Big photos below.

The mass protest against the weekend's North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit might be 1,000 miles from Denver, but its ties to the city are represented by at least 25 Occupy Denver protesters who traveled to attend. And when Occupy Wall Street placed a call for national action this weekend, the local branch responded with an anti-NATO march down the 16th Street Mall. Tonight, on the summit's final day, the group will continue its efforts with a candlelight vigil.

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Big photos below.

The mood was charged from the beginning. Even before City Council voted nine to four to approve Denver's new urban camping ordinance, one audience member made a point during the Pledge of Allegiance. During its conclusion of "peace and justice for all," he shouted "ALL!" in protest against the measure councilmen Paul Lopez and Albus Brooks later refered to as developing along the lines of a "class war." Throughout the ninety minutes council members discussed the ban, shouts against it from outside the City and County Building underscored the debate .

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When Snooze co-owner Brianna Borin spoke out in support of the urban camping ban at a city council hearing two weeks ago, Occupy Denver members took offense and launched a morning-long rally against the restaurant spot -- which employed four homeless individuals inside at that very moment. Days later, co-owner Jon Schlegel was still confused about why his business would be targeted -- and why the owners would be branded as Nazis despite one being Jewish.

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It's crunch time. As the Denver City Council prepares for a final vote tonight on the proposed urban camping ban, opponents and proponents spent the weekend discussing the issue in meetings and on the streets. At the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, regional representatives hosted a panel to debate the ordinance, which could go into effect on May 29 if approved, while Occupy Denver slept overnight in front of the Downtown Denver Partnership to protest the organization's support of the ban. And there are more demonstrations to come.

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Breakfast and politics don't always mix -- but Occupy Denver waits for no muffin. After Brianna Borin, co-owner of downtown early-morning eatery Snooze, spoke in "strong favor" of the proposed (and preliminarily passed) urban camping ban at last Monday's eight-hour City Council meeting, the local movement aimed its ire at the restaurant. Yesterday, roughly fifty protesters took on Snooze during its peak morning hours to to decry its owners' support for the ordinance.

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Yesterday's May Day events brought together protesters across the world in support of workers' rights, with Occupy Denver joining other activist communities on marches, teach-ins and direct actions. But while Seattle erupted in scenes of violence and New York witnessed more than thirty general strike arrests, Denver experienced relatively few police interactions. Denver Police Department officers arrested three people on minor charges during the day's proceedings.

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Update, 3 p.m. May 1: Today, hundreds of protesters took the day off from work and school to spend it with Occupy Denver in Civic Center Park. For the local movement and its community partners -- the Mercury Cafe included -- May Day began at noon with a march and rally and will continue until dusk, at which point the group will occupy the 16th Street Mall to show its opposition to Denver's proposed urban camping ban. Last night, Denver City Council voted to preliminarily approve the ordinance, which would make it illegal to camp on public or private property.

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Civic Center Park, which shut down in March for construction work and landscaping work, will remain closed longer than originally announced. According to Parks and Recreation reps, the downtown hub will continue to be shuttered through at least mid June. The news applies immediately to Occupy Denver, whose members have slept across the street for more than a month, but it might no longer matter pending City Council's May 14 decision on the urban camping ordinance.

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Big photos below.

"Urban camping" is an odd phrase that encompasses homeless people sleeping on city streets -- and the subject of this week's feature, "Unhappy Campers." A proposed urban camping ban that's working its way through Denver's city council would ban homeless people from sleeping on 16th Street Mall or any other public area not already off limits. A vote on the measure comes next month. Meanwhile, check out Britt Chester photos that capture the downtown scene on a recent Monday night.

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Caryn Sodaro.

In March, four Occupy Denver protesters were accused of robbery and second-degree assault during an incident at the 1500 block of Broadway. According to the police report, the four allegedly knocked down a skateboarder and stole his board. Yesterday, however, the city dismissed robbery charges against three of the arrestees, Caryn Sodaro, James Stacey and Kenny White. Not that they're entirely off the hook.

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