In one of the largest demonstrations since the social justice protests of 2020 following the death of George Floyd, thousands of protesters gathered at sites across Colorado Saturday to speak out against the Trump administration and its policies.
This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared on June 14, 2025 at cpr.org.
At more than a dozen places across the state, people raised signs, chanted and marched.
Rallies were planned Saturday from Grand Junction to Colorado Springs, Denver to Durango and many other places between.
In Grand Junction Saturday morning, hundreds gathered peacefully, snarling traffic.
In Colorado Springs, a speaker urged the large crowd to remain peaceful and stay out of the street.
In Parker, people held signs up and lined roads as cars drove past.
In Genesee, people stood on a bridge over I-70 and held signs up for cars passing to see.
In Denver, police shut down Lincoln Street at the Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park near the Colorado State Capitol, so protesters could spill out into the street.
The Denver march began at 12:19 p.m. down Lincoln, starting out in front of the state’s Capitol. It quickly spilled out onto adjoining streets across downtown.
By 3 p.m., streets around downtown were flooded with marchers. One group stopped at the intersection of 14th and Broadway.
At 3:25 p.m., Denver Police posted on social media that people should expect rolling road closures downtown due to the demonstration.
Police were also blocking pedestrian access to several areas, including from downtown northwest across Speer Boulevard to near I-25.
A group of a couple hundred protesters on Colfax in Denver attempted to access Interstate 25. At about 6:50 p.m., they were repelled by police in riot gear and armored vehicles using pepper balls and smoke canisters. That group of marchers was then pushed back to Speer Boulevard.
DPD said they arrested five people during this episode.
At 9:30 p.m., according to Denver Police, there was a second incident involving a small group of protesters attempting to access the interstate, resulting in police using pepper balls and smoke to disperse the group.
As of 10:48 p.m. Saturday night, Denver Police said they had made 17 total protest-related arrests on charges including from resisting arrest, obstruction of streets, failure to obey a lawful order, and unlawful throwing of projectiles. A large police presence could be seen at the capitol and around downtown.
Motivated by love of country
Adam Young came to Denver from Golden Saturday to march. He was dressed as Uncle Sam as he held an upside down American flag marching on 17th Street in downtown Denver.
“This is America. You can’t treat America this way,” Young said of Trump’s policies.
LEFT: A woman holds a sign decorated with a painting of the geological features of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, at risk of being delisted after a U.S. Department of Justice ruling that overturned a 1938 finding to allow the president to remove monument designation. RIGHT: Demonstrators hold up hand-lettered signs during the “No Kings” protest in Boulder. (Lucas Brady Woods, KUNC)
The so-called “No Kings” rallies are designed as a catch-all for people to protest a wide range of policies from the Trump administration, from immigration enforcement actions to attacks on free speech and LGBTQ rights.
The Denver demonstration featured booths along Veterans park, urging people to get involved both in their communities and politically.
The protest was a center for intersectionality in political activism. While the main peg of the protest was against Trump, many people were protesting ICE, celebrating pride month, protesting for Palestinians and standing in solidarity with the protestors in Los Angeles.
Answering a national call to dissent
The demonstrations are part of a national call for protests against the Trump administration. About 2,000 cities are holding protests on President Donald Trump’s birthday, the same day as he is holding a military parade in Washington, D.C.
Jerry Hawthorne, an 82-year-old retired Colorado Department of Corrections worker lasted more than two hours in broiling heat to wave an “Impeach Trump Again” sign alongside about 2,000 other like-minded smiling and chanting “No Kings” protesters in Grand Junction.
“I’m really happy about this. This is beautiful,” he said as he aimed his sign up and down the crowd strung out for half a mile along a busy Interstate 70 onramp in Grand Junction.
Hawthorne said he had never even thought of joining a protest until Trump took office. The protest on Saturday was his third.
Hawthorne, who worked in the maximum security unit in Cañon City for part of his career, made it a point to tell a reporter several times that “I have seen some evil people in my life, but none as evil as Trump.”
Colorado Mesa University computer science professor Warren MacEvoy showed up to protest in just his skivvies and a faux crown he had fashioned out of a party-sized Cheetos puffs bag with Cheetos ringing his sweating head. He carried a bobbing “Happy Birthday” balloon that he said “is just for Donald,” referring to the president who celebrated his 79th birthday on Saturday.
“A lot of people are talking past each other. We need more discourse,” he said.
Betty Tanksley, 81, came with her granddaughters, one of them pushing her wheelchair.
“I have never been this afraid for the country. This is the worst it’s ever been,” she said.
She said she opposes how Trump is running the country and his support of the Israeli government.
“We are all one human race,” she said. “Let’s act human.”
Surrounding her, people held up signs supporting veterans, immigrants and Medicare.
Greg, who didn’t want to give his last name for safety reasons, held up a sign reading “I can’t afford a private yacht, but public land is all I’ve got.”
“I know plenty of park rangers and they’re not corrupt. They’re the hardest-working people you could meet,” he said. “They get paid in sunsets.”
Greg worries how cuts will affect public lands, with even well-known national parks and monuments functioning with few resources and skeleton crews.
“What’s happening to the National Park Service right now is going to decimate the park service for decades,” he said. “I’m making sure that public lands stay in public hands.”
While Grand Junction voted for Trump three times, the city has seen regular protests since the 2024 election. Saturday’s demonstration was by far the largest.
Raquel Scianna, a volunteer with Indivisible, the grassroots Grand Junction group that organized the protest, said protesters started showing up at 9 a.m. for an event advertised to begin at 10. Most had staggered away by shortly after noon to seek shade under scrawny young trees in Canyonview Park.
A counterprotest calling itself “No Crowns, Just Clowns” had used social media in the past few days to recruit Trump supporters to parade their vehicles in front of the the protesters, but only a handful of loud trucks with flapping Trump flags showed up.
There were no incidents between the Trump supporters and the crowd doing a call-and-response chant, “This is what Democracy looks like.”
Many homemade signs included expletives aimed at Trump. A few that didn’t included, “Imagine being afraid of diversity, but not dictatorship,” and “Eggs are so expensive because Congress is full of chickens.”
There was a minimal presence of uniformed police officers in Grand Junction. They were directing traffic or parked under shade trees watching the line of protesters.
In reliably Republican Montrose, where organizers had directed demonstrators from Telluride, Ouray and Ridgway, around 2,100 people lined Townsend Avenue waving signs and shouting.
A counterprotest formed in the shape of a train of 20-25 trucks driving slowly along Townsend Avenue, some waving Trump flags and some wearing cardboard crowns from a Burger King restaurant.
LEFT: Protesters gather in Sayre Park before the march during a No Kings protest in Glenwood Springs. RIGHT: A driver on Grand Avenue holds a sign that reads “Speak out! Silence implies consent,” and flashed a thumbs-up as protesters marched the protest. (Alex McIntyre, Special to The Colorado Sun)
In Glenwood Springs, protesters began their march at Sayre Park, walking a half mile north to 11th Street along Grand Avenue before returning to the park. At times, protesters lined the sidewalks of both sides of the loop, stretching across the entire distance.
“This isn’t about Democrat or Republican, this is about right and wrong,” said organizer Lori Brandon, co-leader of Mountain Action Indivisible, after the event. She estimates as many as four thousand turned out to protest – about double a previous Hands Off event she organized in the city.
Speakers, including Colorado House Rep. Elizabeth Velasco , who addressed the crowd after the march.
Organizers estimated as many as 10,000 people gathered on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins before bringing their signs and chants along a marching route into Old Town.
A small handful of pro-Trump counter-protestors stood on a street corner waving flags as the “No Kings” protestors marched by, but there did not appear to be any other conflict between the two groups.
People lined U.S. 50 in the heart of Cañon City on Saturday for the “No Kings” protest. Organizers said it might have been the biggest-ever political protest, with the final count reaching 450 participants.
They came in wheelchairs and pushing walkers. Companions brought lawn chairs for those who couldn’t stand for two hours. Volunteers passed out water and continually checked to ensure no one got too close to the busy highway.
“Never. Never. Never have I seen this many people out,” said volunteer Karen Randall, who was helping people sign up for email lists and handing out supplies for those who arrived without a sign.
Organizer Dennis Maun said the Fremont CO Indivisible protest on April 5 had about 250 participants, so the increase was significant. Several police cruisers were parked around the perimeter but there were no counter protesters or incidents.
Maun said the group get far more positive than negative responses from passing motorists on U.S. 50.
Protesters mentioned a multitude of concerns about the Trump administration but the erosion of democracy was high on the list of most. They also cited the sale of public lands, ineptitude in Trump’s cabinet and the cruelty of many of his policies as reasons that brought them out.
About 170 protesters gathered in Westcliffe at The Bluff, an open space at the far west end of the Custer County town. A handful of Trump supporters waved flags and banners at the far eastern side of town during the protest.
In Boulder, thousands gathered at the busy intersection of Broadway and Canyon Boulevard and marched to the Pearl Street Mall, seasoned protestors walking shoulder to shoulder with high school students.
Despite their frustration with their government — and the almost 90-degree heat — rally goers were positive and collegial. The atmosphere felt almost like a festival at times with some people sitting on the grass in camping chairs as local activists gave speeches, including Boulder District Attorney and candidate for attorney general, Michael Dougherty.
But the crowd was also energized and clearly focused on sending a message with chants and homemade signs, especially when demonstrators moved from the main rally location to line up along Broadway. Throughout the day, people said they felt a camaraderie with those around them. No counter protestors or disruptors were visible.
Lisa Baba and Randy Compton, both of Boulder, said protesting on Saturday felt urgent.
“We have crossed the line. We really need to change our political system, have got to hit the streets,” said Compton, who was carrying a sign that read “They blame immigrants so you won’t blame billionaires.” “This is unconstitutional, what is happening, and it is up to the people to do this.”
Baba said said her heart has been broken as she watched Americans’ rights being eroded. “I think people need to hear the truth. And I think there’s a large, a large group of people who are not hearing the truth. They’re hearing a different version of what’s happening. And I think when people see that those they love are out on the streets telling the truth. Hopefully they’ll they’ll look someplace else to find what’s really going on.”
LEFT: Liz Lewinger carried an umbrella inscribed with her concerns during the “No Kings” march in Gunnison. She said she was there to “fight for my three granddaughters.” RIGHT: Reed Meredith said “it’s time to get active against this administration’s policies.” (Don Emmert, Special to The Colorado Sun)
A few hundred people marched a four-block route to a park in Gunnison. But for the occasional truck driving by and revving its engine, one attendee said, most of the reaction from passersby was positive — a few thumbs down and one person flying the bird at demonstrators.
At Lincoln Park in downtown Greeley, a small crowd grew to as many as 1,000 protestors, a diverse group with a large Latino showing and people of all ages, from babies to seniors using wheelchairs and walkers.
The signs and speeches showed support for veterans, Medicare recipients, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.
Speakers included Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young, who is running to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in the 8th Congressional District. A cardboard cutout of Evans stood the microphone as rally participants chanted, “Where’s Gabe?”
There was one attempted counterprotest: A man pulled up to a curb near the crowd on a motorcycle with a bullhorn. He was mainly shouted down with chants and ignored as the demonstrators started marching past the farmer’s market and around the park.
The latest in a series of demonstrations
Earlier this week, protesters demonstrated at the State Capitol to protest immigration enforcement actions. Those protests were largely peaceful with a handful of arrests in Denver after police used pepper balls and smoke canisters to disperse protesters near Broadway and I-25. Denver Police reported early Wednesday that there were 17 arrests out of those protests.
As of early Saturday afternoon, no clashing between demonstrators and police were observed or reported at protests across the state.
Saturday’s Denver demonstration was put on by Colorado 50501 Chapter, Party for Social Liberalism, Women’s Strike and Raise Her Voice, Solidarity Warriors, Denver Indivisible Action, Show Up for Good and Notes of Dissent.
The Denver march began at 12:19 p.m. down Lincoln, starting out in front of the state’s Capitol. It quickly spilled out onto adjoining streets across downtown.
In Parker Saturday morning, Debbie Burke said she was protesting because voting was not enough.
“We’ve got to get our voices out there as loud as we can, in the biggest numbers we can find to show people that the Trump administration is not representing the country as a whole,” Burke said.
“I think the country is too divided and needs to be put together,” said Larry Dobkin in Parker. “Politicians are too tied up in whether they’re Republican or Democrat and not so much interested in doing the job for the people.”
Editor’s note: This story is based on eyewitness accounts from reporters unless stated and attributed.
CPR’s Kiara DeMare, Tony Gorman, Haylee May, Stina Sieg, Allison Sherry, Hart Van Denburg and KRCC’s Andrea Chalfin contributed to this report, as did Don Emmert, Nancy Lofholm, Alex McIntyre, Sue McMillin and William Woody from The Colorado Sun, and Nikole Robinson Carroll, Alex Hager and Lucas Brady Woods from KUNC.