Columbus Day Imprisonment Ends

Thirty four hours after arrests began, the last Columbus Day parade
protestor was released from the Denver jail at 13th and the ironically
named Cherokee Street. In prior years, protestors had been bussed to
the City and County building, issued citations, and released, but rumors
abounded that city officials and police intended to punish protestors
this year.

On Saturday morning, that punishment began with pain compliance holds
by riot-suited SWAT officers applied to people occupying the alleged
parade route. After being bussed to the City and County building,
arrestees were taken to the city jail where they were intrusively
searched twice, fingerprinted, given baloney sandwich dinners, issued
blankets, and assigned to beds and floors in the tiny cells among the
existing inmates.

Some people were not given any information about how or when they could
start their bail process, and others were given confusing or misleading
information. Access to medical care ranged from satisfactory to dangerous,
and some jailers offered harassment, lying, threats, and other control
tactics common to such faciliities.

Inmates said jail officials started shipping people off to the county
jail Saturday morning , presumably to make room for housing people
opposing the Columbus parade. Resigned to a mountain of paperwork, one
officer in the jail said he had worked during the Columbus protests
every year starting in 2000, and this was the first year that people
were not simply cited and released.

Normal bail processing times of as little as four hours stretched to
ten, twelve, and even longer. With no opportunity for legal advice,
some protestors and other inmates were asked to plead guilty or not
guilty in hearings by a magistrate Sunday morning. During the hearings,
the jail decided to refuse any more bail applications claiming they
were overloaded, further delaying people's exodus.

Transform Columbus Day supporters maintained a constant vigil outside
the jail, offering food, hugs, and medical assessment and care to those
in need. As that vigil approached its 30th hour and Sunday's weather
becamse unpleasantly windy and cold, and as the last few arrestees
were anticipated, a county officer threatened the group with arrest,
even after they had been given permission by other officers. The
officer refused to allow time to clarify the situation, and to avoid the
threatened arrest, the group welcoming arrestees to freedom in the cold
night dispersed.

Those arrestees who were asked uniformly thought the price of the
unpleasant jail experience was worth the effort to fight what Columbus
and his legacy represents and inflicts, and said they planned to be back
next year, in stark contrast to the "humility" one jailer insisted would
be taught under their care.

The last people released were taken to a warm safe place, fed healthy
food and coffee, and went home to the care of their family and friends.