Local political reporter Eli Stokols was recording a live segment in Civic Center Park on March 8, when Occupy Denver protesters stepped into the background of his report holding signs that read "F**K The POLICE" and "POLICE ARE THE ARMY of THE RICH." The encounter forced the Fox31 crew to halt their broadcast and led to a less than civil exchange between both sides.
Confronted by one protester who tells Stokols, "You make up lies," Stokols responds: "We've covered your issues, we've [been out here], we covered Michael Moore, we've covered regular people standing out across the street ... and we've covered the police. We've covered your meetings with the police ... I'm in the middle of a liveshot so this is not the time to debate with you guys."
After the provocation ends the broadcast, Stokols lets loose: "When I'm live on f**king television, and you can film this [he says to the man with the camera], you don't come up and f**k us up.."
Westword spoke with Eli Stokols to clarify the incident and the relationship between the media and the occupation. Here's the transcript of that conversation.
WATCH the interaction between Occupy Denver and Stokols (warning: explicit language):