*If anyone was in a similar position yesterday, or elsewhere in the march, and saw something that counters or adds to this in any way, I’d love to hear from you.

Protesters regroup after police set off flash grenades and fired pepper bullets, splitting last night’s march on Colfax.

As far as I could tell, the violent scene that erupted on Colfax last night was a direct result of the aggressive provocation of heavily equipped police units at the intersection of Washington and Colfax. Several local reporters have asserted the same. Denver Post reporter Alex Burness tweeted that the episode was “definitely the most violent single moment I’ve covered over these four days.“ Adding, “The show of force from police over the last hour in Denver has been way above and beyond anything else I’ve seen since all this started four days ago. In fact it’s beyond anything I’ve seen from police in my life.” These units were already in place across Washington and Clarkson, just north or Colfax, at 6:30 p.m. (ostensibly to protect the police precinct between Colfax and 16th) when I rode from Colfax and Marion to the Capitol building, where a large number of people, (likely thousands), were gathered. At around 8:15, this group began marching east on Colfax.

Crowd marching to Capitol around 6:30 p.m.

The group gathered at the Capitol steps flips off a drone flying overhead.

To be clear: These were not ordinary police, but SWAT units in full armor and fortified vehicles. Their presence alone has heightened tensions and escalated situations over the weekend.

There was a different feeling in the air earlier last night than in previous nights, both during the rally around the Capitol and in the early stages of the ensuing march. The collective mood was a bit lighter, almost celebratory at times. (*This trend continued today—June 1— in the gatherings around the Capitol in the late afternoon/early evening. It’s not as present at the core of the rallies, but surely in the periphery. There is a lot more to be said and unpack about this dynamic. I don’t necessarily see this as something positive, but a slippery slope into something like I addressed in the blog before this.) Music blared from cars, some with people atop, there were a few burnouts and crowds cheered and chanted in unison.

Crowd gathered on Capitol grounds moves to Colfax.

Minutes before flash grenades were set off.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the flash grenades, or whatever they are, went off, followed by the pepper and rubber/foam bullets. And just like that, the standoffs began, and Colfax descended into chaos.

The first explosions went off about 15-20 yards ahead of my brother and I, at the intersection of Washington and Colfax. We witnessed no provocation or any violence beforehand. Granted, I could not see around the corner of the intersection, and it is entirely possible that someone tossed a water bottle or another object at the line of cops. (Who were in full armor…) But there was certainly nothing major going on that preceded the explosions. The march hadn’t paused as we passed the line of “police.”

Just moments after the deployment of flash grenades. Crowd has scattered in every direction.

Why the use of aggressive intervention? This was the question posed to Mayor Hancock by CPR again this morning. Hancock answered as he has in previous days that action was taken only after objects were thrown at police.

Given the way things unfolded, my immediate suspicion last night was that the flash bangs were part of a strategy to cut the march in half so that the separated groups could be more easily dispersed, since the march continued after the curfew put in place. This belief was reinforced by the use of vehicles to break the group. Just as the flash grenades were deployed, a silver sedan quickly pulled out headed south on Washington, across Colfax, through the marching protestors. The road to the north of this car had been blocked for hours by a police line. The car must have already been there, and happened to drive off, splitting the procession, just as the other tactics were simultaneously deployed. Maybe it was a coincidence, a bystander escaping. Fine. The ambulance that came north on Washington not long after, turning on sirens a block before and driving through the group from the south side is a harder sell. (Especially after witnessing a fully-armored officer leap out as the vehicle neared the Argonaut parking lot.)

While Hancock’s answer doesn’t align with many reports from the scene, it really doesn’t matter. In any case, the tactics used by the Denver Police Department were grossly disproportionate, as many reporters have noted, and sent Capitol Hill into pandemonium once again. This is a recurring theme in protests nationwide.

What did officials expect to happen? Surely they knew people would march following the gathering at the Capitol and not simply disperse because of the curfew. It wasn’t hard to guess that the group would move down Colfax. Would it not have been safer for all to simply let the march proceed, even if a few projectiles had been thrown? Perhaps a portion of the group would have retired after another couple hours. Maybe not, but police provocation guaranteed the violence that unfolded. Less aggressive measures would have at least left the possibility of avoiding the roving violent confrontations that have consumed Cap Hill the last few nights. It’s hard to view what happened as anything other than planned strategy.

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