An anti-police protest in Denver outside the police department headquarters escalated into violence Saturday night when assailants began hitting windows, setting small fires in the street, throwing rocks and throwing fireworks at officers, according to reports.
At one point, members of the crowd in what was called the “Give Em Hell” protest were trying to demolish a gate that ran around the Statehouse, reported Evan Kruegel of FOX 31 Denver.
At least eight arrests were reported, according to Kruegel.
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At another point, an assailant was seen throwing a bicycle at a police officer, according to a Denver’s KUSA-TV reporter.
Founders also set fire to an American flag, Marc Sallinger posted on Twitter.
Some fireworks exploded near officers, KUSA reported. One officer was reportedly injured, but it is unclear how serious the injuries were.
A Reddit post that earlier revealed the “Give Em Hell” protest claimed that Denver officials had not responded to calls from activists to defend the police and said that a bill calling for a referendum on replacing the police with a Peace Force was vetoed, according to FOX 31.
The post called on protesters to ‘bring you together’, according to KUSA.
A SWAT team was deployed for crowd control and several people were arrested, according to Denver’s KCNC-TV. The fires were soon put out. Chemical agents were presumably used on the assailants.
An order bus pulled up during the unrest, with residents handing out shields and helmets to members of the crowd, who were mostly dressed in black, Sallinger of KUSA reported.
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At one point, a resident confronted her dog with one of the assailants who hit a window with an ax.
“This is not productive,” she told the vandal, who smashed the glass again and left.
“People break every window they see,” Sallinger tweeted. “One came out of Quiznos with a drink in hand and said, ‘I needed a Coke.'”
“They are moving the whole city by ignoring the law,” he added in another tweet.
