Denver's No Kings Went From Peaceful to Testy as Night Hit

Denver just saw its largest protest against President Donald Trump this year, with thousands marching from noon through night on Saturday, June 14. Although the day started out peacefully, many who kept demonstrating late into the night are still piecing together several chaotic events that led to three dozen arrests and law enforcement in riot gear, firing chemical irritants.

And, as with so many protests, the reports from law enforcement and participants differ.

Part of a national day of protests against the Trump administration, Denver's No Kings rally on Saturday was crowded but largely calm most of the day, but after organizers called for an end, some demonstrations turned the action into clashes between protesters and police.

Saturday's protest was peaceful throughout the day, but unlike a handful of other protests this year around the State Capitol, the No Kings rally had more people and felt more scattered, with small protests starting before the large noon gathering and several marches breaking out throughout the day.

The No Kings protest also included an "activist fair" in Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park, with tents connecting protesters with activist groups promoting abortion rights, climate justice and pro-Palestinian missions. Some small groups, including families with strollers and toddlers, set up at intersections blocks away from the Capitol to hold up anti-Trump, pro-immigrant signs. The air was filled with car horns honking in solidarity all over downtown Denver.

Colorado State Patrol says more than 5,000 protesters gathered at the Capitol and Memorial Park, but to protesters and Westword staff on the scene, the crowd seemed larger. Though most people were initially around the activist fair in Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park, the mass of protesters was loose and fanned out, making it hard to get a complete view of the crowd. Either way, even 5,000 people makes it the largest gathering in the area since Trump returned to office, with the exception of the rally to see Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which drew upwards of 30,000 people.

Marches Around Denver

Marches numbering in the hundreds and thousands split off from the Capitol throughout the day on June 14. Smaller marches went down Broadway and past Union Station. The first of the larger marches took off around 12:30 p.m., heading along West Colfax Avenue and through LoDo; the other large march began around 4 p.m and thronged through Capitol Hill. According to Denver Police, five marches took place between noon and 5:30 p.m.

When the second large march returned to the Capitol via Lincoln at around 5:30 p.m., speakers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), one of the protest's organizers, encouraged people to keep demonstrators in the weeks ahead and then told them to get home safely. At that point, DPD had reported that only one person, a 21-year-old man, had been arrested near Speer Boulevard and Wewatta Street for obstruction of a public street.

Not everyone went home when PSL called it a day, however. An hour later, at 6:30 p.m., a sixth march set out down West Colfax Avenue from the Capitol towards Interstate 25, "after the majority of the demonstrators had left the downtown area," according to DPD. A few thousand people were still at the Capitol after PSL tried to bring the whole event to a close, but DPD hasn't said how many people were on this sixth march. DPD confronted the marchers at West Colfax Avenue and Osage Street, which is close to the Interstate 25 on ramp.

Pepper Balls, Smoke Used on Protesters

"Following numerous loudspeaker announcements that the protesters would be denied access to the highway, protesters attempted to push through the line of officers," according to DPD. "Officers deployed pepper balls and smoke  — not tear gas — for crowd dispersal and area denial."

Pepper balls (or pellets) are meant to be shot at the ground around protesters to release a bleachy, irritating gas that disperses them, but they also hurt when they hit human targets directly.

 According to DPD reports, protesters were spraying graffiti and throwing rocks and bottles at officers, but officers only arrested five people during the confrontation, which happened roughly between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. However, DPD's lists of arrests during the No Kings protest show that fourteen people were arrested at the intersection of West Colfax Avenue and Osage Street that night on charges like interference with police authority, failure to obey a lawful order, unlawful throwing of projectiles, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance.

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Again, protesters weren't done. At about 9:20 p.m., protesters confronted police at 20th and Blake streets, near Coors Field. According to DPD, "protesters began advancing towards officers" and "some protesters were picking up rocks." DPD responded by firing pepper balls and smoke grenades, and "protesters again threw rocks and objects at officers," according to DPD. Protesters also started a small fire at around 10 p.m. on the 1400 block of Lincoln by the Capitol Building, DPD adds.

Videos from protesters sent to Westword and uploaded to r/DenverReddit show police in riot gear unleashing gas and pepper balls. Video submission emails and comments under these videos on social media accuse DPD of being the aggressors and using flash grenades, pepper spray and mace, as well as throwing protesters to the ground.

Residents of apartments around East 13th Avenue and Grant Street tell Westword that they smelled what appeared to be tear gas or some kind of irritating fumes coming up from the streets. They may have been smelling the gas released by pepper balls, which has a bleachy smell similar to tear gas and pepper spray, but pepper balls are weaker than tear gas and are meant to only irritate people standing right next to the spots where they're fired. According to DPD, officers only used pepper balls and smoke dispersers.

According to DPD, the action died down by around 11 p.m. By the end of the night, 36 people had been arrested, including 21 during the after-dark clash that started near Coors Field. Protesters were arrested mostly near 20th and Stout streets, West Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street, and 13th and Grant streets, according to DPD's list of No Kings arrests. Three of them were teenagers arrested for interference with police authority and failure to obey a lawful order,  the most common charge that night. A juvenile was arrested for disobeying a lawful order, but was released with a citation. One person was arrested for an outstanding Delta County warrant.

Saturday's unrest followed ICE Out! protests on Tuesday, June 10. The ICE Out! protests saw about 1,500 people protest at the State Capitol before breaking into a march south on Broadway. Held in solidarity with Los Angeles protesters outraged by aggressive arrests and deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Tuesday's ICE Out! march in Denver ran into a line of Colorado State Patrol troopers and Denver Police when they tried to march onto the Interstate 25, with officers firing smoke grenades and pepper balls into the crows. Eventually, seventeen people were arrested, including two for assaulting an officer, according to the DPD.

Denver's No Kings protest on Saturday turned out to be more violent than the earlier ICE Out! protests in Denver, but still not nearly as violent as the protests in Los Angeles, where Trump deployed the National Guard and United States Marines, protesters burned cars, and police reportedly used rubber bullets, tear gas and flash grenades. In Salt Lake City, a 24-year-old man shot and killed a protester at the No Kings protest there.

Nationwide, the No Kings, ICE Out! and L.A. protests have shown rising tensions and backlash against Trump's policies, including his aggressive use of ICE and other federal authorities.