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ACLU: DNC Protesters Arrested, Shackled, Denied Attorneys,
Forced To Plead Guilty
Denver police used pre-printed forms to issue charges,
misled arrestees
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The ACLU has accused the Denver Police Department of violating
the constitutional rights of protesters arrested in the vicinity
of the Democratic National Convention by denying them access to
lawyers, forcing them to plead guilty to inappropriate charges
and placing some of them in leg shackles.
The charges are detailed in a letter (Click
here for PDF) which at time of writing is yet to
appear on the website of ACLU Colorado but has been obtained by
alternative news website Raw
Story.
The letter summarizes how basic facts of law and
criminal justice were either ignored or turned on their head by
the police in the absence of legal counsel for arrestees, itself
a violation of the Constitution.
The ACLU alleges that police effectively forced
some protesters into pleading guilty, by tricking them into believing
they had to do so in order to post bond and gain access to a phone
call.
In addition it is thought that some arrestees were
led to believe that only they could post bond, rather than having
a third party do it on their behalf.
"This meant that no one was allowed to make
a phone call unless they plead guilty, thus making it impossible
for arrestees to even call a lawyer until admitting guilt."
Raw Story writer John Byrne comments.
Furthermore, the letter charges that some of those
in custody were told that pleading not guilty would result in
a "double sentence" if convicted.
The ACLU also states that police used "pre-printed"
charge forms and had to scrub out charges that did not apply to
some protesters. According to the letter some were erroneously
charged for offenses they did not commitsuch as "begging,
loitering and throwing stones and missiles," simply because
cops failed to remove them from the forms. In addition the letter
also states that extra charges were written in to some forms by
hand, leading to duplications of charges. In one case an arrestee
seemed to be facing six charges when in reality there were only
two separate ordinance violations listed.
Not content with issuing false charges, police also
mislead those arrested into thinking that any conviction stemming
from the charges could lead to "years in jail", according
to the ACLU, when in reality no such penalties exist for municipal
court violations.
The letter states that the only time arrestees got
to consult lawyers was in front of the jury gallery or in open
court in front of the judge, a blatant transgression of the most
basic legal rights.
(Article continues below)
One section of the letter, written by Taylor Pendergrass,
a staff attorney for the ACLU of Colorado, intimates that protesters
were rounded up in mass arrests and were not given the opportunity
to back off by police:
"It is not clear whether any order to disperse was given.
No Legal Observer [sic], witness or arrestee on the scene we've
debriefed heard any order to disperse... Numerous persons, including
Legal Observers, asked to be able to leave the blockaded area
and were refused." the letter states.
"After the arrests, attorneys from the People's
Law Project and the ACLU arrived at the [Temporary Arrestee Processing
Site to conduct confidential attorney-client consultations,"
Pendergrass continues. "The City refused to provide any access
to allow these persons to meet with attorneys."
Pendergrass also charges that those who could not
make bond spent up to eight hours at the holding facility before
being taken to court. Many were not given any food and were refused
blankets or extra clothing to keep warm. He also states that arrestees
were flexi-cuffed to each other in painful positions and were
not even allowed to go to the bathroom individually.
He also reveals that protesters were kept barefoot
and in leg shackles:
"Arrestees were kept barefoot at TAPS. I personally saw
one such arrestee later at the City and County Building. I saw
her marched from the elevator to the courtroom in bare feet and
leg shackles. I saw her appear in bare feet and leg shackles."
Two weeks ago reporters discovered the huge city owned warehouse
holding facility in Denver, consisting of steel cages
topped with barbed wire, ready to receive thousands of protesters.
On seeing footage of the facility one local political organizer
told the crew it resembled a "concentration camp", while
another described it as a "meat processing plant". The
facility has since been dubbed "Gitmo On The Platte".
On Monday Alex Jones and the Infowars crew obtained
exclusive footage outside the holding facility.
Last week a police
bulletin was leaked which advised officers that potentially
violent protesters may be identified from their use of hand held
radios, bikes, maps and "camping information." The ACLU
called
the bulletin "unnecessarily provocative"
and warned, "It has the potential to get police officers
all amped up and looking for a confrontation at a time when what
we need is cool heads and restraint."
The ACLU has demanded that arrestees be allowed access to attorneys
and that all other discretions and violations listed in their
letter be corrected by the city during the last two days of the
convention.
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