400 riot in Fort Collins, burning and looting

‘til it breaks notes:

A longer media story and videos of the riot can be found here.

Apparently rioters were heard to shout “fuck the police” and generally deny the authority of the cops as the riot unfolded, at least until the cops and SWAT team deployed enough tear gas and other weapons to disperse them.

Arrests have been made in the wake of the riot as police reviewed video footage and issued warrants.  No matter how drunk you are during a riot, always remember to always cover your face!

FORT COLLINS — Five people have been cited for disorderly conduct and Fort Collins and Colorado State University police are reviewing videotapes to see whether they can identify others who spurred a riot that rolled through Old Town early Sunday morning.

So far, no students have been linked to the brawl, and officials are insisting that this won’t turn out to be another riot-plagued start to the school year.

Police used tear gas and pepper-spray balls to break up a crowd of 400 people near the intersection of North College and Mountain avenues after the Earth, Wind & Fire concert Saturday night at the annual Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest ended, said police spokeswoman Rita Davis.

It apparently all started after two men were ejected from a downtown bar. Several fights ensued.

Rioters began throwing beer bottles, patio furniture and other objects at police while damaging cars, stealing items from vendor tents and setting trash cans on fire, Davis said.

Some were injured in the fighting, including two men who went through the window of the Santa Fe Craftsman shop at 118 N. College Ave. They were taken to the hospital by ambulance before police could identify them, Davis said.

At least one vendor tent was burned in the rioting.

Gangs and Insurrection // on the occasion of the mass arrests in Denver

We don’t usually do much commentary, instead letting people’s actions speak for themselves, but there are some news stories that we absolutely cannot let go reported in the way the media would have it. This is one such story.  The following piece is not as complete and thought-out as we want; it’s a piece we’ve worked on for about a week since the news hit the press, but we’d like to work on it more.  Look for a better version in the next issue of ’til it breaks.

Last week the Denver Police Department made a mass arrest of 34 black youth and it seems like nobody has blinked an eye.

The 34 suspects were rounded up because, according to the cops, they are suspects in a series of downtown muggings.

Last we heard, 30 of those individuals have been charged with things like assault and robbery–many of them felony charges.  The police did not make it clear how they identified and rounded up the suspects, but “most of [them] told police they were associated with either the Rollin’ 60s Crips gang or the Black Gangster Disciples gang.”  The police keep dossiers on gang members; apparently they used their lists to round up individuals, throw them in jail, and begin interrogations.

All this ought to raise some kind of resistance from radicals who are also tracked by the police.

Anarchists, especially, should take notice when this shit goes down, cause we’re in gangs ourselves.  It’s true.  All it takes is a crew of folks who have each others’ backs to be a gang.  Our forms of social organization are atypical, and they are our greatest strength.

Even if you don’t think you’re a gangster, the cops already do.  The police in Denver have been using their Gang Units to track anarchists for years.  To them, we’re gangs.

Shoplifter tasers security guard

October 7th  AURORA – A loss prevention officer at the Burlington Coat Factory near I-225 and Mississippi in Aurora had a shocking experience when he tried stopping a man he saw shoplifting four watches.

Aurora Police say when the officer confronted a man he had seen putting four watches into his pants pocket, the man used a taser on him and then got away.

from 9news

Grocery workers reject offer, strike imminent

Grocery store workers for Safeway, King Soopers and City Market on the Western Slope have overwhelmingly voted to reject the companies’ offers and ask for a return to the bargaining table.

Safeway workers also voted to reauthorize a strike.

Meanwhile, the Denver Post is reporting that some shoppers are ready to betray class solidarity and cross picket lines…

Yeah, it’s hard to find a grocery store in Denver that isn’t a Safeway or King Soopers.  But you don’t have to be a traitor to get your food…

If you dodge the picket lines, dodge the checkout lines!

What better way for working-class folks to support the strike while improving their own material conditions?

UPDATE:  Okay, ‘imminent’ was an exaggeration. The fucking union is dragging this out as long as possible, giving the managers as long as they need to find scabs. Latest word: back to the negotiation table October 20th.

Best Buy has ‘no-chase’ shoplifting policy

A recent shoplifting fiasco at a Denver-area Best Buy store has brought to light the fact that employees of the store are instructed not to pursue a shoplifter once they leave the store and also that they are not allowed to make physical contact with a customer or shoplifter, for safety (liability) reasons. From the Denver Post article:

• A Best Buy spokeswoman… said company policy is not to pursue shoplifters out of the store.
• [The fired employee] said Best Buy has a policy that store employees are not to come into bodily contact with customers or shoplifters.
  

Just sayin’…

Denver shoplifting operation busted

DA: Organized looting on the rise

Note that the investigation involved a grand jury.

KDVR.com:

JEFFERSON COUNTY – Five men and four women have been indicted on racketeering charges for stealing and selling $20,000 worth of baby formula formula from area stores over the last year-and-a-half.

Police say the five had stolen over $20,000 worth of baby formula from merchants in the Denver metropolitan area and Colorado Springs and then sold it at a discount price to consumers either by word of mouth or through the Internet.

The crime ring is alleged to have gone into retail stores, filled shopping carts with baby formula, and then left the stores without paying for the items. These items would then be given to members of the group who would resell the stolen baby formula

The operation came to the attention of law enforcement after investigators at an Aurora Target, who suffered the greatest losses, notice the repeated theft of baby formula.

“We are seeing more and more of this type of organized retail crime,” said District Attorney Scott Storey.

Proceeds from the illegal enterprise are alleged to have been shared among the members of the group for their daily living expenses, gambling and illegal drugs. The victim [sic] merchants include Target, Safeway, Albertson’s, King Soopers and Wal-Mart.

Seven of the nine suspects have been arrested and are in various stages of the court process. Two of the participants of the organization are still at large and warrants have been issued for their arrest.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-enfamil-081409,0,6232394.story

Ten thousand riot in downtown Denver after Super Bowl victory

When Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl, nearly 10,000 people crowded onto the streets.

Rioters tossed dumpsters and trash in the streets, set fires, overturned cars and set some of them on fire.

Businesses reported millions of dollars in property damage.

Police used tear gas and horses to disperse the mob.

Several injuries were reported and police arrested dozens of people.