Maurice Schwenkler, aka Ariel Attack, pleaded guilty last month to destroying eleven plate-glass windows at Colorado Democratic Party headquarters on Santa Fe Drive in August. But the transgender anarchist is still smashing! Just check out her photos at The Boulevardier, a website that pairs anarchist sentiments with fashion and wears the slogan "Anarchy and fashion? Done and done."
In the photos, Attack, who was sentenced to one year of probation and payment of $5,000 in restitution, can be seen modeling a mostly blue, multi-layered, (dare we say) revolutionist look, complete with several vests and lots of jewelry. Lower on the page, she shows off an all-black outfit complete with a fan allegedly made from shards of glass taken from the Democratic office windows.
"We'll be selling accessories made from glass shards to benefit Ariel's court fees," the website reveals. "They're a little pricey, starting at $200 for a necklace, and significantly more for the glass fans, but they are genuine Democratic Headquarters glass, so they are totally collector items." Ouch. That's not gonna make the DA happy.
The Boulevardier is run by Free Boutique co-founder Adam Tinnell, "a seemingly ordinary anarchist that has a penchant for being overdressed and rubbing it in," he says on the site. "Why should you listen to an anarchist for fashion advice?" he continues. "Let's just say, you can't afford not to." But to get that advice, you'll need to log on to http://boulevardier4eva.wordpress.com/; Tinnell didn't return an e-mail seeking comment.
The website also features fashion spreads starring Noah "Rockslide" Weiss, who's described as a longtime Denver anarchist who moved to Copenhagen several months ago to help plan protests at the recent climate summit there. And on December 21, Weiss was arrested in Denmark because of those protests. "People in Copenhagen have said not to expect more than a year imprisonment if he is found guilty on all charges," the site notes. "We aren't sure of his risk of deportation, though if he is released on remand he will most likely be expected to stay in Denmark until trial, and could possibly stay after any potential sentence."
It looks like anarchy might be out of fashion for a while.
Burying treasure: Former state congressional candidate and wealthy Beaver Creek filmmaker Ali Hasan is announcing his candidacy for state treasurer this week. The always entertaining Hasan will crowd the field of Republican challengers to Democratic incumbent Cary Kennedy (Walker Stapleton and J.J. Ament are already running) and also lend credence to a recent fundraising e-mail from Kennedy.
"The leadership in the Republican Party has announced that I am one of their primary targets for defeat," she wrote. "[State GOP chairman] Dick Wadhams himself has
said that I need to be 'taken out.' They have recruited wealthy candidates to run against me. One of these is a relative of former President George W. Bush and has already demonstrated his access to wealthy donors throughout the United States."
The Bush relative is Stapleton, a real estate investor whose primary claim to fame is his familial connections. In addition to being the former president's second cousin (his mother, Dorothy Walker Stapleton, is a first cousin of George H.W. Bush), he is also the grandson of Benjamin Franklin Stapleton, former Denver mayor, former Ku Klux Klan member and the namesake of Denver's former airport. According to an August 27, 2006, Washington Post article, Walker and his father, Craig Roberts Stapleton, were working out with Dubya on Election Day 2000 when Karl Rove called to tell him that he might lose. And in 2006, Stapleton married Jenna Bertocchi at the Bush family's compound in Kennebunkport.
Then again, Ament and Hasan also have well-known family members. Ament's father, Don Ament, was a longtime state lawmaker and former Colorado agriculture commissioner. Hasan's parents, Malik and Seeme Hasan, made a fortune in the health-care industry in Colorado and a name for themselves as Republican donors. And the Hasans, too, have Bush credentials: Ali and his mother founded Muslims for Bush in 2004 and have been friends of the family for years.
