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April 17 demonstrations in Denver protesting police killings of Minnesota’s Daunte Wright and Chicago’s Adam Toledo didn’t erupt into the kind of violence that intermittently marred the overwhelmingly peaceful protests that took place downtown after the death of George Floyd last May.
But they did leave behind graffiti on the Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion at 400 East Eighth Avenue (Governor Jared Polis actually lives in Boulder), as well as nearby homes and the headquarters of CBS4 at 1044 Lincoln Street.
A plaque at the entrance to the Governor’s mansion was tagged with an “A” for anarchy, as seen in the image at the top of this post. In addition, sharp statements about police and race materialized on this pair of garage doors.
A pair of pointed messages.
A sarcastic anti-gentrification comment was left on another garage:
A gentrification reference popped up on this Cheesman Park neighborhood garage door.
And to CBS4’s credit, the station included its own tagging in coverage:
One of at least two pieces of graffiti that wound up on the CBS4 building.
On April 18, Polis’s office put out a get-tough statement that included only a brief mention of First Amendment rights.
“The Governor condemns any act of vandalism and is saddened that multiple private residences, including the Governor’s mansion, were vandalized,” it reads. “The Governor encourages freedom of expression but through lawful means, and hopes that the perpetrators are found by the Denver Police Department and held accountable under the law.”
The Denver Police Department chose a lower-key approach. Instead of tweeting out any bellicose warnings, the DPD simply encouraged people whose homes or businesses were damaged to make a report at the department’s non-emergency number, 720-913-2000.
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