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Press Release

ACLU Holds Press Conference to Respond to Denver Police Department Special Bulletin Asking First Responders to Look for "Stockpiles" of Supplies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2008

The ACLU of Colorado responded to a bulletin—revealed August 20 in the Rocky Mountain News—that the Denver Police Department reportedly issued last week to all police, sheriff, and fire department personnel.

The bulletin asks all law enforcement and fire department personnel to be on the lookout for, and to report “stockpiles and caches of supplies” that that could be used by “violent demonstrators” during the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The bulletin lists various ordinarily legal materials that officers are asked to report to both the Denver Police Department and the Colorado Intelligence Analysis Center (CIAC), Colorado’s “fusion center.” The list includes such innocuous items as maps and bicycles.

ACLU Executive Director Cathryn Hazouri and ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein will speak. A third speaker is a Denver activist and homeowner who, shortly after the bulletin was issued to Denver police, was subjected to police questioning about bricks being unloaded at her house. Although the bricks were acquired for masonry repairs, Denver police accused the activist of “stockpiling” the bricks for the DNC.

Additional information on all of the ACLU’s current litigation, advocacy and public outreach efforts in advance of the Democratic National Convention can be found at: http://www.aclu-co.org/dnc/dnc.htm.

• DPD Special Bulletin

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