(The Center Square) – As protests spread across the United States, Colorado politicians are gearing up for anti-Trump demonstrations planned for Saturday.
Hundreds of protests are expected throughout Colorado and the nation tomorrow, which has been labeled “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance.”
“Instead of allowing this military parade to be the center of gravity, activists will make action everywhere else the story of America that day,” said a release from Indivisible, a grassroots progressive movement working to organize the protests.
Hot spots are expected in Denver, where 18 were arrested on Tuesday following anti-ICE demonstrations.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, has taken a strong stance against President Donald Trump’s response to the nationwide protests, which included the deployment of Marines and the California National Guard after violent protests in downtown Los Angeles.
“Sending military personnel with combat equipment and heavy weapons into tense domestic situations rarely deescalates. We have often seen deadly consequences and the erosion of public trust,” Crow said on social media. “This is a dangerous slippery slope that should concern Americans everywhere.”
Crow has also spoken out against a military parade planned in D.C. by the Trump administration in honor of the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary, saying it is a “politicization” of U.S. troops.
“Almost everything this administration does, it caters to ego. It wastes taxpayer dollars, and it distracts from the mission,” Crow said. “All for the cost of over $50 million. That is wrong. It takes soldiers away from their families, away from their mission. It wastes taxpayer dollars. I just don’t have time for parades.”
Colorado is taking legal action against Trump’s response to the protests in California. The state’s Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a court brief on Thursday as part of a coalition of 20 states supporting California in what they call Trump’s “unlawful federalization and deployment of that state’s National Guard.”
“To federalize the National Guard in Los Angeles or anywhere else in the country, the president must have a legal reason — he can’t just make up an emergency out of thin air,” Weiser said. “President Trump’s decision to deploy armed soldiers into the streets of our cities to engage in civil law enforcement violates our laws and Constitution and undermines the liberties we hold dear as Americans.”
The Colorado Democratic Party also released a statement on Trump’s “reckless deployment of troops.”
“This administration has separated families, jailed children, and stripped basic protections from immigrants and asylum seekers,” it said. “Now, it’s using military force to suppress dissent, leading with control over compassion, and fear over violence.”
While the party said it condemns “all violence, lawlessness, and destruction,” it said the freedom to assemble must be protected as a “cornerstone of American democracy.”
