It wasn’t the most organized, or best publicized of the Denver marches to demand change after the death of a Minneapolis man in police custody, but it was one of the largest.
A massive crowd, stretching as long as six city blocks, moved through and around downtown Tuesday night, the sixth night of protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd. As they marched, they called out to residents to join them and it seemed to work, as hundreds became thousands.
Tashia Harper was carrying signs along with her sons, 7 and 3. She said the plight of African-American young men particularly resonates for her.
“I am raising little boys, black, young men out here,” Harper said. “History has not stopped, it is still in the making…I’m trying to raise them to be more optimistic.”
As the march grew, Denver Police kept their distance, occasionally serving only to block cross streets so protesters could stay together. It was a far different feeling than Friday, Saturday and Sunday when Denver Police used riot gear and SWAT units in an attempt to corral the crowds near Civic Center in what became nights of repeated clashes, vandalism and tear gas.
As the city’s mandatory curfew came and went at 9 p.m., the crowd had had thinned only a little, as they moved back to the area of the State Capitol. That’s where earlier in the day, days of protest turned into legislative action.
This is just the beginning….trump and the republicans are going to cheat in this election…they cannot win otherwise…the fighting has just begun…