For four months,
@sam_tabachnik
and I investigated how Pueblo's municipal court judges use contempt of court to inflate jail sentences for people facing low level citations like loitering. We found the city's practice is unprecedented in Colorado -->
Joshua Thurman, 34, was on the dance floor when the shooting happened. "Club Q is the only LGBTQ space in Colorado Springs," he said. "And we don't even have that anymore. What are we going to do? How do we move on from this? We can't. We're shattered. We're broken."
my partner got an automatic 5% raise and a Christmas bonus AND is having a white elephant party at work today and truly I've never been so tempted to leave journalism
Colorado police officers detained a woman in a police car -- which was parked on railroad tracks -- and a train hit the car with with the woman inside. She was seriously hurt.
Jim Fenimore, left, from Colorado Springs, said he is protesting because "Our constitutional rights are being violated." He says the reaction to the virus is a scare tactic designed to make President Trump look bad.
The great thing about subscribing to a local newspaper -- the printed paper -- is that it's not algorithmed in on you. It's just what a handful of people who live in your community think is important that day. Not without flaws, but still, a break from the online onslaught
Angie Conde, 75, from Greeley, said she came out to the rally because she believes the state needs to reopen. "I just feel like they are making too big of a thing out of this virus," she said, noting the economic inpact on small businesses. "I juat want to get back to normal."
Protester Mary Conley, of Jefferson County, said she believes the initial shutdown was OK, but that it has gone on too long. "Pot shops are open, abortion clinics are open and my church is closed," she said.
She said Americans know how to stay safe despite the virus now, and said she will continue to wear a mask and social distance for a while. "I do not operate from a place of fear," she said. "I operate from a place of knowledge."
Riley Carlson, 25, of Denver, said she is protesting because she lost her job as a dog walker and a second part time job at a winery, which is facing bankruptcy. She is losing about $1200 to $1600 a month, money she and her husband had been saving for a house.
These two protesters were just briedly detained for carrying firearms in the city. After being handcuffed, they were let go with a warning as long as they put their guns away. They declined to share their names with me.
Signs I've seen: "Isolating sick people is quarantine. Isolating healthy people is tyranny" "Freedom over fear" "Facts not fear" "Say no to Bill Gates" "Pontius Polis" "More freedom less tyranny"
people think journalism is glamorous but I just paid $30 to overnight a $6.25 check to a Colorado courthouse to get five pages of public criminal court filings by Tuesday because it's impossible to pay over the phone or online in the year of our lord 2024
Fenimore said it is a good idea to take precautions like handwashing or staying home when sick, but said closing businesses goes too far. The stay home order should be lifted now, not April 26, he said. "Every day that goes by is hurting the state."
Man on horseback, in a cowboy hat, just rode by and got a big round of cheers. Another man with a rather robust sound system is now preaching about the return of Jesus Christ.
There's a sentiment among those I've talked to that the predictive models for the number of cases were designed as deliberate lies meant to incite fear.
Protester Diana Paradise, standing left, said she is here because she believes the choice to stay home should be made by individuals, not by the government. "COVID is real but the fear is not," she said. "If it were, every grocery store worker would have COVID and would be sick."
She said she wore a mask even though she doesn't think she needs one, because she didn't want to offend or scare anyone else. "Death is part of life, and it is time to start living again," Conley said.
NEW: Denver police Chief Ron Thomas refused a second request from officials at the Auraria Campus to clear pro-Palestine demonstrators after police arrested 45 people in a tense sweep of the site last week—he says there is currently “no legal way” to do so
Remember when the Twelve Tribes religious sect burst into Colorado news in January, when one of its properties became part of the Marshall fire investigation? Not many on the Front Range know much about the insular religious group. But after the fire, I wanted to know more.🧵1/6
Crystal Mondragon and her daughter, 7-year-old Ella, live two blocks from the club and brought flowers to the memorial today after hearing the sirens last night. Ella wanted to bring a red rose. "One single rose brings a lot of happiness to the world," she said.
Members of the LGBTQ community are adding to a growing memorial here at the shooting scene. "It could have been any of us," one woman with flowers said. She declined to give her name.
I'm told by people leaving condolences that Club Q was the mainstay institution for the LGBTQ scene in Colorado Springs, a constant presence for 15-20 years while other clubs in the city came and went.
Robin Levisky, 18, said the shooting makes them afraid to gather with other LGBTQ people. "You try to live your best life as authentically as you can and then something like this happens," they said.
I'm out at the Capitol building in Denver tonight for anticipated protests in response to the decision not to directly charge any officers with Breonna Taylor's killing. So far a few dozen are here. I'll keep this thread updated tonight.
I left the scene to go talk with the parents of Daniel Aston, 28, a bartender at the club who was killed in the shooting. They want his death to raise awareness about the trans community. "There has to be more exposure and acceptance," his mother said.
The confrontation began when the driver pulled into the protest area and was stopped by protesters. The protesters surrounded the vehicle and told the driver to turn around. They shouted at each other, then the driver accelerated into the protesters after a few tense minutes
Local journalists are reporting on protests sparked by George Floyd's death all over the country tonight.
I'm not -- I've been furloughed this week -- but here is a roundup of local journalists who are on the ground in their communities: THREAD 1/
No signs of large groups of demonstrators or any would-be troublemakers in downtown Denver at this point tonight. The state Capitol building is deserted and only a few are milling on the mostly boarded up 16th Street Mall.
Here is when the driver first pulled up to the protesters tonight in Denver, you can hear people urging him to turn around. During the next few minutes, I saw the driver shaking his head in apparent disbelief and using his cell phone, perhaps to take pictures.
“For one bad person, there are billions of good people in the world,” James Slaugh said. “I want my message to be love...to be understanding, empathy and equality...I took a bullet, yes, but the bullet is never going to be as powerful as that love.”
I'm back at the Capitol for tonight's George Floyd protest in Denver, working with
@EliseSchmelzer
. A sizeable crowd has gathered here. I'll keep this thread going all night.
Pastor Sean Rafferty, from Rocky Mountain Church of the Calvary, came to the scene this morning to offer condolences. "Our hearts are broken for the people of our city," he said. "We desperately love our community...We believe God is not a god of violence like this."
I'm out at the Martin Luther King Jr Library in Aurora, where a group is gathering and preparing to march and drive about 5 miles to Denver's City Park as a protest against police brutality. I'll keep this thread going as the day unfolds.
I'm out at a Black Lives Matter protest in Westminster this afternoon, right now it is pretty small, but a handful of counter protesters are gathering across the street and the two groups are shouting at each other. I'll keep this thread updated.
A man who near where the fire started, Mike Zoltowski, said Sunday he believes he witnessed the start of the fire on the property next door to him — a pack of houses and land occupied by members of Twelve Tribes, a Christian religious sect.
Just got to the Capitol building in Denver to see what is happening now with protesters. There are folks walking around picking up trash, others are scrubbing off graffiti, cars are honking as they pass by. No one seems organized at this point, just milling about. It's hot.
NEW: Two Colorado sheriff’s deputies who shocked a handcuffed man with a Taser as he tried to watch a traffic stop were fired after an independent investigation found they had no legal basis to detain the man, used excessive force and wrote false reports.
Pittsburgh was ranked the 5th gloomiest city in the United States, according to a study that cheerfully noted that we experience more than 200 cloudy days a year.
A 17-month investigation into the cause of the Marshall fire confirms Denver Post reporting about a prior fire on the property of international religious cult the Twelve Tribes, and finds that the week-old fire reignited to first spark the Marshall fire
I consume lots of news. I heard plenty about Marjorie Taylor Greene during the campaign, but nothing about Lauren Boebert until she showed up in DC this month with her Glock. Was I missing something or did she float totally under the radar? And if the latter, how did that happen?
LJ, who asked to be identified by her initials to avoid any trouble with her employer, said she attended tonight because she is frustrated. "I came because of the hurt, the frustration, the overall pain that once again the system has failed another person of color," she said.
Story is updated:
Randy Corporon, attorney for the officers, donned a blue medical mask after the judge instructed him to, but when he stood up to address the court, he leaned on a podium and paused for a long moment.
“I’m sorry, your honor, I’m a little lightheaded,” he said.
reading three lines of an Axios 'story' before clicking through to the actual well-reported enterprise story from another news outlet is my roman empire
My findings will be published in a three-part Denver Post series starting today, with two stories to follow online Monday & Tuesday. Readers will hear from a Boulder woman who escaped at age 14, and from a Cañon City dad who is trying to get his 8-year-old child out. 4/6
Law enforcement and workers are working to clear out the large homeless camp in front of Denver's Capitol building. I've seen Colorado State Patrol here so far. The area is being fenced off.
Crowd has grown here at the scene of a mass shooting in Colorado Springs. Some cars have honked as they passed by to show support. Several people are passing out food and water.
Two police trucks with officers hanging on the sides just rolled up to the protest, not clear why, but they stopped for a few minutes then moved on. Crowd jeered them.
Out at Richard Fierro's home in Colorado Springs where he's agreed to speak with media about how he stopped the Club Q shooter. The street is quite busy.