Occupy Springs Protester Cuffed In Denver
An Occupy Colorado Springs protester ended up in handcuffs Saturday after a run in with a motorcycle police officer in Denver. At least 20 protesters were arrested after clashing with police near the capitol building.
What happened between OCS protester Frank Roper and police was caught on camera in this YouTube video
“There was a line of motorcycle cops coming through the park and one of them ran over my foot, so I kind of pushed him down,” said Roper, who said he was also hit by a non-lethal bullet.
Immediately after Roper shoved the officer’s bike, several police officers tackled him to the ground and cuffed him. Roper said he felt they used unnecessary force, despite his actions.
“Dude had no right to run over my foot, so that’s the end of that,” he told KRDO Newschannel 13 by phone from Denver.
Roper said he had to go to the hospital for his injuries. He was not arrested.
Some officers came out in riot gear Saturday and used pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters. The confrontation happened when police tried to remove protesters tents from Civic Center Park and prevent people from marching on the capitol building.
“We respect their constitutional rights to do what they are doing,” said Lt. Matt Murray, a spokesperson for the Denver Police Department. “Unfortunately, at a certain point, they went up the state capital grounds, an area that they were told to evacuate. They chose not to do that, and we, at that point, had to step in with the state police in order to push them back off that property.”
According to our sister station KMGH, two protesters were arrested on accusations they assaulted officers. There were reports of protesters throwing rocks and kicking police, and someone spray painted “99%” on a patrol car.
Protesters maintain that the rally was a peaceful one until police started using force.
“I was taking pictures of the arrests at the time, then got a face full of pepper spray, turned around and got a plastic bullet in the back of the head,” said Ben Stepleton, who showed news cameras a large welt behind his ear.
Police seized tents from Civic Center Park, an area where police have told protesters that they’re not allowed to camp.
