Another weekend, another protest of the Trump administration's actions.
Rallies, marches and demonstrations have become regular occurrences, but they're showing no signs of dying down. Today, Denverites will again gather in support of their Muslim neighbors.
When: 1-4 p.m.
Where: Civic Center Park, 150 W. 14th Ave. (amphitheatre side)
Who: The rally is being organized and led by local activist Queen Phoenix, aka Dezy. The Facebook event page promises a full lineup of speakers, poets and musicians.
Phoenix told 303 Magazine there will be "Muslim speakers, speakers on their families and deportation, speakers on the law and new bills to protect us, speakers on making pacts of peace, and we will even allow our Muslim community to do their Asr prayer led by the Imam in the middle of our rally, as we peacefully protect their space to do so."
Why: Last week, President Trump signed an executive order banning refugees and citizens of seven countries with large Muslim populations from entering the U.S. The reaction in Denver has been huge.
Hundreds of people went to Denver International Airport to protest last Saturday. (And no one was arrested.) They went back the next day, too.
A group of lawyers also went out to DIA to support anyone who might be detained and need their help. A couple from Iran and a Syrian woman with a baby were briefly detained, but were eventually allowed to leave.
Meanwhile, Colorado lawmakers were denouncing the ban. Denver schools and the teacher's union have also voiced their opposition, as have refugee students at South High School and the Nuggets' Kenneth Faried.
The ACLU of Colorado has since begun work to find out how Customs and Border Protection officers are interpreting and implementing the order, and the Colorado House passed a symbolic resolution urging its repeal.
And yesterday, members of Denver’s Immigrant and Refugee Commission told Mayor Hancock that fear in their communities is widespread and intense, and asked what he plans to do next.
Phoenix wrote on Facebook, "Is it Freedom of Religion, or Freedom of Christian Religion? It seems that every statute of freedom our country was built on is being threatened at the very core. In just a week's time, we've seen more people lose their freedoms than we can truly fathom. People have come here over the past hundreds of years to escape the travesties in their own countries...now we've officially become another country where they are not safe."
