Denver Cops "Ain't Hatin'," But They Issue 160 Citations at 4/20 Events Anyway

#Denver pics pic.twitter.com/9hOLmw1at1

— Hood Billionaire (@rickyrozay) April 20, 2015

As you know, today is April 20 — and the Colorado 420 Coalition insists that a political rally will take place at 4:20 p.m. More details below.

In the meantime, the annual 4/20 Rally took place at Civic Center Park on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, with headliners including Rick Ross, seen onstage above in a pic from his Twitter account. We've embedded several more below.

As for the Denver Police Department, it tweeted a number of messages about not hatin' and preferring not to be buzzkills. Yet the department issued approximately 160 citations anyhow — even more than last year, when 130 citations were written.

As for arrests, 22 people were jailed for 4/20-related matters in 2014. But we've seen no DPD confirmation of anyone put behind bars this time around.


Plenty of folks lit up at Civic Center, as is clear from our 4/20 smokeout slideshow. 

They did so despite warnings from organizers that smoking in public remains against the law.

The Denver Police Department sent that message numerous times via Twitter.

Here's an example from the afternoon of April 18:

Before you head out to enjoy the 4/20 weekend, here's a brush up on the law... #Denver #ConsumeResponsibly pic.twitter.com/bz5WsEM5AH

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) April 18, 2015

Hours later, this information was reinforced by an identical graphic, supplemented by confirmation that around sixty people had received citations on the 18th, mostly for public consumption:

ALERT: #DPD has issued approximately 60 citations at today's 4/20 event. #Denver #ConsumeResponsibly pic.twitter.com/fWbxCVWrH9

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) April 19, 2015

The next day, the DPD made several unintentionally hilarious Twitter attempts to seem hip while at the same time stressing that the public-consumption laws wouldn't be ignored. Here's one example....



...and another:



We're guessing the DPD's definition of hatin' may be somewhat different from the one embraced by many of the 100 or so people cited on April 19.

ALERT: #DPD has issued approximately 100 citations at today's 4/20 event. #Denver #ConsumeResponsibly pic.twitter.com/V8x6tG7OOp

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) April 20, 2015

That adds up to around 160 citations over the weekend — although there were many thousands more who checked out Ross, as is clear from his twitpics. Here's one....

#Denver pics 2 pic.twitter.com/8wS9bZcyaJ

— Hood Billionaire (@rickyrozay) April 20, 2015

....and another....

#Denver pics 3 pic.twitter.com/v7cg5NT3PL

— Hood Billionaire (@rickyrozay) April 20, 2015

...and one more:

#Denver pics 4 pic.twitter.com/zQmcGGK4Nu

— Hood Billionaire (@rickyrozay) April 20, 2015

As such, the citations seem to be examples of selective punishment that is unlikely to dissuade civil disobedience this afternoon.

The Colorado 420 Coalition about today's gathering reads:

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado
4/20/2015
"Really Legalize It!"

Colorado 4/20 1st Amendment Protest
Monday, April 20, 2015
at 4:20pm

LINCOLN PARK
Across from the State Capitol Building, 200 E. Colfax, Denver, Colorado

If you attend only one activist event/protest each year, this is it!

We need you to show up on 4/20 at 4:20pm in Denver!

Smoking in public is still illegal — People still go to jail for cannabis crimes.

The civil disobedience will continue!

Here's a video about the weekend's events from WeAreChange.org.


Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.