Trial update-Day 2

Here is a summary of Day 2 in the trial of the first 8 defendants who were arrested for protesting the Columbus Day Convoy of Conquest. This is courtesy of the Transform Columbus Day website.

After calling two Denver police officers (Division Chief Cooper and Commander Sandoval) plus showing video footage from the protests, the City of Denver rested its case around 12:00pm, Jan. 19th. The defense presented five witnesses who delivered a very strong and compelling testimony, both about their personal reasons for being involved in protesting the celebration of genocide and also about the socially transformative work of the TCD Alliance.

Glenn Morris was the first witness for the defenders in the afternoon. He was certified as a constitutional law expert by the court and testified as to the doctrine of discovery, its historical and contemporary significance to the indigenous people of the Americas, the relation of the doctrine of discovery to the celebration of Columbus. He also testified to the pattern of ethnic intimidation targeted towards indigenous people in Denver around Columbus Day and how the explicit celebration of colonialism is a violation of Colorado, US and international laws and the equal protection clause in the US Constitution.

Nita Gonzales testified about Escuela Tlatelolco, about Aztec culture and how it has been denied in the public schools, about the Crusade for Justice, about the indigenous and Chicano alliances, about the Transform Columbus Day Alliance and how the Four Directions March honors all people. How the holiday denies the cultural heritage of her children.

Rev. Reginald Holmes testified how Columbus represented genocide in the Americas and the enslavement of indigenous and African peoples.

Glenn Spagnuolo testified about his Italian heritage (his parents are from Italy) and how he learned about the history of indigenous peoples in this continent. He talked about a sense of shame when he found out that some Italians in Denver were celebrating Columbus and how he worked to approach the pro-Columbus Italians and was rebuffed.

Troylynn YellowWood spoke about her involvement in the Four Directions March and the energy and power of having all nations of people, she represents five generations of her family. everyone knows about Columbus and the people who came with me but no one knows about the people he destroyed.

The last two witnesses for the defense will be Natsu Saito and Ward Churchill. After their testimony the summations will begin; at the end of the summations, the jury will begin deliberations. It's estimated that the jury will begin deliberations by noon tomorrow.