Occupy Denver confronts cloaked man who might or might not be Dick Cheney (video)
If you can get past the fact that Dick Cheney's name is spelled wrong in the title of this video, the rest of it is still confusing. On Friday, a handful of Occupy Denver protesters visited the site of the former vice president's recent (and secretive) trip to the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver to attempt to mike-check him before he left. Near the end of the video, they shout onscreen at a man escorted out with his suit jacket over his face. Did they succeed in checking Cheney?
To be honest, Westword is not entirely sure. Although his shielded appearance suggests that the man they are admonishing is, in fact, George W's previous No. 2, the build seems too slight to match Cheney's. And a carefully planned decoy can go a long way toward avoiding an aggressive situation.
Regardless of whether it's Cheney or a lucky stand-in, the situation is an interesting one. In Denver, Cheney spoke in support of the charity Phoenix Multisport, an organization devoted to assisting alcoholics and drug addicts recovering from addiction. Although the paid stop was part of his cross-country book tour for In My Time, the event was not open to the public or the press. Organizers attempted to keep the venue a secret from those without invitations, but Occupy Denver ferreted it out.
Watch the full YouTube clip below:
The video begins with the event's attendees taking offense to the protesters' presence. At one point, a man in a trench coat and a patriotic-themed tie tells one of the protesters to, "actually read a book and learn something." This is not taken lightly: The woman in question responds that she is a college-educated individual, while she and former Westword cover subject Corey Donahue follow their heckler down the street and add to the reading list.
"Why don't you read a book," Donahue shouts. "Mein Kampf was a good book, too!"
Farther in, protester and former Westword profile subject Kenny White asks police officers in front of Cheney's venue to arrest him. Unsurprisingly, they decline. From there, the video progresses through footage of the protesters shouting allegations of Cheney taking part in treason and terrorism to shocked passersby: "If you're wondering what a terrorist looks like, it's a fat man with a defibrillator!"
Not long after, the man escorted under cover into a waiting SUV is accused of being a "murderer and a scumbag," although Donahue suggests on-camera it is not actually Dick Cheney.
What do you think?
More from our Occupy Denver archive: "Occupy Denver greeted by Police Chief Robert White while awaiting eviction."
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