On The March In The Gulag Denver

August 26 was day three of the occupation of Denver. On August 25th, around 1900 hours, several young demonstrators were maced and shot with pepper balls by the dark knights of the Denver riot squads funded by 50 million federal dollars.

Some will say the young protesters had it coming because they ran around sitting in the streets, many had bandannas on their faces and they were blocking traffic on a main street into downtown Denver.

What the film of the local CopWatch led by Steve Nash shows is something different from what the local and national news wants us to believe. Only indie media, including Amy Goodman's Democracy Now, showed police encircling a large group of people and firing mace, CS and pepper balls without ordering the group to disperse and without ensuring others in the area not part of any demonstration had a chance to get the hell out of their way.

An 80 year man on his way back from the library a block or so away was arrested and told he was an anarchist. Dressed in casual summer wear, he protested he was just coming back from the library. Cops chided him for "being a little too old" to be an anarchist. After treating him roughly and tying his hands behind his back with plastic cuffs, he was made to sit on the curb as the assault continued. When he was able to produce a library receipt he was let go without apology or assistance.

CopWatch film shows the riot goons approaching them and none of them had name badges or any other observable identification on their spanking new "Star Wars" uniforms. If we'd not been a mile high in elevation, Denver could have well been mistaken for Bejiing, Columbia or Tibet as unknown goons attacked citizens in the streets to protest the loss of freedom.

This is not the case of young people destroying property, harming other people or causing civil unrest to the point of a riot. We're talking about our younger generation doing what my generation did when a government refused to respond to the call to end an illegal and immoral war.

We're talking about young people saying they also have a right to be heard without fear or intimidation.

We're talking about citizens tired of that 10.3 billion dollars being spent each month on these wars of occupation while this nation's people struggle to find jobs, housing, food and transportation.

We're talking about young people willing to put themselves on the line for all of us to speak about racism, lack of healthcare and lack of participation in the process of governing.

Mainstream media worries about the attire of Hillary, worries about the celebrities that have come to Denver to attend celebrity parties and shows fanatics worrying about 33oo abortions each day. But they don't talk about young veterans marching in the streets of Denver to demonstrate how occupation looks. They don't talk about the child that dies every thirty seconds because of poverty around this globe. They don't talk about the 90 plus Afghans killed by American bombs in yet another case of collateral damage. The propaganda machine of the system continues to keep most Americans stupidly believing young Americans who dare to dissent endanger them. They don't try to point out the danger in the streets are the nameless goon squads that have been allowed to roam free to bully, coerce and assault citizens who are peacefully attempting to have their voices heard.

Don't believe kids with bandannas, spiked hair, tats and piercings care any less than any American about freedom, choices and the rights promised in the constitution. In fact, they care more than most Americans too damn lazy to get information from any source other than corporate media. They care more than Americans who get upset when a group of IVAW members do a street theater while they're having lunch. They care more than Americans going to a convention and making a shopping holiday out of it.

If you remember the days of the Vietnam protests, the RNC in New York, the DNC in Boston or the 2004 inaguration, imagine the experience doubled in police intimidation. That is gulag Denver this week. Fusion centers of agencies spying on citizens have been set up here and in Minneapolis. If you're not doing anything wrong you might be ok. If you're "compliant" you shouldn't be alarmed we have riot squads hanging off of special trucks trolling the streets to pick out anybody with a loud voice or a funny look. If you seek the safety of a police state, come to Denver this week. Hurry, only two more days and then you'll need to go east toward Minnesota.

Imagine the future when retinal scanning, facial recognition and technology that claim to detect anxiety and fear is implemented. Imagine the future when your cable man is working for the government installing not only the mind numbing 260 stations of television but also the capability of seeing inside your home. Paranoiac thinking? I would have said so a week ago even as jaded as I am but spending the last three days in my hometown turned into a gulag, I realize just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not spying on me or won't profile me and spray me with a chemical or shoot me with a projectile.

My hometown, Denver, is an hour away from some of the most fantastic mountains in the world but I can't fondly look west and see the Rocky Mountains today. Not as I see the streets of my city turned into the fascist state of cops bullying children of my son's and grandchildren’s generations asking to be heard. Not as I see Ron Kovic coming down from his hotel room to help out the kids because he fears they'll be hurt.

You want to know what democracy looks like. Don't expect to see it here in my hometown, Gulag Denver.

Wm. Terry Leichner, RN

VVAW member

Vietnam combat vet