Heavily armed private security watch over Colorado protests
Pueblo CO July 14 2020
The relative calm of a Sunday afternoon demonstration against the Christopher Columbus monument’s public presence was shattered when an angry male party charged into the heart of the protest group.
The man, who looked to be in his mid-30s, rushed into a Native American drum circle shouting racially insensitive remarks and swinging his fists.
As calls of “Security! Security!” were issued through a bullhorn, the disrupter was subdued by members of a heavily armed private security force before being taken into custody by Pueblo police officers.
Moments before the incident, the man marched down Abriendo Avenue, a red backpack in hand, yelling, “I’m going to show these (expletive deleted) what’s what.”
Sunday’s event saw the whole of the 100 block of East Abriendo Avenue barricaded, with members of the protest group, as well as counter-protesters, occupying the northbound lanes directly in front of the monument.
A sizable steel barricade buffer zone separated the two groups.
By numbers, the anti-Columbus faction appeared to outnumber a counter-protest group by about 4-1.
For the most part, the counter-protesters, who carried signs that read “Pueblo County Patriots protect Pueblo” and “Communism is not welcome in Pueblo,” gathered under a tent at the corner of Newton and Abriendo avenues.
One counter-protester sat in the middle of the street, reading a Bible from a lawn chair.
A few, however, exchanged words with protesters from across the buffer zone.
“Hey, did you know that the Aztecs sacrificed virgins?” a bearded man offered, to no one in particular. “So if we’re going to go back to the old way, that’s what they did.”
“Shut up, redneck,” came a response.
“Oh, so I’m a redneck, huh?”
A counter-protester in a “Mossad” T-shirt attracted the attention of a young man on the opposite side of the buffer zone, who uttered a remark.
“What?” the man in the T-shirt said. “You have a problem with Jewish people?”
“No,” came the reply. “I have a problem with Mossad.”
Mostly, though, the handful of counter-protesters gathered at the cusp of the buffer zone and talked among themselves.
Native American drumming and dancing marked the anti-monument demonstration, along with chants and declarations of why the plaza dedicated to the Italian explorer has no place in a public space.
Police worked diligently to keep members of the opposing groups separated. When the occasional party attempted to goad the counter-protesters from a Newton Avenue sidewalk, police quickly intervened.
A member of the private security force said the group was from Denver and traveled to Pueblo to offer protection and medical attention to the protesters, especially members of the American Indian Movement.
Several of the security team carried heavy weaponry, including a shotgun, AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, and pistols.
Members of the protest collective have vowed to gather every Sunday afternoon in front of the Columbus monument until it is removed.
Although Mayor Nick Gradisar has been in discussions with representatives on both side of the issue, a resolution has yet to be announced.
