Chaos ensured: MLK Day in Denver 1992

30 years ago then Governor, Richard Lamm signed the observance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day into Colorado State law. Ever since, the citizens of Denver, young, old, black and white have marched relatively peacefully. They would start in City Park at the original statue of Dr King and Emmett Till, westward down Colfax, past the State Capitol to the Civic Center where various politicians and civic leaders would give impassioned speeches about Dr. King's Dream and how far we have come since his death.

23 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan applied for permission to hold a rally at the Colorado State Capitol building to protest the King holiday and give voice to other political concerns they held.  

Many opposed the Klan's desires to hold such a rally on that specific day, at that specific location but the ACLU, supported upheld their civic right to assemble peacefully.

Obviously, chaos ensured.

That's me in the yellow shirt and white cap.

I was there on January 20th, 1992 in the capacity of a "marade marshal" and provider of security.

I saw the gang members and dozens of "counter-protesters" who came to the march, that day, intent on making their presence felt and their disagreement with the Klan's right to rally known.

Over the noise of the agitated marchers, you could barely hear what was being said by the KKK despite a PA system and bullhorns, but some of the rioters would later claim they were incited by being called nigger and other epithets.

I saw firsthand when things went from peaceful to out of control.

As the parade first began to pass the Capitol steps where Klan and their supporters were, parade participants deviated from the planned route and stopped to confront the protesters. They engaged in shouting matches. More people joined in. The crowd and tempers swelled. Gang members, marchers, even other security "guards" yelled and shouted at the Klan and the police who stood as barricades between the two sides.

Then someone threw something.

It was probably a snowball but it might have been a rock. Whatever it was, it was quickly followed by another and another until eventually the police began to retreat and escort the up until then peaceful Klan party into the Capitol building.

Sensing weakness and recognizing they had the upperhand, the crowds pushed forward toward the retreating protesters, still hurling debris which now included snowballs, hunks of ice, bottles, and rocks.

I heard over my security radio that the police were going to attempt to escort the Klan and suppoorters to safety out the south side of the building. I ran over there from to witness a crowd of about 80 angry people on the verge of storming the glass doors, on which the Klan protesters stood on the other side.

By now, most of the other marshals had either abandoned their posts and/or joined the riotous crowd. It was just a handful of us attempting to intervene and prevent things from getting really ugly. But before I knew it, a police car had been tipped onto its side and the windshield had been smashed out with a street sign and that was enough for the police.

Loud pops cracked the air over the roar of the crowd and the thick fog of tear gas began to drift toward the street.Most "counter-protesters" and rioters ran but some picked up the tear-gas canisters and threw them back toward the police.

Unfortunately for me and the few others trying to maintain order, we stood directly in between the police's "crowd control" and the crowd. Things got hazy after that - literally. My eyes began to burn. My nose began to run profusely. The police shoved most of to the side or in some cases, to the ground.

After 15 or 20 minutes of absolute chaos, someone, I don't know who, helped me wash my eyes out with water from a nearby cooler. A semblance of order had been restored. Many messages we sent and received loud and clear that day. The most powerful one being, the police are in charge.

Since that day I have looked at modern day protests with a very skeptical eye. The protests and marches that Dr. King organized and participated in meant something. They were revolutionary. In many cases, the were illegal. Participants risked bodily injury and arrest. They risked losing their jobs in an era when black people could and would be easily replaced. The marches were organized and had a concrete agenda. For example; The organizers of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom also demanded decent housing, adequate and integrated education, a federal jobs program for full employment, and a national minimum wage of over $13.001 an hour in today’s dollars. Ironically, the KKK protest that day was probably more effective at recruiting and gaining sympathy for their cause than any parade held in honor of Martin Luther King jr. has for civil rights or racial justice. Those who participated in the Klan protest were standing up for an unpopular cause. They risked their safety. They jeopardized their careers for what they believed in. And they weren’t the ones who initiated violence. From my perspective on the frontline, they were the ones who most effectively employed the tactics of Dr King - on the day he was to be celebrated.

The protests and marches across the country over the past few months are at best news fodder and at worst antagonistic and a major inconvenience to those who may have been sympathetic to the cause. If they are to be taken seriously, organizers must come up with a solid,well articulated agenda of things they expect to change. Organizers and participants must be willing to sacrifice and suffer for their cause. Facebook posts, tweets and minor acts of civil disobedience like “die-ins” don’t send a serious message. If you want to protest police brutality - sit in at your local police station until you’re arrested. Once you’re bailed out - go right back.

Today, the citizens of Denver are going to “march” again in remembrance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King jr. and his dream in what is historically one of the largest celebrations in the country. There have been scattered social media posts requesting participants to wear black in honor the trending slogan “Black Lives Matter”. I haven’t yet heard any agenda or official request for a referendum on current political matters. So when all is said and done today, what will be said or done? Other than police tactics for crowd control what strategies for change have evolved? What are the so-called movements doing different from what Dr. King and his compatriots did over 50 years ago? Not much in my opinion - which is why I think not much has changed.