Springs war protesters face battles this summer

Four months after the nation watched video of Colorado Springs police firing tear gas to control antiwar protesters, more than half of the 33 resulting court cases have been resolved.

The biggest legal fight, however, is still to come.

Ten of the 12 people police arrested at a shopping center near Peterson Air Force Base are due in court in August and September. The defendants, who were protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq, call themselves the Dairy Queen Dozen because they were arrested near that restaurant Feb. 15.

The weeks since the arrest have not dulled the activists' outrage at police actions.

"This whole thing is so absurd. There was an absolute overreaction by police," said Diana Stough, a 34-year-old teacher and Nederland resident who's facing a charge of obstructing a highway.

Police defended their actions last February and March in lengthy meetings with the Colorado Springs City Council. Chief Luis Velez said officers used the minimum force necessary to get volatile crowds under control.

Some dispute the police version of events, even though most of the cases that have so far gone to court have resulted in convictions.

Stough said she will argue in court she was trying to obey police when they arrested her near the Dairy Queen.

Stough attended the day's largest rally, at Maizeland Road and North Academy Boulevard near Palmer Park, where police say 11 people were arrested. Stough later went to Peterson Air Force Base, where a group of activists planned to cross onto base property and be arrested for trespassing.

Police reported arresting seven people for trespassing. The event was over by the time Stough arrived. Stough said she ordered food at a nearby sandwich shop and went outside and saw police arresting more people.

"We saw the police drag a man out of the Dairy Queen, throw him on the ground, put their knee in his back and put handcuffs on him," Stough said.

Police told onlookers to leave. Stough said she responded: "I'll back up, but I have the right to observe police behavior."

Police arrested Stough soon after. She said she was turning to leave.

Like some others arrested in connection with the rallies, Stough said she would rather serve jail time than pay a fine if she is convicted.

"I'm not going to pay one dime," Stough said.

Other cases among the Dairy Queen Dozen similarly turn on questions such as when police issued orders and whether citizens obeyed.

Arden Buck said he watched people being arrested for trespassing at Peterson and then walked back to his car near Dairy Queen. He said he heard police telling onlookers to disperse and one officer told him not to look back. He looked back.

"Two of them grabbed me, put me in handcuffs and took me away," said Buck, a 69-year-old retired business owner from Nederland.

Buck faces charges of obstructing a highway. His attorney, Michael Duncan, said if the case goes to trial he will argue Colorado Springs police had no authority to arrest anyone because they were outside city limits.

Ten cases among the Dairy Queen Dozen were transferred from city court to the 4 th Judicial District County Court because of the jurisdiction issue.

One of the others was settled with a deferred sentence, and one was dismissed.

Michael Curran, a senior prosecutor handling the cases for the city, couldn't explain why that case was dismissed. He also didn't know why two other cases involving arrests at Palmer Park were dismissed.

Three cases from the Palmer Park rally have not been settled. They include Jeremy Zoller, 23, who police said picked up a tear gas canister and threw it back at officers. Zoller's trial on charges of failure to desist and resisting a public official is scheduled for July 16.

He didn't reply to a call seeking comment last week, but he denied the allegations at a City Council meeting after the incident.

The 33 arrests related to the protests include three juveniles. Authorities would not release information on the status of those cases.

Curran would not say whether police are allowed to arrest people outside their jurisdiction. The district attorney responsible for the cases in county court could not be reached for comment.

Assistant District Attorney Dan May said police generally cannot make arrests outside their jurisdiction, but that does not mean police acted improperly.

"Anybody can make a citizen's arrest when a crime happens in their presence," he said.

Curran said the City Attorney's Office has been happy with its success prosecuting people arrested at the rallies.

In hearings shortly after the rallies, most City Council members said they were satisfied with the police response. They refused demands by some of the protesters to order an independent investigation of the incidents.

Stough said she'll keep protesting whatever the outcome of her case. But she said others might think twice about it.

"I think it's a form of intimidation against peace activists, knowing that we could be arrested," she said.