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The group Recreate 68 is not happy that the coveted protest spot -- Civic Center Park -- went to the Denver host committee. 7NEWS Reporter Lane Lyon explains.
DNC PERMITS


Protest Group Upset About Permit Process For DNC

Park Lottery For Democratic National Convention Halted Tuesday

POSTED: 8:34 am MDT March 20, 2008

A lottery to determine which groups will receive permits to use Denver parks around the time of the Democratic National Convention in August went smoothly Thursday, although a few questions remain.

The process was halted Tuesday as city officials responded to complaints that members of a protest group were left out of the process. A member of Denver-based Recreate 68 said her name was left off applications for four of the five days she sought a permit for Civic Center Park in downtown Denver. City officials then suspended the lottery while they verified their lists.

Katherine Archuleta, the city's liaison for the convention, said the database of applicants appears to be accurate, but some of those applicants didn't make it onto the tickets that were to be drawn from a box.

The dispute added another hitch to the contentious race for access to public areas near the convention, which will be held at the Pepsi Center west of downtown Aug. 25 through 28.

Members of the Recreate 68 group became angry Thursday when a group associated with the convention was awarded a spot in Civic Center Park on the Sunday before the start of the convention.

Recreate 68 members were angry that the Denver convention host committee obtained its one-day permit, even though the protest group was awarded two other days at the same park.

Glenn Spagnuolo said it was unfair, since the group already had control of the Pepsi Center. He warned that protestors from around the country are coming to Denver and will ignore the permitting process. Recreate-68 vowed to occupy Civic Center Park with thousands of demonstrators.

He said his group was willing to make Denver "ground zero" for the fight over freedom of speech.


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