A tight security net enveloped Denver as the city braced yesterday for the arrival of tens of thousands of supporters and protesters for the Democratic Party’s political extravaganza.
Some 45,000 people are expected in the city, nestled on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 police and security personnel to be deployed for the four-day convention which opens today.
But the security plans for the party convention coordinated by the secret service along with some 55 other agencies including the FBI and the US military have been denounced by civil rights groups as draconian and over-arching.
PHOTO: AFP
The first demonstrations were set to kick off early Sunday with a march outside the convention center called “to end the occupation” in Iraq.
“The fascist direction this country has taken should be brought to a halt and it can only be done by conscious activism, by people living in this country saying we will no longer go along with the things done by the Bush administration,” activist Debra Sweet, director of the World Can’t Wait activist group, said.
Yesterday’s march is just one of many planned over the four days as Democrats meet to nominate Illinois Senator Barack Obama as their White House candidate for the Nov. 4 elections.
On the sidelines of the political jamboree, Hollywood stars and top pop bands will rub shoulders with lawmakers and a host of activist groups eager to publicize their messages.
For a country which has been traumatized by political assassinations, and still scarred by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, events such as conventions pose a huge security headache and conjure up nightmarish scenarios.
The Denver gathering also falls on the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Chicago convention which erupted in violence when anti-Vietnam war protesters fought running battles with police.
Obama’s White House bid has already been overshadowed by fears for his safety and he was given Secret Service protection much earlier than any previous presidential candidate.
In an added complication, Obama suddenly decided to break with tradition and give his acceptance speech in Denver’s 75,000-seat Invesco football stadium, throwing up in the air arrangements in the planning since April last year.
“That was a last minute change and it does present a challenge in that it came about at the last minute,” said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service.
“It’s really just a matter of relying on the partnerships that were already in place ... using the same resources to put the event together on somewhat short notice for Invesco field,” he said.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has vowed that despite the tight security, transport links will keep running and residents should see little disruption to their daily lives.
But activists have complained they are being given little opportunity to openly protest outside the convention center, and will be hidden from delegates behind a chain-link fence.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sought to challenge the security arrangements before a Denver court, but was overruled by the judge who said protesters’ rights to freedom of speech had not been infringed.
Activists however have dubbed the rally area “Guantanamo on the Platte” linking the river which runs through the city to the US military base in Cuba where “war on terror” detainees are held.
And the ACLU, which has posted an emergency number on its website for anyone needing legal help during the convention, is also concerned about a police holding center for those arrested during the demos, set up in a warehouse.
“The future of the next few days is unwritten. But the level to which the secret service the federal government and the city of Denver have already gone to interfere with the free speech rights of protesters is unprecedented,” Sweet said.
But Wiley denied the security measures were over the top.
“It will not look like a police state or a war zone, but there will certainly be an increased presence that is just a hallmark of the necessary security,” he said.
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