Updated at 5:35 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025.
Thousands of protesters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver Monday, and hundreds more joined at places from Colorado Springs to Grand Junction — and even at an entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
It was part of a national movement that is trying to rally opposition to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. While the protests remain far smaller than the demonstrations against Trump in 2017, Monday represented one of the largest and most widespread demonstrations in Colorado of the second term.
“I'm concerned about the direction our country is heading, and I'm here to represent all Americans regardless of party. We need to take our country back,” said Dena Blair, who was marching with her daughter in Denver.
Trump in recent weeks has steamrolled norms of U.S. governance — unilaterally dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development without Congressional approval, ordering dramatic changes to immigration policy, moving to fire F.B.I. agents who investigated the Jan. 6 attack and firing more than 10,000 federal workers last week alone — while declaring that he “who saves his country does not violate any Law.”
The Denver protesters also marched through streets near Civic Center, causing temporary road closures.
Even as the protest movement grows, Trump appears more popular than ever, with 49 percent of Americans expressing a favorable view of the president, according to polling averages from FiveThirtyEight. Meanwhile, the share of those who disapprove has ticked upward since Inauguration Day, reaching a recent high of about 46 percent.
Protesters on Monday expressed a wide range of motivations, from the impact of funding cuts on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fears that a full-blown constitutional crisis is underway.
Speakers at the state Capitol in Denver, including several Democratic state lawmakers, attacked what they believe is the erosion of democratic rights and protections for clean air, land and water under the new administration.
From the Capitol, the crowd marched west in freezing temperatures and light snowfall along Colfax Avenue, circling through downtown streets shouting pro-democracy and anti-Trump and anti-Musk slogans. Officials closed parts of Colfax to allow the march to proceed.
Holland, a 14-year-old girl at the Denver protest, said she and her family were motivated by Trump’s numerous anti-trans orders.
“I’ve seen the nation I once believed in crumble before me,” she said. “And I'm here to support everyone who is being affected, like other trans youth who aren't receiving gender affirming care or are being discriminated against.”
Trump has ordered a ban on transgender women and girls competing in female sports; tried to cut off federal funding for hospitals that provide gender-related puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries for people under 19; and banned trans people from enlisting in the military, among other orders.
Many in the Denver crowd also directed their anger toward Elon Musk.
Tracy Hill, who grew up in South Africa, accused Musk, who grew up in an affluent South African family, of following the rule book that governed apartheid South African.
“I completely recognize the tactics,” she said. “It’s exactly the same — the division, the creating chaos, all of that is so like the old South African apartheid government, exactly like it.”
Daren Maltese, who attended the rally with several of his postal worker colleagues, was not just worried for federal employees who have lost their jobs, but for the entire country.
“We might need some change in this country, but I don't think it should be Musk,” said Maltese. “It’s time to get him out and … let's impeach Trump a third time and get him out of the office because he's not helping anybody except his rich billionaire buddies.”
Many said coming to the rally was a way to confront the isolation they feel about the tumultuous changes of the past few weeks. Three middle-aged men who have been friends since college decades ago huddled together in the cold, carrying a large American flag, listening to speeches.
“We have to be amongst like-minded people, get a feeling that there's other people who know what's going on and want to do something about it,” said Mark, who didn’t want to give his last name because of the charged political climate.
Children also attended the rally. Robert, 8, waved an American flag with his little brother. He said he doesn’t like Donald Trump because he doesn’t tell the truth.
“Donald Trump was making the Tesla guy fire a bunch of people from the library,” he said, worried that there would be further cuts to libraries, which he just learned are free. Key personnel at the National Archive had already been dismissed.
In Mesa County, where President Trump won the 2024 election with more than 60 percent of the vote, hundreds of people demonstrated outside Grand Junction city hall. As cars honked and drivers waved, the protestors chanted and held up homemade signs that read "Diversity Makes America Great" and "Deport Musk to Mars.”
For Janice Karns, protesting felt like one of the few things within her control.
“I never imagined in my lifetime of almost 80 years that I would be living in this kind of a nightmare and that my country would be in this much danger,” she said.
It was the largest protest in the largely conservative area since the demonstrations following George Floyd’s death in 2020.
In Estes Park, protesters stood in falling snow at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, chanting "save our park," and holding signs with messages like "My Mom Is A Park Ranger," according to Lincoln Roch of the Estes Valley Voice.
Jenny Brundin reported from Denver. Stephanie Rivera reported from Colorado Springs. Stina Sieg reported from Grand Junction.
