Fans ousted for Tibet protest

By Vanessa Miller, Daily Camera
June 15, 2007

A group of mostly Boulder protesters said their First Amendment rights were violated when they were "forcefully removed" from a Colorado Rapids match against the Chinese National Team for waving Tibetan flags and banners.

Tenzin Dhongyal, a Tibetan living in Boulder, said he and 13 other protesters were grabbed and shoved in the Rapids' new Commerce City soccer stadium Sunday for raising flags and banners.

Colorado Rapids officials said the signs violated a clear rule outlined in the team's fan guide.

But Dhongyal called the ejection a First Amendment rights violation. The group bought tickets to the game, and Dhongyal said, "We werenot disrupting the game or shouting."

"When it comes to free speech, I don't think there is a place and time for it," he said. "Free speech is free speech."

One of the group's banners read: "One world. One dream. Free Tibet."

"It hits on the 2008 Chinese Olympic slogan, 'One world, One dream,'" Dhongyal said. He said for the slogan to be true, "China has to free Tibet."

The Rapids' fan guide states that banners, flags and signs are allowed as long as they meet a list of stipulations, including one that prohibits items containing "commercial or political messages of any kind."

"With anything in the stands that is inflammatory for anyone in the stadium, we take a proactive stance," said Jurgen Mainka, Colorado Rapids spokesman. "We don't feel that a sporting event is the place for political banners."

The Rapids' $71 million Dick's Sporting Goods Park was part of a $183 million development project financed by a public-private partnership. Commerce City voters approved a $64 million bond sale three years ago to cover part of the $93 million in infrastructure costs.

Denver-based Kroenke Sports Enterprises invested $20 million cash and $45 million in debt to construct the 18,000-seat complex.

Mainka said management banned political banners for the public's safety. If someone were to respond violently to a protest, spectators might be put in danger.

Judd Golden, chairman of Boulder County's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said a private organization that pays for its own stadium can make its own rules, even if it means keeping protesters quiet.

"I think they can make that content-neutral rule," he said.

But Golden said the protesters should be commended for pushing the free-speech envelope.

The activists have posted video of Sunday's security confrontation on YouTube.com.

In April, five American protesters — including three with Boulder ties — were arrested at the base of Mount Everest for displaying banners calling for Tibetan independence. They eventually were released and allowed to return home.

Dhongyal said he thinks security guards at Sunday's Rapids game were alerted by the Chinese team to "be on the lookout for protesters."

"We believe that in the land of the free and the home of the brave, they can't dictate what we can and can't do," Dhongyal said. "As a first-generation Tibetan American, I believe in the constitution of this great nation and its First Amendment rights."
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