DNC: Day 1 Adventures

Last night was quite and eventful one... just when we were thinking that it was actually going to be quite boring... We were wrong.

If you were looking at the Metro Media blog at all since about 6 last night it was anything but boring.

I had been assigned to cover Michelle Obama's speech in the evening, which meant I was out of commission from 3-10. I had to get in to the security zone and claim my seat.

We have 4 credentials for the Pepsi Center. Two perimeter passes that allow two people to roam around outside of the building but inside the security zone (basically the entirety of Auraria Parkway and the Pepsi Center grounds.) We have what is called an Arena Pass that allows one person to roam the halls of the Pepsi Center but they are not able to walk into the actual hall. And we have one hall pass, in the nose bleed section.

With all this said, there is a lot of handing passes off ... which is totally legal and a huge pain! I forgot I was not wearing the Hall Pass last night because I was inside with a writer and we were trading off being in the actual Hall. I tried walking in, the same entrance I had used all night, the guard lady knew I'd been in before but she would not let me through because I had the wrong pass. Yeah. Security is tight.

Getting into the Security zone is a pain to begin with ... especially if you are like me (and all 7 million of the other fotogs out there) I walk in to the security check with two camera bodies, a camera bag, a backpack with my lap top, a 300 2.8 Lens (it is about 2 ft long and 20 lbs) in its own separate bag. Yeah, this week I need a person in front of me with a banner that says wide load! I was joking with my boyfriend on Sunday when he came to town with me because he was offering to help carry my two bags and two cameras and I declined just because I do not have him around all week so I can get spoiled or my body won't be able to manage. But I tell ya, when you shed about 50 extra pounds in the evening ... Man do you feel skinny!

But getting to the Pepsi Center was not even the beginning of my adventure. Around 6 I began getting a lot of text messages from my fotogs telling me something was happening with the Recreate 68 group. Then I get a frantic phone call from a writer saying "Cora, gas has been released" ... and a whole lot of other stuff that I would not like to repeat.

Immediately I go into mommy mode because I have at least 5 photographers covering the rally. I begin frantically sending out texts ordering everyone to send me a text asap and let me know they are ok. All checked in, and one of my fotogs, Steve said, I think I broke my jaw and my camera is not working.

I begin to panic then. I call him and he is able to talk, but I am not able to leave because I have an assignment to shoot. One of my assistants is at our home base on 15th and Blake holding down the fort and I call him and tell him to let up any one and notify him of Steve's situation. This is supposed to be fun, and no one is supposed to get hurt.

Though everyone knows of the potential danger.

Steve is ok. He has a few chipped teeth, and today, now that the adrenaline has worn off is on his way to the dentist as I type. He has a broken flash that is insured so that is good.

He was the only one who got hurt he was the last fotog in the "disturbance." He got stuck between a group of protesters and a cop. He was shoved to the ground and hit his face on the curb. He has a few scratches behind his ear. But photojournalists are meant to endure it all. I received a text from him at 9 this morning asking if he has missed anything.

The worst for me was that I was stuck inside the Pepsi Center with all the people who don't even know what is going on outside of the building.

Steve got the best photos. See what smashing your face can do? Check out our blog!

Photo by CORA KEMP/ckemp4@mscd.edu
Swami Paramananda is planning to walk the entire perimeter of the Pepsi Center Aug. 25 to protest the protest barriers that have been set up through out the city, including Auraria Campus. Large concrete barriers and fences have been installed to keep protesters out of the security clearance zone. Paramananda was only worried about having to cross the overpasses of I-25 that do not have pedestrian areas.

Campus Lockdown... We're not kidding!

Photo by CORA KEMP/ckemp4@mscd.edu

By Tara Moberly
Surrounded by fences and concrete barriers, Campus Village looms like
a fortress, impenetrable by the average person.
The only way in or out is through the parking lot entrance, which is
guarded by Denver Police officers dressed in riot gear.
Residents can enter and leave the building as long as they have a
special sticker affixed to their school ID.
“It’s pretty scary,” remarked resident and UCD student Chandra Carnew
as she headed out to do some shopping with another occupant, Laura
Aldrich.
Carnew’s roommates have left town this week.
For Aldrich, leaving town to avoid the DNC wasn’t an option.
“I live in Texas, so I really had no choice,” she said.
While on a bike ride over the weekend, the two encountered fences that
seemed to appear out of nowhere, as well as other barriers.
“There was SWAT cops patrolling asking ‘Where are you going?’” Carnew
said.
As the conversation turned to protesters and police, Aldrich laughed
at the idea of a special area outside the Pepsi Center for protestors.
“I wasn’t aware we had to have free speech zones,” she said before
running off to catch the light rail.

Photo by Cora Kemp/ckemp4@mscd.edu
Christine McNamara of Longmont kneels in front of Christopher A. Anderson's memorial boots at Eyes Wide Open in Cuernavaca Park on Aug. 24. McNamara went to high school with Anderson. Anderson died in Iraq in spring 2007 when he was 24 years old. "I did not even think I would find his boots here," McNamara said.