In the moment, it was difficult to tell who was louder: the anarchist with the megaphone or the 9/11 truth seeker with the booming voice.
Nick Brown, with the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement-Denver, conceded the volume victory to Alex Jones after Jones walked away from the exchange, which was a side show of the side show of the Recreate ‘68 protesters' day of exposing human rights injustices in the United States.
"He definitely has his talking points," said Brown, who calls Jones a "white populist" and accuses him of spreading a rumor that RAIM planned to throw human excrement at police this week. "I think I exposed some things."
It was one of few heated exchanges seen in downtown Denver on Monday, a different picture from the day before when police spent the day stopping anti-war protesters from blocking roads.
Missing was the large-scale chaos predicted in the weeks leading up to the convention.
The droves expected to rally with Recreate ‘68 turned out to be in the hundreds. Pockets of other protesters, from John McCain supporters to anti-abortion groups, engaged Democratic delegates and convention spectators, but there wasn't much in the way of fireworks.
On the lawn outside the federal courthouse, where ‘68 members marched from Civic Center Park across from the state Capitol, speakers detailed the injustices they say the United States government has committed against prisoners and indigenous people. Former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill was there, cigarette in hand.
"How can you stand there with your guns aimed at us, waiting to arrest us, when you know (expletive) well Bush is a criminal who needs to be arrested," said speaker Pam Africa, of Philadelphia's MOVE organization turning to the 20 riot-gear clad police officers standing on the sidelines.
"They must be pointed out for the traitors that they are to their own families."
