Lumineers, Nathaniel Rateliff, Flobots hold protest play-in and march against GV City Council resolution, say they won’t play at Fiddler’s Green

BY FREDA MIKLIN GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

At least 1,000 people came to a play-in and protest against Greenwood Village City Council Resolution 40- 20 at William McKinley Carson Park adjacent to GV City Hall on July 20. The event, including a march to Fiddler’s Green led by the musicians after the concert, was sponsored by State Rep. Leslie Herod and supported by local Greenwood Village state Sen. Jeff Bridges and Rep. Meg Froelich.

In an interview at the event, Wes Schulz of the Lumineers said, “We just want Greenwood Village police to have the same accountability as the rest of the state. I just hope they (the city council) realize that this reform (SB 20-217 Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity) was made by the state and it is supposed to be for everyone.”

Numerous public officials and citizens have spoken out against the resolution the city council adopted July 6 “declaring its commitment to (fully and unconditionally) indemnify its police officers against liability under Senate Bill 20-217.” A previous protest was held at GV City Hall on July 9.

Herod, a prime sponsor of SB 20-217, said, “It’s a dangerous statement to say that they’ll protect officers even when they act in bad faith. If they don’t rescind it, I’ll bring it up in the general assembly in January (when the next session of the state legislature starts) and they won’t like that, so they should fix it now. No one is above the law, even the police.”

State Sen. Jeff Bridges, who lives in GV, said, “I saw my first concert at Fiddler’s Green but I will not go back there until the city council rescinds this resolution. It sends a dangerous message…I don’t want my tax dollars going to law-breaking cops.” He announced that U.S. Rep. Jason Crow was in Washington, D.C. but wanted people to know, “He is with us.”

State Rep. Meg Froelich, who is a former member of GV’s city council, said, “We have a crisis of police brutality in this nation….Good policing doesn’t end at a line on a map. There’s no excuse for a resolution that protects misguided cops in perpetuity.”

GV resident Marc Cohen, who was there with another GV resident, Barry Sonne, told The Villager he supports the police, but, “We all have to respect each other. Every

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