Minuteman Civil Defense Corps held a rally in Denver on Monday to protest the immigration policies of the two major party presidential candidates. The rally featured several high profile immigration control advocates, including Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and several third party candidates, including Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr, American Independent Party nominee Alan Keyes, and Constitution Party nominee Chuck Baldwin.
If not for the counter protesters shouting and chanting at the Minutemen, the event would have seemed more like a Fourth of July picnic than a political protest. The stage was decorated with flags and banners. People milled around tables of food, also decorated in bold patriotic themes. The Minutemen were also entertained with live music throughout the day.
Chris Simcox, the co-founder and president of the Minutemen, said that they organized the rally a few miles from the Democratic National Convention in the hopes that they could be heard by the media while avoiding counter protesters. Supporters of the Minutemen, however, were handing out fliers near the convention advertising the rally and asking Democrats to support platform changes. Their flier was obviously made specifically to target Democrats, with bolded key words like "sustainability" and "environment" placed prominently on the front.
A handful of counter protesters shouted obscenities on a bullhorn and tried to hand out Ku Klux Klan hoods to the Minutemen. Police kept the counter protesters a safe distance from the Minutemen, and the Minutemen largely ignored them.
Counter Protester - No Borders
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