‘Freak Power Day’ slideshow: Aspenites celebrate 50th anniversary of Hunter S. Thompson’s run for sheriff
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Former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis takes his turn in the stocks during the "Freak Power Day" festivities on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in downtown Aspen. The day led up to the showing of "Freak Power," a new documentary on famed Aspenite Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Mayor Torre proclaims Oct. 17, 2020 "Freak Power Day" from the steps of the Pitkin County Courthouse with Sheriff Joe DiSalvo at his side. The proclamation honored the 50th anniversary of Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff and the premiere of the new documentary "Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb."
Andrew Travers/The Aspen Times
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Former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis takes his turn in the stocks during the "Freak Power Day" festivities on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in downtown Aspen. The day led up to the showing of "Freak Power," a new documentary on famed Aspenite Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Daniel Joseph Watkins takes his turn in the stocks as former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, right, looks on during the "Freak Power Day" festivities on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in downtown Aspen. The day led up to the showing of "Freak Power," the new documentary on famed Aspenite Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff, co-directed by Watkins and Ajax Phillips. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis waits for his turn in the stocks during the "Freak Power Day" festivities on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in downtown Aspen. The day led up to the showing of "Freak Power," a new documentary on famed Aspenite Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Ajax Phillips stands in front of a sign leading into Aspen that was changed for one day on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020 to "Fat City," which famed local Hunter S. Thompson wanted to change the city's name to as part of his platform for Pitkin County sheriff in 1970. Phillips and Daniel Joseph Watkins co-directed a new documentary on Thompson's unique bid for sheriff.
Courtesy photo
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Hunter S. Thompson's "Freak Power" flag flies over Aspen.
Tony Prikryl/Courtesy photo
A group of Aspenites including Mayor Torre and Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo gathered Saturday around town to honored the 50th anniversary of Hunter S. Thompson’s famed 1970 campaign for sheriff.
The events coincided with the premiere of the new documentary “Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb” on Saturday night at the Aspen Art Museum. To read Aspen Times entertainment editor Andrew Travers’s story on the making of the film, go here.
And coming later this week, The Aspen Times is publishing a special 16-page insert reprinting the newspaper’s original contemporaneous coverage of Hunter S. Thompson’s campaign for sheriff in 1970. Look for it on newsstands and at aspentimes.com.
