What to expect downtown Denver Saturday as second No Kings protest expected to draw many
A few months after more than 10,000 people took to the streets to protest the actions of President Donald Trump, Denver services are preparing for a second No Kings demonstration on Saturday.
The protest, one of at least 50 different organized demonstrations across Colorado — and hundreds taking place across the country — is expected to contain messages criticizing Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops into several major cities and detaining illegal immigrants, according to an online description on the event’s sign-up page.
Denver’s protest is scheduled to begin at the Capitol at noon and will include a march throughout streets downtown, according to the description. The event is scheduled to end at 4 p.m. The No Kings protest on June 14 ended with Denver police deploying smoke and pepper balls while sweeping demonstrators out of the downtown area around 9:30 p.m.
In preparation for the expected demonstrations, the Regional Transportation District has met with external partners, including the Denver Police Department, for the past several days to assess the level of disruption expected on Saturday, according to a Thursday news release. Based on that information, the agency will be increasing patrols for the security of riders and employees on Saturday.
Light rail and commuter rail services to Union Station will continue as scheduled unless the station is closed for safety reasons, according to the release. In that case, services will operate along the remainder of each individual rail line.
Bus services will continue as scheduled unless streets are closed or it is deemed too unsafe to operate, according to the release. Buses may be rerouted around street closures to continue service if it is feasible to do so.
Officials from the Service Employees International Union announced that its workers and members will also be joining in the protests Saturday, both in Denver and across the country, according to a Friday news release.
“We’re taking to the streets because what we’re seeing is unacceptable,” said Nate Paer, a crisis clinician and mental healthcare worker at Clinica Family Health and Wellness in Boulder, in the release. “Workers everywhere are under attack, from cuts to healthcare and critical funding to the erosion of our democratic processes, and we have to fight back.”
“I have consistently supported the American people’s First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and express their views,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs, said in a statement.
Gazette reporter Nick Smith contributed to this report.


