DENVER, Colo. – A man is still recovering after he was assaulted during a protest in Denver on Tuesday, June 10 near Denver Skatepark at the 19th Street and Little Raven Street intersection.
Alejandro Gabriel Claure de la Zerda, 26, said he was attending a protest in downtown Denver recording police officers' interactions with protesters when 26-year-old Chayce Neumeier hit him and knocked him unconscious. He said this led to a severe brain injury.
“I was focusing the camera on the police to make sure they didn't hurt protesters, when, in reality, I should have been aware of my surroundings,” Claure de la Zerda said.
Claure de la Zerda said he suspects Neumeier was a counterprotester.
Scripps News Denver learned about the assault from a concerned viewer and friend of Claure de la Zerda who left a newsroom voicemail that said Claure de la Zerda “was in intensive care for over five days. And has since been transferred to a rehabilitation center."
"I wanted to call today to see about bringing it to the attention of the news," the friend said in the email.
Claure de la Zerda said it’s taken a few days for his memories of the event to return to him but he now remembers how everything unfolded.
“We were marching like the regular routes that were approved by the police. And then there was a lot of, like, high schoolers, really young people, that decided to head to the highways,” Claure de la Zerda said.
Claure de la Zerda said he did not want to participate in blocking the interstate. So instead, after police officers warned protesters they would use force to prevent them from entering the interstate, Claure de la Zerda began recording the crowd.
Claure de la Zerda said that’s when Neumeier hit him and a witness caught the incident on camera.
“I don't know if it was because I was... I guess I looked Hispanic, or maybe because I was there in support of the protesters that he noticed that I got struck on the head. I got knocked out, and then my head just bounced off the pavement, and I had internal bleeding,” Claure de la Zerda said.
He describes what happened next as wild.
“I was just on the ground and staying there and unconscious, like unresponsive. And that's when someone…among the protesters called the police to come and so the SWAT came up around me,” Claure de la Zerda said. “The people that didn't see what happened, they thought the police shot me, and they were... trying to hide my body and they were getting aggressive with the police. So apparently, at that point, they drew their gun — the police drew their guns — and it was probably gonna get worse, until a nurse that was there on the scene, and that saw what happened, yelled at the protesters saying, 'It wasn't the police.'”
Claure de la Zerda said police and protesters worked together to catch and arrest Neumeier. An ambulance was called and paramedics rushed Claure de la Zerda to the hospital for emergency surgery.
“I think they mainly drilled holes (in my skull)," he said.
Claure de la Zerda said he suffered internal bleeding and several broken bones in his ear.
"I can't remember the first couple of nights of what happened from the impact and, apparently, the first couple of nights, I was only speaking Spanish. I wasn't really aware of what happened,” he said. “I can't really work right now fully. So, it definitely did impact my ability to work.”
An arrest affidavit reveals officers arrested Neumeier for felony assault. The affidavit also references an officer who saw Neumeier use a skateboard as a weapon at one point.
Neumeier was held on a $50,000 bond and a judge granted Claure de la Zerda a protection order against Neumeier.
He watched Neumeier’s first court appearance virtually.
“The part that struck me the most was just like the pride... Smiling. Chin high. Almost like, proud,” he said.
Claure de la Zerda said the incident has changed how he feels about police officers.
”Just the whole event of how the police were coming to give me first aid and the protesters thought I got shot by them — I think that taught me that... There's a lot of miscommunication between the police and the protesters and the intentions," he said. "And I think at the end of the day, the police are there for work, to support their family, so unfortunately, there could be a lot more communication between them. And it seems like the current state of things is, if anything, is bringing danger to police and to protesters."
Claure de la Zerda said he thinks rhetoric surrounding immigration has also emboldened some people to inflict violence on others.
But even after accumulating thousands of dollars in medical bills and starting the rehabilitation process, Claure de la Zerda still does not regret attending the protest.
“Not at all, because I was using my First Amendment right to be present and stand in solidarity with the protesters and in solidarity of the immigrant community. And I think if we feel fear to speak out, that's when the cruel people have won,” he said.
He said soon he will start a rehabilitation program to start repairing damage to his speech and hearing.
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