Denver protests begin with small crowds

ByABC News
August 24, 2008, 11:53 PM

DENVER -- Fewer than 1,000 anti-war protesters took to the heavily guarded streets here Sunday in hopes of influencing thousands of Democrats arriving for their four-day national convention.

The first of the week's scheduled rallies and marches proved a disappointment to organizers, who had hoped for up to 25,000 participants. It was a relief to the police, FBI and Secret Service who massed in riot gear to prevent the mass violence that some had predicted.

There had been talk of comparisons to Chicago in 1968 and Seattle in 1999, past protests that resulted in widespread violence and arrests. Police, working with the FBI, Secret Service and National Guard, were prepared with thousands of their own forces in the streets, on rooftops and in helicopters.

Most of the protesters were from the greater Denver area, including sisters Krista and Brooke Martinez, both students at Colorado State University. They were attending their first such protest.

"There isn't a lot of solidarity here. There isn't a lot of connectedness," said Krista, 21. Because of the police presence, she said, "the people have kind of been scared into not coming."

That wasn't true of Joe Brock, 55, a retired carpenter from Greenville, N.C., who hitchhiked to his first anti-war rally and was staying at a mission for the homeless. "I figured I'd just see what it was like," Brock said.

'A dignified march' with others concerned

The protest's organizers different anti-war groups who failed to come together under one umbrella urged those in the crowd to be peaceful rather than confront the police force.

"It's important to have a dignified march," said Ron Kovic, the paralyzed Vietnam War veteran who inspired the movie Born on the Fourth of July. Through non-violence, he said, "we have the moral high ground."

A few dozen protesters tried to engage the police verbally, with X-rated gestures and with "die-ins" along the designated parade route. No physical confrontations were observed throughout the day. A small group of demonstrators supporting U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan was unimpressed. "Was that underwhelming, or what?" said Merrilee Carlson, chairwoman of Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, whose son Michael was killed in Iraq three years ago.