This is no secret. They (unconventional action) recently held a workshop in the D.C. area for those planning to attend Denver. Unfortunately, I had to be elsewhere, as I was visiting communities along the so called Canadian border (and it was around the timeframe for my anticipated travel to Venezuela), otherwise I would have attended, and commented on this. But it sounds like someone wants a false flag bioattack…

Militant does NOT equal violence.

Somebody help me out here—

Where does it say (or imply) Unconventional Action advocates “violence” or recommends activists should damage property?

Shadow group??!?!?

Good citizen Dik, you are asking the kind of critical questions that one almost believe might actually be asked in a free society and an objective non-corporate controlled press ;). I really wish I had been able to attend their workshop, as it would have been possible to write a factual and perhaps very interesting article about what they are actually doing, but before any discussion digresses, direct action is itself a legitimate strategy and can take many forms. Somebody has decided to interpret their own meaning into it for whatever motives they may have.

This highlights the importance of organization so to avoid getting implicated in criminal offence by just being there. Takes a bail fund, lawyers, media coordinators, video event documentation, some muscle and the message.

Can they be provocateurs if they haven’t provoked anything yet? And I’d think to protest anything, you have to be provoked by something. So the term “provocateur” is kinda absurd here.
Really, protest doesn’t amount to much anymore. Only thing that seems to send a message are riots. There’s always been something quaint about obtaining permits to conduct protest. “Government-sanctioned protest against the government.”

Provocateurs are a nuisance for a demo. They derail the purpose and warp media coverage. A demo with children and whole families delivers more about consensus and social depth of a message than adrenaline freaks with gas masks and hoods.

what utter fucking bullshit.

propaganda on gnn?

propaganda on gnn?

Oh, say it ain’t so!

adrenaline freaks with gas masks and hoods.

Yet somehow it is ok because they are cops.

I have had a summit in my neighbourhood … riotous St-Jean-Baptiste days … demo routes pass just in front of where I live … after 19 years I’m still there.

and now this:

Group aims to cause chaos:

In Denver this weekend, a group of anarchists who have pledged to disrupt the Democratic National Convention will hold a secret action camp to learn about medical training and legal rights and to practice nonviolent tactics.

“We don’t want history to remember the Democratic National Convention in Denver as something that went smoothly,” said Tim Simons with the self-described anarchist group, Unconventional Denver.

“We want people to know there was dissent and people spoke up,” he said.

In the meantime, local governments in the region are inking contracts to send hundreds of law enforcement officers into Denver during the last week of August to work the convention.

Aurora will send nearly half its force to Denver, Jefferson County will ship more than 100 deputies and Arapahoe County is expecting to add 100.

Dozens of other agencies are sending officers: Colorado State Patrol, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Englewood, Littleton, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Douglas County and many others.

“We want to make sure we are adequately staffed for the number of people who are going to be here,” said Sonny Jackson, a Denver police spokesman. He would not disclose what agencies will be participating or how many officers are expected.

“We respect everyone’s First Amendment rights,” Jackson said. “We hope that the citizens will come in and conduct themselves in a law-abiding and responsible manner.”

With the contingent of local officers and federal agents and the money being spent on security from a $50 million federal grant, protesters worry about possible outcomes.

“The police are gearing up for confrontation,” said Glenn Spagnuolo, organizer with the protest group Re-create 68. “Police are getting dressed up for a fight, and if there isn’t one, they will create one.”

He said he has not heard of any of the protest groups planning violence against the police or citizens.

Plan for disruption

Numerous anti-war groups have announced their intention to demonstrate in Denver during the Aug. 25-28 convention, but most have promised peaceful actions. The language of the anarchist groups is more confrontational. Unconventional Denver is part of a national group of anarchists planning to descend on Denver.

The group says it will engage in nonviolent direct action and has called for protesters “to engage in a broad variety of tactics to disrupt fundraising events and prevent Democratic delegates from putting on the spectacle they claim as democracy,” according to the group’s website.

Unconventional Denver wants to shut down, disrupt or delay the convention; storm events; and “ensure that the DNC is a thing of rowdy beauty.”

The website suggests activists “hold” intersections to strand delegates in buses and “swarm” streets to force police to retreat.

The group has posted a schedule of events for certain days:

Sunday, the group wants to reclaim public space in the city. Monday, there will be actions against parties or restaurant outings and a “black bloc” gathering against capitalism. Tuesday, the group wants to shut down access to the Pepsi Center. And Wednesday and Thursday, there will be “creative actions” to address specific issues such as global warming, racism and criminal injustice.

“The streets will be a wild and creative place,” said Simons, a 25-year-old graphic artist who grew up in Boulder and lives in San Francisco.

Simons is helping organize Denver’s group, which meets weekly at a Colfax Avenue coffee shop. He wouldn’t disclose the size of the group.

For six days starting Saturday, they will meet at an undisclosed location to discuss actions and learn how to tend to one another’s medical needs and how to legally monitor the police reactions.

Simons says there will be street theater, “guerrilla gardening” and ways for alternative forms of media to get out their message.

A group called the Colorado Street Medics will be on hand throughout the protests to provide immediate medical service, said Zoe Williams, who is coordinating the expected 120 volunteer street medics.

“We don’t want to see a dark, evil atmosphere descending on Denver,” Simons said. “We want a festive atmosphere that celebrates grassroots movements.”

History of violence

Yet, historically, law enforcement officials have blamed anarchists for violence in protests.

In 2003, Colorado Springs Police Chief Luis Velez said, officers used tear gas on war protesters after anarchists from Denver disrupted the peaceful rally with violent acts — blocking an intersection and banging on cars.

Anarchists took center stage in Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting, when protesters smashed shop windows and police shot tear gas and rubber bullets. The National Guard and state patrol were called in to quell the chaos.

“I was there,” said Simons, who blamed police force for the trouble. “We were standing up for democracy.”

Simons said the real message of what people want will not be heard in the Pepsi Center or in the Democratic Party’s platform; it will come from what is being said in the streets.

“Politicians and the people in power should be afraid of the power of the people,” he said. “That is the sign of a healthy democracy.”

Good article.

Unconventional Denver should follow up with Press Releases.