Occupy Denver: Stephen Liddane arrested for occupying an igloo after hours
Let's recap: By this point, It has been firmly established that Mayor Michael Hancock, the Denver Police Department, Governor John Hickenlooper and the Colorado State Patrol have no intention of allowing Occupy Denver to use tents. Such encampments have been referred to as a "shantytown" by police, even though tents might have prevented five hospitalizations. One possible solution, then, is an igloo -- or at least that's what Stephen Liddane thought until he was arrested inside of one.
Stephen Lidanne.
After the season's first snow sent a handful of occupiers to Denver Health, the group gathered to brainstorm options for how to successfully make it through the weather. Ideas consistently returned to the necessity of tents, which have incited police action on three separate occasions, as the police enforce rules against structures being erected on city and state property. The first, when all of the group's original tents were removed, resulted in 24 arrests, followed by 26 the next day when protesters attempted to protect the tented Thunderdome. Including four protesters arrested when police raided a squat, one arrested in last Saturday's anti-police brutality march and the arrest of homeless veteran Billy Reno (again for a tent), the total stood at 56.
Courtesy of Occupy Denver Volunteers dig inside the igloo to hollow out the center.
But somewhere between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Liddane became number 57. "At first, we thought it would be funny if I went into the igloo and occupied it. But then it became an issue where I knew I was going to be arrested for taking a stand," the 21-year-old Liddane says of his decision. He admits he was too worried or his health to spent the night at Civic Center Park during Tuesday night's snow: Instead, he slept under a bridge. "At the very least, it was warm inside by the time they came to shine their lights on me, and you can't say that for the rest of the park. They told me to get out."
Kelsey Whipple Stephen Liddane, better known as Frizz, has been a part of the Denver occupation since it originally became a tent city.
Liddane's answer: "Nah, I'm good."
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
