Occupy Denver profile: John Sexton says he was falsely accused of felony assault on cop
John Sexton turned 33 this morning, and his birthday gifts have so far been slim: He was released from prison a couple hours ago, and his first birthday wish was from someone in a nearby holding cell. After a tense conversation with his mother, she, too, wished him a happy one. Perhaps his greatest present yet is the lack of a parking ticket on his car, parked near Civic Center Park at a one-hour meter since before he was arrested for felony assault of a police officer Saturday afternoon. It's been a tough 32 hours.
John Sexton.
Fourteen of those hours were spent in isolation -- which is where Sexton learned of the class four felony investigation targeting him. Of the two felony cases the Denver Police Department has said resulted from Saturday's altercation, Sexton's is the only one to be made public so far, and he was alone at his felony arraignment Sunday morning. When he walked into court at the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center, with cuts on his wrists and cheek, his charge was still a shock to him.
It still is now. "I wasn't notified of their allegation that I had assaulted a police officer until I was in jail," he says. "Before that, when I was still in custody, they took me outside the paddy wagon and read me my charge on camera. The only charge then was disobeying a lawful order, and that was completely replaced with the other charge later on."
Courtesy of Tanner Spendley John Sexton is placed in a chokehold during Saturday's interaction between police and Occupy Denver.
The events leading to his confusion technically began around 11 a.m. Saturday, when he parked his still-ticketless car and walked to the park for Occupy Denver's Saturday rally. By 3 p.m., things had gotten heated. When police converged on protesters occupying the right side of the park, Sexton says he met them, hands raised in the air, and began shouting in defense of the occupation.
"I said we weren't doing anything wrong, that we were peaceful, and the next thing I remember I'm on the ground with my face in the grass and all I can see out of my side vision is boots, so many boots," Sexton recalls. "From there, I was put into a chokehold for a while before I was handcuffed and taken to the paddy wagon. A lot of people became upset in response to me being arrested, and I was still shouting on the ground and then again as they took me away."
The firsthand vision of Sexton writhing on the ground on Saturday was one of the earliest divisive moments of the demonstration, along with the sight of another protester being shot out of a tree with pepper bullets. Photos of Sexton have crossed the Internet with a speed faster than even the charge he is being held for. Police currently have 72 hours to collect enough evidence to charge him with the crime by Thursday or drop it permanently. "I'm falsely accused, so my expectation, and my hope, is that they'll realize they don't have anything on me and let me off," Sexton says.
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