In Civic Center Park this morning in Denver was the Occupy Denver group, the local contingent of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In between taking photographs, I heard a guy complaining that the police confiscated his $800 tripod and a lady answering her smart phone and when she hung up, she said “oops, I have to get ready for work!” her subsequent laughter indicated she was aware of her sense of irony.

Out of curiosity, I went to Civic Center Park in Denver to check up on the progression of the Occupy Denver movement, which is a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Along with the protesters and their signs, there is a tent city that is expanding as the days progress. Here are some photographs that illustrate what I mean

In his concurrence in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission  litigation, Justice Scalia basically wondered if corporations were so despised by the end of the 18^th century, “how came there to be so many of them?”  In contemporary culture, the same question can be asked as well.

In the local rendition of the Occupy Wall Street protests, while the congregants had the same sentiments as the protesters in NY and other places, there were not as many attendees as I am used to seeing at protests that I photograph on a semi regular basis. But they still made for good photographs.

This was the 3rd annual Tea Party tax day rally. On April 15th, Tea Party activists gathered on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol in an effort to motivate one another to get involved in the legislative process. Speakers included, Matt Arnold, of Clear The Bench Colorado, Ken Buck, former candidate for U.S. Senate, and John Caldara of the Independence Institute.

I would have had these photos up earlier, but my the Comcast outage just got resolved so I could not upload anything earlier.

This was the 1^st Annual Bikers at the Capitol event. On a somewhat gloomy day, various motorcycle enthusiasts gathered on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol. The purpose of which was to encourage them to learn more about the Constitution and how government works. Especially as it relates to laws that regulate motorcycles.  The Coalition of Independent Riders was 1 of the many organizations that attended this event.

Among the speakers were Peter Boyles. He spoke about a law in Georgia where the police can randomly and selectively pull a motorcycle over and tell the driver to let a car go through. The program is called Fusion and it is financed by grants from Homeland Security. The concept of the program sounds odd and absurd. It could be categorized as discriminatory in the sense that it specifically targets motorcycle riders vs. people who drive other vehicles.

After the event took place, the attendees met with their state senators/representatives.

This was the 2nd solidarity protest this week from the anti-Scott Walker forces. This one was sponsored by moveon.org

The events in Wisconsin have reverberated through the nation, and Colorado is no exception. Proving that what happens in Wisconsin does not stay in Wisconsin, the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and local Tea Party activists held what was billed as a “solidarity” rally on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol.

Depending on which side of the political isle you are on, the SEIU members at this event were either concerned about working families, or they were advocates of Charles Ponzi style economics. The people at the top of the steps were SEIU members while those on the sidewalk near the streets were for the most part Tea Party activists.

The Tea Party supporters chanted phrases like “Scott Walker, Right Choice!” & “Tax payers first!” While the SEIU members shouted phrases like “Don’t drink the tea!” & Wall Street Tool!” & “Kill the bill!”

The event was relatively peaceful (even though it was noisy) and there were no arrests.

Here are photographs from this event

In the wake of frustration over Denver’s pit bull ban, local residents of the city and their supporters converged in front of Denver City Hall in an effort to encourage its reversal.  One of the featured speakers of today’s event was Shorty Rossi of “Pit Boss,” which airs on Animal Planet.  At the center of the controversy is the Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) that essentially outlaws the ownership of pit bull dogs in Denver.

The case of Dias v Denver is the litigation challenging the constitutionality of the pit bull ban. In a decision from the 10 Circuit Court of Appeals, the court said “taking the factual allegations in the complaint as true, the plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that the pit bull ban is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court erred in dismissing the substantive due process claim insofar as the plaintiffs seek retrospective relief.”

The federal law that addresses the subject of service dogs does not regulate what dog breed a person may have as a service dog.  The city of Denver’s ban on pit bulls therefore justifies the litigation.

In these photographs, you will see activists consisting of dog groomers/trainers, and a veteran who came back from active duty and has PTSD. Among the group are Shorty Rossi (Animal Planet), Carla Madison (Denver City Counsel), & Sonya Dias (the plaintiff in the litigation).  If they lived in Denver they would be told they can’t own a pit bull if they wanted to. The thought process of why a person can own a German Shepard but not a pit bull is not clear. Counsel woman Carla Madison compared the ban to a form of discrimination, which it is.

One of the speakers, a U.S. soldier, told the story of how she was walking her pit bull and was bum rushed by the police department in the process of walking her dog.  She was transferred to Colorado in 2002. She moved to Denver unaware of the pit pull ban. 3 days after signing the lease, she is walking her dog and a van jumps the curb and goes in her direction. The guy in the van jumps out of the vehicle and yells “Are you going to comply?! Are you going to comply?!” She looks at him confused because she is wondering what she is not complying with. The policeman tells her “Ignorance is no excuse! If you don’t comply, by the time you get out of jail, all your dogs will be dead!” She pleaded with him to tell her what she allegedly was not complying with. The police then proceed to throw her on the ground at gunpoint. They then put her dog on a rabies pull and drag her off cowering with burn marks on the dog.  When she explained that she did not know what she was did wrong, he explained the situation to her about the ban and told her what she needed to do to get her dog back. After getting her dog back and having it shipped to her parents out of state, she eventually goes to court. The judge reportedly told her “I wish I had my jurisdiction extended there I would have her killed there too” during the proceedings. When she got out of court, she sat in her car for an hour and cried. When people serve their country, this is not a way in which they want to be thanked for their service.

When Shorty spoke, he said “if ignorant city council men can have their own martial law, it shows how ignorant they are.” He also encouraged the process of positive protest to get the message across and discouraged people from sending hate mail because hate mail makes activists look bad. He also said there is a “1 in 25 million chance that you will be bitten by a dog” of any breed. Because of government stupidity, Denver is killing family pets, he said. He called the assertion that there are 20yrs of statistics about pit bulls “a crock of shit.”

Famous people who have owned pit bulls include Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, and Jimmy Carter.

The skies over Civic Center Park in Denver were sunny on September 13th while the We Are the People rally convened. In an economy that leaves a lot to be desired, the goal of this event was to motivate one another to change the faces of Congress in November wth the hope that it will not be the opposite of progress.

At this event, we heard various speakers including Andrew Breitbart & S.E. Cupp among others. The the video from this event can be found somewhere on the web site of the People’s Press Collective

The black male you see waving his arms around interrupted Andrew’s speech and accused everyone in the crowd of being racist. He eventually left the event.

On a sunny afternoon in Fort Collins, Colorado, pro and anti-bailout activists converged at the intersection of Mulberry Street and South College Avenue in Fort Collins, Colorado. These are photographs from the event.