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The Denver skater who went viral in October for snatching the sunglasses off a man yelling a homophobic slur at No Kings protesters has started the process of court-ordered discipline.
During a hearing on Monday, November 24, twenty-year-old Jose Cardenas accepted Denver County Court orders to stay away from the victim, a still-unidentified New York Giants fan who fell and bloodied his face while chasing Cardenas. The publicly praised thief’s next hearing date is scheduled for January 12. He has not yet entered a plea, according to the court.
In a video viewed by thousands and covered in the national media, Cardenas can be seen dressed in black, holding a skateboard and following a man in Giants gear, who was leading a “God bless Trump” chant as demonstrators passed in front of Union Station during the No Kings protest on October 18.
Right after the Giants fan yelled out a homophobic slur toward protesters, Cardenas grabbed the sunglasses off his face and dashed away. The fan chased Cardenas before facing-planting ass-up into 17th Street. The Giants fan has not yet been publicly identified, nor is it clear if he’s local, as the Giants were in town to play (and lose) to the Broncos that weekend.
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In the video, the middle-aged fan was walking with several other men in Giants gear who joined his pro-Trump chant, but he was the only one caught on camera using a homophobic slur. After Cardenas stole his specs and took off, a different person clearly tripped the Giants fan, which sent him flying into a gutter, forming a gash above his left eyebrow. The top-heavy Giants fan also shoved a few protesters, including some who were trying to calm him.
Denver police arrested Cardenas shortly after the incident and initially charged him with second-degree assault for tripping the Giants fan, who ends up bloodied and disheveled by the end of the video. The police later corrected the charge to theft after “further investigation,” but no one has been arrested for the tripping.
With many people believing the bigoted Giants fan got what he deserved, Cardenas has seen a strong community backing. He created a GoFundMe on October 22 to cover his legal defense and ended up raising upwards of $8,000 before ending the fundraiser. According to Denver court records, Cardenas paid a $10,000 bond on October 19. He was represented by a public defender on Monday before declining an interview request, saying he wants to wait until after his run in court.
Bennito L. Kelty
At the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse on Monday, Cardenas also agreed to protective orders to stay one hundred yards away from the victim at all times. Cardenas also promised not to consume or possess drugs, alcohol or firearms.
The DPD booking slip doesn’t mention the homophobic slur, but reports that the Giants fan only yelled, “Yes, Trump!” But that isn’t what the up-close viral video shows. According to DPD, the fan suffered a “serious laceration to the head,” but the case didn’t have any hospitalization or ambulance information to add.
According to DPD, officers on the “protest command post” that day “were able to keep surveillance on Cardenas and followed him to the 1400 block of North Lincoln Street,” which is right in front of the State Capitol and about a mile and a half from where the incident took place outside of 1701 Wynkoop Street.
When DPD tried to make the arrest in front of the Capitol, “Cardenas attempted to run from officers,” according to the booking slip. After Cardenas was arrested, officers identified him using a “show up,” where a suspect is presented in front of witnesses. According to DPD, “Cardenas was positively ID’d as the one who assaulted” the fan by two witnesses — but that ended up being an error as Cardenas was ultimately the thief, not the one facing assault charges.
On his GoFundMe, Cardenas admitted that “I was at the No Kings protest and got arrested for second degree assault when I only took the guy’s glasses.”
October’s No Kings was a protest against President Donald Trump that brought over 8,000 people to downtown Denver. It was the largest anti-Trump protest at the State Capitol this year, which has seen a wave of activism despite a lull in the summer.
Police reported that three small clashes broke out near highways between protesters and law enforcement that day. About a dozen people were arrested during, but Cardenas was the youngest, according to DPD records, which show that Cardenas lives in Aurora.
