Sheriff: Protesters Paid to Hold Signs - Local News Story - KJCT Grand Junction

Sheriff: Protesters Paid to Hold Signs - Local News Story - KJCT Grand Junction
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- The Mesa County Sheriff says people involved in a protest against him Thursday morning were actually paid to take part.The protest was centered around Proposition 102. Protesters say Sheriff Stan Hilkey and District Attorney Pete Hautzinger broke the law with the way they came out against the proposition.The Sheriff tells KJCT News 8 some of the protesters were hired from Labor Ready temp agency in Grand Junction to carry signs. Ironically one of the Sheriff's Office own work release inmates was one of the people hired."It's not uncommon at all for work release inmates to work for temp agencies and do odd jobs," says Sheriff Stan Hilkey, "in fact, we require them to work so they pay for their stay. But he shared that with us and as a result I called the temp agency and confirmed that at least 20 people were hired by a person out of Denver."Hilkey says he feels it speaks to the credibility of the group doing the protesting.He says the work release employee was paid $7.25 an hour for four hours of work, but he was only at the protest for an hour.We contacted the group behind the protest, Safe Streets Colorado. A spokesman from the group says they're based out of Brighton, and a local organizer was responsible for putting on this event.Spokesman Robert Trucker of Safe Streets said of the hired protesters, "I can neither confirm or deny it. As far as I know, everyone there was there because they wanted to be, because they are supporters of Proposition 102."We also contacted the temp agency Labor Ready for comment, but our calls were not returned.Safe Streets Colorado tells us they plan to hold another protest in front of the Mesa County Justice Center. They say this time, all of the protesters will be volunteers.