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Protesters & Cafe Owner At Odds Over Letter About Homelessness

DENVER (CBS4) - Since April 2018, Occupy Denver has staged protests in front of the Corner Bakery Café on the 16th Street Mall every Sunday morning. The owner of the restaurant says he is being unfairly targeted, but protesters say their demands are justified.

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"We have asked them to come out publicly and write a letter to the City of Denver stating that they have changed their position, and that they would like to find a solution to homelessness rather than a criminalization of homelessness," said Ana Cornelius with Occupy Denver.

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"They've asked us to sign a letter that they penned which is outrageous and that's something that I can't do," said Jamey Cutter, who has owned the franchise location for 11 years.

"If they want to have conversations, we can work together on this for a better solutions, but as far as their letter with all of the false claims in that letter, we can't go there," said Cutter.

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He argues his business has never supported initiatives or candidates, including the urban camping ban enacted in 2012 which prohibits camping on Denver's streets. He says, as a restaurant, they simply want to serve their customers and community.

"I don't care if they are homeless or not homeless, if they are coming in and they are a customer, we are going to take good care of them," he said.

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Cutter claims to have donated $25,000 last year to homeless causes and says these protests are suffocating his business. Occupy Denver says they'll keep protesting until that letter is signed.

"We will be here every Sunday until our demands are met," said Cornelius.

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