Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Recreate68 founder Spagnuolo subpoenaed to testify at protest trial

By the Secret Service. They'll try to impeach him out of his own big mouth. The Rocky's Convention-al Wisdom blog:

The US Secret Service has subpoenaed Glenn Spagnuolo, the oft-quoted organizer of Re-Create 68, as a witness in this afternoon's trial. Spagnuolo told me at the lunch break he thinks the government wants to vilify protesters.

The government could have a lot of ammunition to use against Spagnuolo.

He's been organizing protests during the DNC for more than a year, and you can hardly pick up a newspaper these days without reading his name. That's because he's a reporter's dream -- always accessible, and never disappoints with the quotes.

(For example: "If Denver needs to become Ground Zero in the fight to take back our rights, it will.")

That could be his undoing on the witness stand, though. The Secret Service and the city of Denver are arguing that limits on protesters -- such as a fenced in protest zone and a parade route that stops at Speer and Larimer -- are necessary for security reasons.

Spagnuolo insists he and the group are non-violent. But he talks often about the fact that if police get violent - and he expects they will - he and others will respond.

He told me he won't stay quiet on the witness stand this afternoon. "My politics don't stop inside the courtroom," he said.

Stout lad.

Update: Never mind. Convention-al Wisdom says Spagz' testification has been nayberted. "Dang, time's up":
The Secret Service won't get to call Glenn Spagnuolo after all. Judge Krieger gave each side three hours, and the city/Secret Service just used up all its time without getting to him.

The ACLU has five minutes left for rebuttal, then we'll be done for the day. Closings are scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

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