Federal Homeland Security Money Used to Roust Protesters from Denver Park

In August 2009 The Post wrote a celibratory article about how well city leaders had used the $41.2 million the Federal Government gave the city to counter terrorist acts during the 2008 Democratic National Convention here. The title of the article was, Denver is still making most of security leftovers.

The InsideWire offered The Post a competing view - they refused to print it. The Wire argued that city law enforcement purposely purchased items intended to quash free speech and violently dispearse the assembled public. The Wire accurately predicted that the purchases would be used against Denver citizens exercising their Constitutionally protected right of assembly and free speech, not terrorists as the money was intended.

"It is how city officials chose to spend $20.6 million that tells a chilling tale. A total of $1.9 million went towards crowd control equipment and weapons, 28 percent of the $1.9 million went to purchase offensive type weapons and delivery equipment that included two orders of rubber blast and tear gas grenades costing over $140,000 and a grenade launcher costing $103,954."

(First Amendment danger in Denver, InsideWire, Sept. 2009.)

When law enforcement deployed in the early morning darkness this weekend to force protesters out of Lincoln Park, they looked like storm troopers dressed in intimidating matching black helmets, body armor and pads, riot batons, tear gas dispensers and gas masks. This gear was part of the $724,613 the city spent for individual crowd control protective gear. When the free voice liberty was choked out by mace it was part of $165,816 given to Denver law enforcement by Homeland Security to buy toxic chemicals to use against its citizens.

So the next time you see a citizen in Denver get abased and beat by police thank the fear mongering Department of Homeland Security and the city police who knew the real threat here was free citizens expressing their views, not terrorists bent on destruction.