Denver, CO – On Sunday, June 29, the Colorado Palestine Coalition organized a protest in response to United States and Israeli escalations in Iran. They also called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.

Over 60 people came out to march and as the crowd picked up steam after a few speeches they took the streets.

During the street march, Kyle Burroughs, district organizer for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated, “We need to ignore the bullshit coming out of the United States and Israel’s mouths when it comes to other countries!”

Burroughs continued, “So I say stand with Iran! I say stand with the Palestinian resistance!”

Later on, during the street march, the crowd marched on a pedestrian bridge overlooking Interstate 25, Colorado’s busiest highway. They put out banners and signs over the bridge during rush hour traffic that read “Fight Trump’s agenda!” and “End the genocide!” Cars honked throughout the highway in support of the demonstration.

Later on, during the march, the crowd was trying to get off the pedestrian bridge and back into the streets, but they ran into riot cops from the Denver Police Department blocking their path off the bridge. The crowd took over the ramp leading off the bridge as militarized cops shouted dispersal orders at the protesters.

Despite the efforts from the cops, the organizers didn’t budge. The crowd booed the dispersal order, shouting back at the police “Move cops, get out the way! We know you’re Israeli trained!” The crowd held firm in their standoff with the Denver Police Department, and within 45 minutes the crowd pressured the police to move, and people pressed forward to finish the march.

When the march came to an end, the newer folks in the crowd got involved with local organizers to see what they could do to continue the fight for Palestinian solidarity in Denver.

#DenverCO #CO #AntiWarMovement #Iran #Palestine #CPC

Denver CO – On February 5, Denver students walked out in protest of the mass deportations. Hundreds of Chicano and Latino students marched to the Colorado State Capitol and rallied on the west steps, chanting “El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!” and demanding an end to the terror being unleashed on immigrants. This terror has taken the form of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, many of which were taking place simultaneously in Aurora and around Denver.

Well over 100 Mexican flags were present, many being worn by the students or adorning their signs. Many protesters present carried signs supportive of LGBTQ liberation and against the attacks on reproductive rights being waged by the Republicans. Others held signs saying, “No one elected Elon.”

At the height of the protest, the masses surrounded the State Capitol by taking the streets and marching around it in an unbroken circle, shutting down Colfax Avenue, Lincoln Street, 14th Avenue, and Cherokee Street. Members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization carried a banner in the march that read, “Fight for MLK’s dream! Resist Trump’s nightmare!”

The protest lasted late into the evening and grew to well over 2000 people as they were joined by organizations like the Colorado Palestine Coalition, as well as their supporters. Protesters opposed Trump’s stated plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, and carried signs with the slogan, “From the river to the sea! Palestine will be free!”

Khalid Hamu, a member of the Colorado Palestine Coalition and the Students for a Democratic Society Denver took to the mic and led a chant, “No ban! No wall! Legalization for all!” Hamu went on to say, “As a child of immigrants, I know firsthand the sacrifice immigrants make in this country, especially so if they’re undocumented. They have to deal with some of the most brutal working conditions, deal with employers underpaying them and getting threatened with ICE.”

Hamu continued, “We need to unite against Trump’s agenda to protect our fellow students and save our public education!” They ended by chanting, “Education is a right! Not just for the rich and white!”

Dozens of people in the crowd carried American flags, some upside-down, others not. It was clear by the variety of slogans, signs and participants that the Trump administration has made many enemies in Colorado, across the political spectrum. That thousands were able to unite against Trump and his reactionary agenda shows clearly that attacks against the people will not be taken without resistance.

#DenverCO #ImmigrantRights #ChicanoLatino #CPC #SDS

Denver, CO – On Sunday, June 23, the Colorado Palestine Coalition (CPC) organized a protest at Denver’s annual Pride Parade to draw attention to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the complicity of companies like Lockheed Martin in that genocide. Denver’s Pride Parade was sponsored by several arms contractors that sell weapons to Israel, like Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. The protest was attended by about 500 people.

Starting at 8 a.m., protesters gathered in a contingent at the beginning of the Pride parade route. Demonstrators held signs and chanted “From Stonewall to Gaza, globalize the intifada!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” As the crowd grew larger and larger, eventually protesters marched onto the street to join the parade, ignoring the growing line of riot police from the Denver Police Department. Effectively becoming a large contingent in the parade, the protesters continued to march the route to Civic Center Park, stopping to give speeches along the way.

“We gotta unite and fight! We need to build a fightback here at home just like the fightback at Stonewall! Just like the fightback in Gaza!” said Paul Nelson of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Along the march, the vast majority of onlookers supported the protest, raising their fists or even joining in on the march.

Once at Civic Center Park, the crowd marched through security with no resistance and onto the main stage at the Civic Center Park amphitheater. Now having the opportunity to address a much larger crowd of everyday LGBTQ people attending Pride, protesters gave several more speeches.

“The tide is turning, and we have people power! We are in the belly of the beast, and it is our duty to rise up, to reject this in every way we can, however we can, because America is the aircraft carrier from which this offensive is launched!” said an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and a third-generation anti-Zionist Jew.

After exiting the stage, protesters gathered in a grassy area for more speeches. In a victory for the demonstration, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, anticipating the backlash they would receive, had already pulled their tables from Pride after the protest was announced.

Despite the presence of dozens of riot cops and an armored police vehicle, the protest faced minimal repression and no arrests were made.

#DenverCO #CPC #SDS #PRIDE

Denver, CO – On Saturday June 1, several hundred people turned out to City Park in Denver, Colorado in the summer heat on a clear day. A week earlier Israeli airstrikes on United Nations refugee camps in Rafah martyred 50 people who had been displaced into these “safe-zones.” People were stirred to action again by the images coming out of Rafah of martyred children among the dead.

The sounds of the protest carried through the nearby City Park Farmers Market, where well over 1000 people were shopping. Police blocked off streets in anticipation of the march’s entry into the market, but the protest went on to shut down the busiest city streets in Denver. The march took both lanes of the street on 17th Avenue, Colorado Boulevard and Colfax Avenue in a march around the City Park neighborhood.

Organizers had raised the call, “All out for Rafah! No business as usual while Israel bombs and USA pays!” Leading the protest was the Colorado Palestine Coalition (CPC) the leading organization in the Palestine movement in Colorado. Chants of “Free free Palestine!” “Up up with liberation! Down down with occupation!” joined other calls for an end of a U.S.-funded genocide.

Khalid Hamu of the Denver Students for a Democratic Society reminded the crowd that the students of Denver are still in the fight for divestment, urging students to join a rally for divestment in the neighborhood of University of Colorado’s leading regent, Callie Rennison. The students raised the chants, “Disclose! Divest! We will not stop! We will not rest!” and “Israel bombs, CU pays! How many kids did you kill today?”

The march ended in another series of speeches near the farmers market in an intersection to the south of East High School. Though the heat was difficult, marshals distributed water and sunscreen to keep people cool. Logistical support from Denver/Boulder JVP, Denver PSL, Denver DSA, SDS and others helped make the action possible.

This action was another page in a series of militant actions organized by the CPC. It’s more than seven months and three weeks since October 7 and there is still a strong turnout to actions where the people shout, “Gaza Gaza you will rise! You have Denver on your side!”

A broad unity in the fight for a free Palestine has been built and is ever expanding in Denver and spreading across the state of Colorado. Activists are commuting and communicating from far and wide to support and learn from one another across the Denver metro area and across the state. Since October the Colorado Palestine Coalition has been joined by many new people and organizations that have the determination to continue fighting for a free Palestine.

#DenverCO #Palestine #CPC