Hick’s UN forces quietly ride bikes through unity event

DENVER — Thursday, as Democrats searched for unity on the west steps of the capitol, an unlikely invasion of what could have been perceived as United Nations forces quietly engaging in political subterfuge crept into the crowd of Democratic faithful.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s campaign staff, minus the current mayor and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, rode bikes provided by Denver’s corporate-sponsored B Cycle bike sharing program — a program Republican governor’s candidate Dan Maes has asserted is part of a larger program of to “rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty.”

Hickenlooper supporters and staff ride the crowd at a Democratic unity event Thursday. Photo by Joseph Boven
George Merritt, spokesman for the Hickenlooper campaign, rode at the head of the pack of supporters but simply grinned when asked if he was playing up to Maes’s assertion that the mayor was trying to institute United Nations rule in the city.

Maes’s statements were directed at the the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. Denver joined the initiative a decade before Hickenlooper became mayor. According to the Denver Post, the group has attracted 1,200 communities, 600 of which are part of the United Nations.

“At first, I thought, ‘Gosh, public transportation, what’s wrong with that, and what’s wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what’s wrong with incentives for green cars?'” Maes told the Denver Post. “But if you do your homework and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty.”

Asked what Merritt thought about how the governor’s race was going to play out between Hickenlooper, American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo and Maes, Merrit said “It would be interesting.”

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