Police dragnet captures Montessori teacher

Walking down Brighton Boulevard Wednesday afternoon during the Iraq Veterans Against the War march was Brian Vicente, the attorney overseeing the defense of protesters arrested during the Democratic National Convention.

He was one of about 10 lawyers sporting brightly colored hats saying “National Lawyers Guild Observer.” Vicente said he felt the week had gone fairly smoothly overall for police and protesters.

Vicente said about 100 protesters had been arrested so far. His most challenging period was Monday night to Tuesday morning. Vicente says he spent from about 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. representing protesters arrested Monday night outside the City and County building. About half pleaded not guilty, he said. He also said about half of those arrested were Coloradans, and that one was a teacher at a Montessori school who had just been walking past to get some food from McDonald’s.

“Other than Monday night, the police have been very respectful,” he said. “I think they thought, ‘Well, they spend $50 million, and they needed an altercation.’ ”

Vicente, who runs the People’s Law Project, said Thursday’s immigration march would be the big remaining test. Besides his work for protesters, Vicente also works for Sensible Colorado, which works “for an effective drug policy” in Colorado.