“How many of you have heard rumors or have fears about immigration enforcement?” asks Julie Gonzales in Spanish before a packed room. Multiple hands shoot up into the air. “I’m concerned that immigration will come to my house and knock on the door,” one man says. “There are rumors about…
Theo Wilson, a true Renaissance Man, is an activist and artist who won a national slam-poetry contest. Now he’s created a true salon with Shop Talk Live, his community-building sessions held in local barbershops and beauty shops.
“There’s been frustration, there’s been some angst,” Erik Soliván acknowledged before Denver’s 45-member Commission to End Homelessness. That includes commission members struggling with “finding a reason to come to these meetings and finding a direction,” he added. “I hear you. I want to begin a new dialogue and ask all…
The Meyer Law Office, which specializes in immigration law, has published a video proving that undercover ICE agents are entering Denver courthouses to make arrests.
In September 2016, when the City of Denver announced a temporary directive that would allow for ninety day expulsions of drug users — proven or suspected — from Denver’s parks, the ACLU of Colorado immediately called the directive “unconstitutional.”
Recent protests over Donald Trump’s policies point up a problem: There is no easy or guaranteed way to obtain a permit for demonstrating in Denver within 24 hours of major news breaking.
During a recent inspection by the Denver Fire Department, the Salvation Army’s Crossroads Homeless Shelter, which houses more than 550 men per night on average, was found to be in violation of several fire codes. According to Denver Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Taylor, the shelter on 29th Street has been…
Hundreds of Denver residents contacted Mayor Michael Hancock’s office following President Trump’s executive order, issued on January 25, that threatens to pull federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities that protect undocumented residents from federal immigration enforcement. Through a Colorado Open Records Act request, Westword obtained data about the number of…
Kayvan Khalatbari is running for mayor. On Tuesday, February 14, the Denver business owner and cannabis advocate filed paperwork with the Denver Elections Division, formalizing his candidacy for the 2019 mayoral race; Sue Chavez of the Denver Elections Division confirmed that Khalatbari had stopped by on Valentine’s Day to turn…
“I know that we all went to bed and woke up with images of round-ups in this country,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said at a forum on immigration and refugees on Saturday, February 11. “We acknowledge that President Trump’s actions have wreaked havoc on this nation.” Mayor Hancock spoke before…
When Wells Fargo employees and security guards saw more than one hundred indigenous activists and allies marching down Broadway from the State Capitol to Wells Fargo’s corporate office at Broadway and 17th Avenue, they tried to seal off the building.
Jason Flores-Williams has added some literary flair to a case in which he’s defending clients who were arrested at an inauguration protest in Washington, D.C., on January 20 and charged with felonies under the federal riot act.
The last time Kneebody played in Denver, in February 2016, the jazz collective dropped in with a frenetic, face-melting performance at the Oriental Theater with electronic beat master Daedelus. “That was a really cool departure for us,” says trumpeter Shane Endsley about the band’s collaboration with the electronic musician, which…
This month, a bill will be introduced before the state legislature to outlaw anti-homeless ordinances enacted by municipalities across Colorado, including the urban-camping ban in Denver. The bill — sponsored by House representatives Joseph Salazar, a Democrat from Thornton, and Jovan Melton, a Democrat from Arapahoe County/Aurora — will not…
“We are going to protect the people of Denver. Period.” That’s what Alan Salazar, chief of staff for Mayor Michael Hancock, told a standing-room-only crowd at North High School last night. For two hours on February 2, hundreds of community members heard from city officials, state representatives and immigration advocates…
Five days into his administration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that threatens to pull federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities that shield undocumented immigrants. Does Denver qualify as one?
Denver-based journalist Scott Carney knows that his neighbors – as well as members of Denver City Council – think he’s crazy. They’re not entirely without reason; on freezing days, Carney goes on runs wearing nothing but shorts, shoes and gloves.
Forty individuals camped out along Denargo Street in north Denver were made to move their tents and belongings on Thursday morning, January 26.
During the six days that I spent in Washington, D.C., covering President Donald Trump’s inauguration, I found myself in the middle of some striking situations – from the historic Women’s March on Washington to an intense riot that destroyed four city blocks of the nation’s capital and caused upwards of $100,000 in damage.
Recent evidence suggests that the Denver Police Department has been dedicating manpower and department resources to monitoring protesters and activists; last year, these efforts included the purchase of a powerful social media surveillance tool called Geofeedia. As Westword addressed in the cover story “Persons of Interest,” these revelations raise concerns that the department is violating its own policy against collecting or storing intelligence on individuals who are not engaged in criminal activity, but are solely exercising First Amendment-protected activities. This is also the same type of surveillance that put the city and the DPD in hot water in 2002 when its “Spy Files” program was discovered.
On Saturday, January 21, as at least half-a-million demonstrators flooded the National Mall in Washington, D.C, for the Women’s March on Washington, there was a very different kind of scene in the basement of the nearby H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse of the D.C. Superior Court. While the mood at the Women’s March was buoyant, there was an air of gravity at the courthouse.
While tens of thousands of women filled Civic Center Park during the Women’s March on Denver, hundreds of Coloradans joined in the Women’s March on Washington
