The Gun Counter

DENVER (CBS4) ― A tongue-in-cheek t-shirt poking fun at Democratic National Convention protestors is selling fast and creating some minor controversy along the way.

The shirts were created and distributed by the Denver Police Protective Association, the union that represents most of Denver's 1,400 police officers.

The front of the black shirt shows the number "68" with a slash through it. One of the primary protest groups at last month's DNC in Denver called themselves "Recreate 68," harkening back to the violent, 1968 political convention in Chicago.

The back of the shirt features a menacing-looking police figure, wearing what looks like a Denver police badge and helmet and clutching a baton. He's looming over the city of Denver along with the slogan, "WE GET UP EARLY, to BEAT the crowds." Also written across the back of the shirt is "2008 DNC.'

One CBS4 viewer, Seth Barnett, contacted the station to complain about the shirts, writing they "are a terrible representation of our city and its police." Barnett, a 21-year-old college student, called the shirts "disrespectful," saying they seemed "like a low blow."

{Snipped by mods for Fair Use considerations}

mekender wrote:now i am all for a good hippie ass whoopin... but to make up shirts commemorating it... thats a lil far...

“Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
Sir Robert Peel