Re-create ’68
The scene inside the 1968 Democratic Convention was as heated as outside where anti-war protesters had been denied entrance and then conducted rallies. Activism was at fever pitch that summer. In Chicago, the scene between protesters and riot police and secret service officers quickly spiraled out of control. here in Denver, this man is drawing parallels to what happened in Chicago in 1968. His anti-Iraq War protest group, called Recreate 68, was recently denied a permit to stage a protest against the Iraq War the day before the convention begins. He says people will come to protest anyway. His group has been working with lawyers to train activists in civil disobedience but he acknowledges that recreating the violence of 1968 is not what he wants. But can that be recreated in 2008? This professor says he’s more struck by the differences between the two scenarios than he is the similarities. He says a spirit of intense activism doesn’t exist today. but even so the city of Denver hopes to regulate huge protests should they occur this summer, but city officials promise not to recreate a Chicago in 1968 scenario. This Denver Congressman doubts that Recreate 68’s motives are peaceful and he thinks providing a forum for free speech is important but not more so than safety concerns.
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