Trial begins for protesters in St. Patrick's Day parade

The trial began this morning in Colorado Springs municipal court for the seven anti-war protesters arrested at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in March.

A jury of four women and two men — smaller juries hear cases in city court — will decide if the protesters are guilty of blocking a street during the event.

Judge Robert Warren made it clear that is all they will decide.

“We are not going to debate this war in this court,” Warren said. “We’re not discussing the war. We’re discussing a municipal ordinance and whether it was violated.”

It took most of the morning to choose a jury, and it became apparent many potential jurors had opinions about the well-publicized fracas.

Several who had military ties or strong opinions were dismissed.

“I could listen to all the facts, but I am human,” said one potential juror, a criminal investigator at Fort Carson who had recently served in Iraq. He was excused.

“I’m sending people to these locations in support of the operational troops,” said another potential juror, who works for a defense contractor. “I think you could question my judgement.”

In opening statements, city attorney Brett Johnson told the jurors the protesters, who were marching under a permit for the business Bookman, owned by one of the defendants, broke the rules of the parade by advocating on a social issue.

“They were there to promote a different cause, a social issue, that was not part of the parade,” Johnson said. “It would change the meaning of the parade, it would change the message of the parade.”

The attorney for the seven, Greg Walta, said in his opening the arrests were the result of a “disastrous miscommunication” by organizers, who put police in a “no-win position” by asking them to remove the marchers.

Some protesters were forcibly removed from the parade route and at least one was injured when she was dragged off the street.

“What happened that day was not criminal. There were no criminals out in the street that day,” Walta said. “There were some confused people, there were a lot of mad people and there were some angry people who felt that they’ been mistreated.”

The trial is expected to last two days.