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ACLU wants probe into police- PRINT    EMAIL  

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staged DNC protest National debt giving voice to higher Social Security
By Felisa Cardona
The Denver Post age    10
Bicycle backlash: Crowded roads, new laws ratchet
POSTED: 11/07/2008 12:30:00 AM MST up road row    5
UPDATED: 11/07/2008 10:25:14 AM MST
Fire officials investigate noose incident at training
facility    3
When a Jefferson County deputy unleashed pepper spray at unruly First Western Conservative Summit draws a crowd to
protesters on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, he DNC PROTEST Littleton with Tom Tancredo, Michelle Malkin    2
did not know that his targets were undercover Denver police officers. Skinny dippers in SF Bay area hope to set
Read the ACLU's letter to the
record    2
Office of the Independent Monitor
Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado is questioning (PDF) .
whether that staged confrontation by police pretending to be violent Watch video from the August,
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inflamed other protesters or officers during the most intense night of 2008 standoff between DNC 1 Molly Hughes demoted at Channel 4
the four-day event. protesters and police at 15th & (about 4 minutes ago) 
Court in Downtown Denver. 2 Book review: Conservative dissects European
apathy (about 1 hour ago) 
The protest occurred Aug. 25 at 15th Street and Court Place near Watch video of protesters getting
3 Littwin: Resurrected New Orleans wonders if oil will
sprayed with pepper spray, from
Civic Center. Police ultimately arrested 106 people, the highest be latest executioner (about 4 hours ago) 
the August, 2008 standoff .
number of arrests in a single day during the convention. 4 Two women dead after pickup slams into store at
Greeley Mall (about 7 hours ago) 
5 McInnis' record shows slow steps to the right
According to a use-of-force police report obtained by the ACLU, undercover Denver detectives staged a
(about 8 hours ago) 
struggle with a police commander to get pulled out of the crowd without blowing their cover. The
commander knew they were working undercover, and the plan was to pull them out of the crowd and MORE BREAKING NEWS
pretend they were under arrest so protesters would be none the wiser.
Fire probed at Englewood apartment complex
- 07/11/2010 04:59 PM MDT
A Jefferson County deputy, unaware of the presence of undercover police, thought that the commander Bear shot after biting Durango man
was being attacked and used pepper spray on the undercover officers. - 07/11/2010 12:33 PM MDT
Fire officials investigate noose incident at training
The report says that the commander and an undercover detective were sprayed, but it does not indicate facility
- 07/11/2010 12:33 PM MDT
how many others were affected. The report also doesn't say whether the pepper spray used on the
One dead and two injured in Aurora shooting
undercover police was the first deployment of chemicals that night or whether the riot was already - 07/11/2010 12:27 PM MDT
underway. Drums and bugles ... and love
- 07/10/2010 11:03 PM MDT
Denver police have said they were trying to control the crowd moving from Civic Center. The officers Death of girl probed in Logan County
- 07/10/2010 08:43 PM MDT
testified in court that they had intelligence that anarchists planned to gather in the park, then move toward
the 16th Street Mall to wreak havoc at delegate hotels and other businesses. The activists had posted that
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plan on a publicly available website.
See The Denver Post's list of most-clicked
Probe requested
news articles on our Most Popular page
On Thursday, the ACLU of Colorado sent a letter to Denver's Independent Monitor, Richard Rosenthal,
asking for the Internal Affairs Bureau to conduct an investigation of the pepper-spraying incident. Post Poll - PTSD

"The actions of the undercover detectives on August 25, 2008, may have had the effect of exacerbating an Do you think post-traumatic stress disorder should
be included on the state's list of medical-
already 'tense situation,' as their feigned struggle led nearby officers and the public to believe that a marijuana-approved conditions? Read a related
commanding officer was being attacked by protestors and that the situation necessitated the use of story.
chemical agents," says the letter, written by ACLU staff attorney Taylor Pendergrass.
j  Yes
k
l
m
n
"Such actions may have escalated the overall situation by causing officers on the scene to fear that the
j  No
k
l
m
n
protestors threatened their safety, when in fact the struggle was only between uniformed officers and
undercover officers," he wrote. j  I don't know.
k
l
m
n

Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman did not return a call seeking comment about the pepper-spray Voting Requires Javascript
incident and whether the officers followed protocol by staging a disturbance with the commander.
Colorado Photo Galleries
Rosenthal said he had received the ACLU's letter about the pepper-spray incident.

He also received a letter from the ACLU last week requesting a probe into possible conflicting or false
statements by police about the riot and whether the department withheld evidence in some of the
protesters' criminal trials.

The ACLU contends videos show that protesters, as well as otherwise uninvolved onlookers, were never
» More Colorado photo galleries    
ordered or given a chance to disperse before they were surrounded and detained by police.
 "The letters have been received, and I am in the process of reviewing and evaluating them," Rosenthal said
Thursday.
NEWS: RECENT COMMENTS

As many as 60 protest suspects declined to accept plea deals after their arrests. Some cases have been
dismissed and some suspects acquitted after a judge cited a lack of evidence. Visit the news forum for more discussion
More recent comments on Denver Post news
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com articles

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