DENVER - Some 100 protesters were arrested on Monday night after being confronted by Denver Police. The city is on high alert with an estimated 5,000 police, Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other security forces along with helicopters hovering overhead.

Denver Police dressed in riot gear fired pepper spray and tear gas into a crowd of protesters near Civic Center Park to disperse them. Eyewitnesses indicated that they saw no apparent reason for the aggressive confrontation by police.
Protesters were taken to a temporary processing center where arraignments began as early as midnight, Denver time, on Monday night.
Protests challenging the corporate-funded platform being presented at the Democratic Convention have been sponsored by a number of local and national activist groups.
Ron Kovic, a paralyzed Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist, emphasized the need for protesters to remain nonviolent. “We must remain nonviolent,” he said. “The chill of 1968 is in the air of Denver,” he added, referring to the brutal police crackdown on protesters at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention.
Adding to the tension, a transit employee found an abandoned backpack at the downtown bus station Monday morning. It was later detonated by the Denver Bomb Squad as a precaution.
Four arrests have also been made in an alleged conspiracy by white supremacists to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The plot was to be carried out during his acceptance speech, scheduled for Thursday night at Denver’s Invesco Stadium. Federal officials, however, have not deemed the threat to be credible