Rocky Mountain News: Warnings precede party conventions

Rocky Mountain News: "Law enforcement officers visited several Denver young people Thursday to warn them against committing violence at the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
'This is part of an ongoing FBI investigation with the Joint Terrorism Task Force,' Colorado FBI spokeswoman Monique Kelson said Friday. 'That's all that we can comment right now.'

Sarah Bardwell, 21, said six officers arrived about 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Denver home she shares with four other young people. Two houseguests also were there, she said.

The six officers identified themselves as four FBI agents and two Denver police officers, but declined to give their names after the young people declined to give theirs, Bardwell said.

One officer said he took the young people's refusal to give their names as "noncooperation" and said he would have to use "more intrusive efforts to get his job done," Bardwell said.

"We had really no idea what was going on," she said.

"They told us in a joking way that they were doing community outreach and getting to know the neighbors," she said.

Then the officers said they were "doing some preventative measures and investigating," she said.

She said the officers asked three questions:

Are you planning to be involved in any criminal acts at the national conventions?
Do you know anybody who is?
Are you aware that if you assist or know anybody planning any criminal acts and do not report them, it's a crime?

"We declined to answer," Bardwell said."

By Karen Abbott
Rocky Mountain News