A Denver City Councilwoman was recorded being less-than-respectful during a demonstration concerning the cleaning up of a homeless camp in the Mile-High City.
The incident -which was caught on body camera on August 19- shows Denver City Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca denouncing the police as they clear up illegal housing.
“They don’t know s–, they do what they’re told. They’re f—ing guard dogs. They’re f—ing guard dogs. They’re just animals like pit bulls, they’re f—ing guard dogs,” CdeBaca is heard saying to the officers.
At one point during the confrontation, a body camera was knocked off of an officer’s uniform and was taken by a protester.
CdeBaca could be head telling the protester to steal the camera for evidence.
“There might be footage on there that we need,” she says. “But I don’t know how to access it. We could give it to the attorney.”
According to The Denver Channel, Cdebaca called on any protester injured by police to sue the city.
An anti-capitalist firebrand, Cdebaca once openly called for “community ownership of land, labor, resources, and distribution of those resources.”
In response to the Freedom of Information Act-released footage, CdeBaca gave the following statement regarding the recent incident:
“I have been working diligently with DPD officers in my district ever since I was elected into office. I recognize that we all have been put into a difficult situation by the Mayor who continues to act against CDC guidance during a pandemic. Day in and day out, I see the inhumanity of the Mayor’s homeless sweeps. On that particular day, I personally witnessed officers abusing my constituents outside of my office, which took place two days after my peace force bill was voted down. I watched helplessly as four of my constituents were swept as if they were trash rather than human beings, without being shown any compassion. I witnessed two constituents who suffered medical episodes as a result of the stress by the militarized sweep, including one who had to be taken to the emergency room.
“My comments were directed at officers who stood by while these inhumane events took place. At the root of why people believe policing must evolve is the shame and outrage we feel at the enforcement of the most egregious laws called Black Codes, which is why on the body cam video, you can hear me refer to the outdated vagrancy laws that were used to arrest Black people after they were freed from slavery.
“Rather than focusing solely on the language that I used to convey my distress as I stood behind police tape while my constituents were being abused, it would be more productive to focus on those who were assaulted by DPD that day, and on the $10,000+ in wasted taxpayer dollars used to deploy over 60 officers to remove 4 campers, rather than using those funds to get them off the streets in the first place. When housed people are evicted from their homes, the city rarely uses more than two Sheriff’s deputies to remove them, yet when DPD officers are involved the force is often excessive. Why does this administration deny unhoused people the equal protection of our laws? I will continue to stand up for those who are least able to protect themselves from such abuses.
“Finally, during the altercation between a police officer and protesters, an officer apparently lost their body camera, which was turned in to me. I returned that camera to Chief Pazen the following day. Any suggestion otherwise is irresponsible. It is also irresponsible to release only the leaked snippets rather than the complete footage from all officers involved in those beatings that day. Hopefully, you will cover the full context of these issues rather than producing yet another one-sided policing story that leaves out the trauma sustained by victims of excessive force, and the Mayor’s failed homelessness policies.”
According to DPD, officers were attacked by protesters when one man was detained for having a replica firearm.
Officers suffered minor injuries from kicks and strikes.
Denver police union president Nick Rogers pointed out that CdeBaca lied about being in possession of the body camera.
“She was in possession of it for 51 hours, there’s no disputing that,” he said.
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