Recreate68 loses Civic Center Park for DNC protest; honcho threatens "blow up"

Glenn Spagnuolo is blustering again. The News:

Denver could face a "dangerous situation" on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, war protesters said Thursday, after losing a coveted permit for Civic Center to the convention host committee.

"When things blow up because the police have to enforce a permit that the Democrats got, don’t blame us for that," said Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer for the Re-create 68 Alliance.

"Blame the Democrats for trying to silence dissent in the city of Denver."

How drearily predictable of ol' Spagnoodles, blaming others for the violence he's clearly been yearning for--and planning--all along.

The do-over went smoothly.

But when Jenny Anderson, event planner for the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, won the permit for Civic Center for a kick-off Aug. 24, Spagnuolo accused the committee of creating a "very serious, dangerous situation . . . for everybody."

For everybody.

Re-create 68 - which has promised demonstrations that will rival those at the bloody 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago - will be at Civic Center on Aug. 24, with or without a permit, he said.

The group, which is expecting up to 50,000 protesters from across the country, plans to march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center, where the convention will be held, on Aug. 24, even though a parade route or a security zone hasn’t been announced.

Spagnuolo and Mark Cohen, another protester, said that the host committee shouldn’t have been allowed to apply for park permits.

"They have the Pepsi Center," Spagnuolo said. "Now they’re taking one of the biggest public spaces in this city from the public."

EP at SP has mo, mo, mo.

Update: The Post:

"We're having our protest at Civic Center," said a livid Glenn Spagnuolo, a lead organizer for the group Re-create 68. "We're not going to give up Civic Center park to the Democrats. . . . They are creating a very dangerous situation."

Spagnuolo has been meeting monthly with city officials for a year, hoping to win the right to use Civic Center throughout the convention. He says 50,000 war protesters are coming for a march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center on Aug. 24.

He said Thursday that he would not respect the host committee's permit and would occupy the park, even if it forced police to intervene.

Referring to the $50 million in federal security money slated for the convention, Spagnuolo said Denver police would need "$25 million to protect the Pepsi Center and $25 million to protect Civic Center."

Update II: Pepsi Center, in the news!

Update III: Hmmmm:

On Thursday, Berliant was carrying bogus credentials for several media outlets, Denver police said, and he also had business cards in his name touting various professions.

Update IV: DIA parking employees might go on strike before the convention:

The 200 parking-lot employees at Denver International Airport have a bigger bargaining tool this spring, when they are due to renegotiate their contract, thanks to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The Service Employees International Union chapter director for the parking employees, Dennis DeMaio, said the union is fully prepared to strike should it need to, and its employees are concerned about a possible cut in health-insurance coverage. The current contract expires April 15, and DeMaio calls it "outdated."