COPENHAGEN—The first day of demonstrations in downtown Copenhagen was a peaceful one. Up to a couple thousand activists gathered in the Nytorv square near Stroget, the city's famous pedestrian street, then dispersed to three different neighborhoods and attempted, without success, to occupy buildings. In the end, according to my observations and opinions, the Danish police conducted themselves peacefully and professionally (a far cry from what we've witnessed at recent Republican National Conventions in the Twin Cities and New York) and outsmarted the demonstrators. Copenhagen police corralled several hundred protesters onto a bridge in the Norrebro neighborhood, arrested a few, and pacified the others. No violence.
Tomorrow, though, activists plan a march from the city to the Bella Center, several miles away, where the COP15 climate summit is taking place. Stay tuned. Here are links to a couple videos produced by Chuck Olsen and me for TheUptake.org. We'll be out in the streets tomorrow as well…
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Jacob Wheeler is a contributing editor at In These Times.
