More than 50 no Kings rallies took place around Colorado on Saturday, including in Glenwood Springs, where an estimated 4,000 demonstrators marched through downtown wearing costumes and brandishing signs protesting. The Trump administration protestors gathered Saturday morning in Bethel Plaza under the bridge over the Colorado River. MC Pedro Rivera rallied the throng that spilled out of the plaza and up the stairway to the pedestrian bridge overlooking the scene.
Rivera: In front of our very eyes, our families are being kidnapped off the street. Students are afraid to go to school. Parents don't know if they're gonna return home any given day. Are we gonna let authoritarian governments get away with this? Are we gonna stand up for families, for immigrants, for a better economy, for (muffled).
Latinos and immigrants were center stage. Alan Muñoz of the Latino Advocacy Group Voces Unidas addressed the crowd, and representative Elizabeth Velasco from Eagle spoke to an energized audience.
Velasco: We know that there's money and corporation taking over politics that are taking over the federal government! We are seeing a lawless government that is defunding all the things that we have like education, like the environment, like our public land, like protection for workers like OSHA! We're seeing people dying on the job every day, and we will not stand for it!
The largest No Kings action in the state took place in Denver, where thousands gathered at the state capitol before marching through downtown. Brandon from Aurora works for the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Federal Center where hundreds of workers have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown.
Brandon: It makes me want to cry to see people I work with who have to come in two weeks now, no paycheck, and being threatened to maybe not have that get re-funded to them or given back. So yes, I have to come out and show my presence and do my due diligence. Do my part.
Eddie from Denver said they had come to the rally in solidarity with everyone who is struggling right now.
Eddie: I'm here to support my country, my people, any people in this country that lives for a peaceful life with good jobs, healthcare, and food on your table.
The initial No Kings rally in Denver was peaceful, but some secondary protests splintered off later in the afternoon, where Denver Police say they arrested 13 people on charges ranging from aggravated assault on a police officer to graffiti.
