9NEWS.com | Colorado’s Online News Leader | Anarchists raise bail for Dem HQ vandalism suspect
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DENVER – Anarchist Web sites identify the person accused of smashing windows at the Colorado Democratic Party headquarters as a transgender activist who uses the name “Ariel Attack.”
Maurice Schwenkler, 24, appeared in Denver City Court Wednesday on a charge of criminal mischief, one day after being arrested for what a party official called political vandalism.
On Tuesday, state Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak suggested opposition rhetoric over the health care debate led to the vandalism, which caused an estimated $11,000 in damage.
Waak, asked Wednesday to comment on Schwenkler’s political ties, denied singling out Republicans for criticism.
“I never used the word Republican,” Waak said.
She said she “did not point at any other group” and only blamed “the other side.”
Several anarchist Web sites, including those of Denver Anarchist Black Cross, Anarchist News and Infoshop News, posted pleas for bail money for the suspect they identified as Ariel Attack.
“Please do what you can to help get an amazing friend and comrade out of jail and back into her community,” the appeal read.
The online posts directed questions to anarchist organizer Benjamin Yager, who declined comment when contacted by 9NEWS.
Yager was associated with Unconventional Denver, a group that organized disruptive actions and protests during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Schwenkler was arrested in St. Paul, Minn., on the last day of the 2008 Republican National Convention, on a charge of unlawful assembly for refusing a police order to leave an area.
The radical gay Web site Queers Against Obama said its contributor, Ariel Attack, had been arrested for the vandalism incident.
In a recent posting, Ariel Attack suggested the Obama administration’s true motive for repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy would be to “fill the U.S. military with more queer bodies.”
The Denver Post reported Wednesday that Schwenkler was paid $500 in November 2008 to walk door-to-door in support of Democrat Mollie Cullom, a candidate for the state House from Centennial.
Republican David Balmer, who beat Cullom, said he suspects the vandalism might have been intended to make the Republican Party look bad.
“This sounds like the type of Democratic tactic from the left fringe trying to make Republicans look mean-spirited,” Balmer said. “In this case, it blew up in their face.”
Funds for Schwenkler’s bail were being raised online using an e-mail address belonging to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
A Coalition spokeswoman said it was the action of a rogue employee, Chris Nelson. His actions are being investigated by the Coalition.
“We don’t condone this in any way at all,” B.J. Iacino, with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said. “We are a nonpartisan social service, nonprofit.”
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