Occupy Protesters ?Mic Check? Hickenlooper

The official ground-breaking ceremony was held for Colorado Springs? first community solar garden Tuesday morning.

Several community leaders were in attendance, including Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.

As Hickenlooper took the stage, several Occupy Colorado Spring Protesters stood up and began staging what is called a ?mic check.? This is when protesters repeat in unison what the Occupy speaker says, with the speaker beginning by saying ?mic check.?

Hickenlooper asked the group several times to respect the ceremony.

?There?s an opportunity for other people to have their celebration, and I don?t think you want to trample their rights of assembly or their rights of speech,? said Hickenlooper.

The owner of the company responsible for establishing the solar panel garden also attempted to reason with the group.

?I would like to thank you guys for coming, but now I?d like to ask you to support a company that is just getting started and not to interrupt,? said David Amster-Olszewski, founder of SunShare.

The protesters did say they supported Amster-Olszewski and his start-up company but continued in their protest.

At one point, Hickenlooper asked for a vote. He asked for ?everybody who wants to hear the protesters, raise their hands.? Only a few attendees raised their hands. When Hickenlooper asked for ?everybody who wants to hear the rest of the ceremony here, raise their hands,? there were cheers and applause from the audience, to which Hickenlooper responded ?OK, so we have a vote.?

Protests continued but eventually quieted down as the ceremony continued.

There were no arrests at the ceremony.