"I'm here to support my fellow Americans and to support democracy. I believe a coup is happening. It's a constitutional crisis. We need to act now to avoid a dictatorship that's already unfolding." protester Kristina Cash told Westword. "And I wanted to be with like-minded people and find some positivity and use my voice and my energy."
The Presidents' Protest was organized nationwide on social media platforms like Threads, Bluesky and Reddit. Denver's protest was organized by new, grassroots organizations that have cropped up since Trump was reelected in November, including the local branch of the People's March and the Common Ground People's Collective.
It's the second nationwide protest against Trump's presidency to bring a large turnout to the Colorado State Capitol since the Fifty State Protest on February 5, which saw 5,000 protesters at the Capitol. The Fifty State Protest was also organized mostly on social media and without an organization officially in the lead.
A national organization called the 50501 Movement has since emerged to organize protests similar to the Fifty State Protest. Along with the Political Revolution, a national group started by former supporters of Bernie Sanders's presidential bids, the 50501 Movement led efforts to organize the Presidents' Day protest nationally.
"What's going on is absolutely ridiculous right now, and it's going to take everybody standing up to make it stop," said Ben Allen, a Denver resident who hasn't come out to protest since he was a teenager. "I was so mad during [Trump's] first term, and this time it's going to take a lot more action."
Protesters continue showing up in large numbers to the Colorado State Capitol to oppose President Donald Trump's presidency.
Bennito L. Kelty
While the Fifty State Protest in Denver brought out a sea of Mexican flags and people playing cumbia and other music popular in Mexico, the Presidents' Day protest saw more American flags flying, many upside down. Amid the crowd, Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" blared from large speakers.
Allen stood on a railing next to Lincoln Street and waved an American flag upside down at passing cars, which honked back to the mass of protesters.
"It's upside down as a symbol of distress," Allen explained. "We're in absolute distress right now, and it's going to get worse."
However, Bruce Budy, a Denver protester who "is totally against Trump and Republicans in general," came up to Allen and challenged his idea of flying the flag upside down, saying it's not time to give up on patriotism.
"Pride in our nation is more important than our hate against the other guys," Budy argued. "America is still good. We should be flying our flag right side up and making the other guys think they're beat."
Dozens of signs damned Trump and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and X who was appointed to the head of the made-up Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk and DOGE have been criticized for shutting down USAID and seeking to reform the Social Security system despite not being an elected official or having government or public service experience.Allen stood on a railing next to Lincoln Street and waved an American flag upside down at passing cars, which honked back to the mass of protesters.
"It's upside down as a symbol of distress," Allen explained. "We're in absolute distress right now, and it's going to get worse."
However, Bruce Budy, a Denver protester who "is totally against Trump and Republicans in general," came up to Allen and challenged his idea of flying the flag upside down, saying it's not time to give up on patriotism.
"Pride in our nation is more important than our hate against the other guys," Budy argued. "America is still good. We should be flying our flag right side up and making the other guys think they're beat."
Signs at the protest read, "fuck Trump," "deport Elon," "deport Musk," "remove Muskrat and the Dogebags," "Elon is a Nazi," and "Impeach President Elon."
"He's not an elected leader, and he has busted into all of the systems that hold our information," Cash said. "He has no right to be there."
Protesters also chanted "fuck Elon," "fuck Donald Trump," "tax the rich," "eat the rich," and "no justice, no peace."
"Fuck Trump" was one of the most common phrases written on signs and chanted by protesters during Denver's Presidents' Day protest.
Bennito L. Kelty
The Fifty State Protest focused largely on Trump's threat of mass deportations and raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the subject was fresh on Denver residents' minds because ICE had raided apartments in Denver and Aurora the morning of those protests on February 5. However, plenty of Presidents' Day protesters showed up to continue sending a message against ICE and Trump's mass deportation plan, known as Operation Aurora.
"I can't stand for the separation of our people. I'm Mexican myself, and I think mass deportation is harmful on all fronts. Our family has been here since before we had borders," said Victoria Baldewin, a protester who held up a sign during the protest reading "Chinga la Migra," or "Fuck ICE" in Spanish. "Trump is doing irreparable damage."
Thirty people were detained in those raids, according to ABC News, including one person with suspected ties to Tren de Aragua, a multi-national Venezuelan prison gang that was at the center of controversy in Aurora in August.
Some protesters also decried Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking over as the new Health and Human Services secretary after the Senate confirmed him and he was sworn in by Trump on February 13. Kennedy now leads the federal agency responsible for the nation's health and well-being, which Allen calls "absolutely ridiculous." Baldewin called out his history of attacking vaccines and linking them to autism.
"RFK is absolutely horrifying," Baldewin said "All the language around vaccines are problematic. Vaccines don't cause autism. They save lives."
"RFK is absolutely horrifying," Baldewin said "All the language around vaccines are problematic. Vaccines don't cause autism. They save lives."
The Presidents' Day protest has followed a string of rallies showing pubic dissent in Denver for the White House. The Denver branch of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, a political organization, has been organizing large anti-ICE rallies in Denver and Aurora, including one on Saturday, February 8 that saw 2,500 protesters gather at the Capitol.
