Update on Amelia Nicol, Anti-Police Terror Prisoner

May 25, 2011 by denverabc

Denver, CO

Amelia Nicol had her first court date on Monday May 16th in Denver County Court. At this court date, her lawyer made a formal appearance. Amelia declined to have her charges publicly read in court. But as of the date of this writing, the charges she is being held under continue to include several major felonies, including two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, a single count of pocession of an explosive device, a single count of arson, and criminal destruction of property.

The judge declined a any hearing on reducing her bond, instead scheduling bond arguments for June 9. Her bond remains at $50,000.

Denver Anarchist Black Cross has been in contact with Amelia. She has made it clear that she does not want to be bonded out, that she does not want the state or any associated body to profit from her imprisonment. She has but one clear demand: her immediate release without charge.

She has asked that any money being collected for support be directed to Denver ABC to help pay for phone calls and sending her stamps, envelopes, and paper. She does not want any more money placed in her commissary as she does not want to purchase any items from the jail. She does not want any more money being given to those that now hold her in a cage.

In the coming weeks leading up to her next court date, Denver ABC will be organizing a massive letter writing and phone call campaign directed at the Denver District Attorney, demanding that Amelia’s charges be immediately dropped.

Here are some concrete ways you can support Amelia and also support the ongoing struggle against police terror in Denver:

1) Write to Amelia! Send her letters, cards, photos, jokes, stories, etc…
Letters may be addressed to:
Amelia Nicole CD# 0000762401
Denver County Jail
PO Box 1108
Denver, CO 80201
Please see mail regulations here, and note that Denver ABC has already sent a package of envelopes, paper, and stamps. http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/327/documents/ALLOWABLE%20MAIL%20ITEMS.pdf

2) Write a letter to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey and demand that the charges against Amelia be dropped immediately!
Denver DA Mitch Morrissey
201 W. Colfax #801
Denver, CO 80202
Or call him at: 720-913-9000

3) Donate to Amelia’s phone fund.
Send checks or money orders made out to P&L Printing to:
Denver ABC
2727 W. 27th Ave Unit D
Denver, CO 80211

4) Keep checking the Denver ABC blog at denverabc.wordpress.com for updates, or follow us at twitter, through our user name, DenverABC.

Case Background

On Friday May 6th, over one hundred people, mostly young, poor, and angry, took to the streets in defiance of the Denver Police Department. They participated in a march, called to confront “police terror” in the Denver Metro area. Specifically, they marched to remember the deaths of Marvin Booker and Oleg Gidenko, two people murdered by area police departments in the last year.

As the the march ended, a small firework was set off in the street. Police used this act as a justification to chase one alleged participant down an alley, where she was tackled and beaten by police. This person would later be identified as Amelia Nicol, a 20 year old Colorado resident. She now faces outlandish charges including attempted murder.

We call on all people to support Amelia as she fights these attempts at intimidation and repression, and the police’s broader attack on social movements in Denver.

Marvin Booker, a homeless street preacher, died at the hands of five sheriff’s deputies in the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center in downtown Denver on July 9, 2010. He was tackled, beaten, placed into chokeholds, tazed, and kicked. He eventually succumbed to the officers’ brutal attack. He was murdered for refusing to leave his shoes in the booking area of the jail.

Oleg Gidenko was shot in the head by Aurora Police Officers. Oleg was in a truck with several friends. They had been hanging out, allegedly drinking in the truck while it was parked in a lonely industrial park in Aurora. Aurora Police Officers approached the truck, armed, supposedly because they suspected the occupants of breaking into cars in the area. As the police aimed their weapons at the truck, one officer shot Oleg in the head. Another occupant, Yevgeniy Straystar. was also shot, but would survive. With two occupants, including the driver, shot and a passenger trying to hide on the floor of the truck as it took repeated fire from police officers, the truck lurched forward, bumping into one of the officers. This action, though it took place after the firing had started, and after Oleg was dead, was used as the justification for the shooting.

Many other high profile cases of police terror have been documented in the metro area over the last year, including the beating of whole families, rape and child molestation, and mishandling of evidence. Few, if any, officers are ever punished.

On May 6th, the fourth in a series of marches was held to show direct opposition to the police terror plaguing the metro area. For several hours the crowd snaked through downtown and the arts district. The police response to this fourth march was much heavier than previous marches, and riot police flanked the march for a good portion of the route. Despite the heavy police presence and attempts at intimidation, Amelia would end up being the only arrest during the march.

On Thursday May 12th, news agencies across the metro area reported that Amelia would be charged with a host of felonies and misdemeanors, including two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, criminal arson, possession and use of explosives, and inciting a riot. Police alleged she threw the firework, only now in the news reports the firework had become a “molotov cocktail”, or in some news reports, an “improvised explosive.” The small green firework now became a dangerous implement of attempted murder of two police officers. Amelia is now confined to a jail cell in the Denver County Jail, held on a $50,000 bond.

Just days previous, on Monday May 9th, Denver Mayor Guillermo Vidal announced that the deputies implicated in the death of Marvin Booker would face no discipline for their use of force. This announcement came after months of public outcry in response to a September 2010 decision by District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to not file any criminal charges in response to Marvin’s murder.

The charges now being filed against Amelia are a slap in the face to every person that struggles for justice. The City of Denver has made it clear that the life of a black street preacher is worth less than the relative comfort of several police officers that may have been scared by a small firework. Murderers with badges receive no criminal charges, while a young woman who allegedly attended a protest to hold those officers accountable now faces over 90 years in prison.

We must rally to support Amelia! The Denver Anarchist Black Cross calls on all justice and freedom loving people to mobilize for the defense of Amelia in the face of these atrocious criminal charges.