matter, but it looks like they went all out. They even picked a place already decked out in concentration camp beige. Fascist fucks. :mad:

[AllentownJake]

7. If they peacefully protest they probably won't be arrested

If they engage in civil disobedience (blocking streets, rioting, etc) than they get arrested.

Civil disobedience is willfully breaking the law to make a point and accepting the consequnces. Its the reason I admire Ghandi and Mohamed Ali. If you break the law willfully you must be prepared to take the consequences.

[Ikonoklast]

3. "Re-Create 68"....Republican stooges

They are not Democrats.

They are knowingly or otherwise helping the Repugs by shitting all over the Democratic Convention.

I guess a peaceful demonstration will not be in the cards for these folks. They intend to get themselves arrested, one way or another.

Violence never solved violence.

[AllentownJake]

4. If the PUMAs and GOPers masquerading as PUMAs cause trouble

They will get penned like an actual PUMA. I actually like this.

[Arnold Judas Rimmer]

5. They don't seem to mind their cages that much

[seafan]

6. Videos at first article's web site. n/t