Rodney Busbee stood on the lawn of the state Capitol on Saturday afternoon clad in Denver Broncos gear, two miles east of where the team was preparing to face the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs at Empower Field at Mile High.
Along with his orange and blue scarf and streamers, Busbee held a sign with hearts next to the words “America” and “Broncos” and an X next to the word “ICE,” for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“It’s time,” he said. “We all have to stand up. Every chance we get, we’ve got to let our voices be heard right now, that we stand for freedom and the Constitution.”
Busbee, 53, was among hundreds of people who gathered at the state Capitol on Saturday to protest the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration, including recent surges in immigration enforcement and the shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a federal officer.
Demonstrators held up handmade signs criticizing the Trump administration, from its handling of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“I’m just consumed by what’s going on with our people,” Busbee said. “The fear – I’m married to an immigrant who every day thinks somebody is coming to get him. That’s why I’m here by myself, because he can’t come.”
Although Saturday’s “One Year is Enough” protest, organized by more than a dozen advocacy groups, was a fraction of the size of previous nationwide demonstrations, the signs and sentiments were similar.
“For 362 days we have watched our gravest fears materialize – violence, corruption and betrayal,” 50501 Colorado organizer Jennifer Bradley told the crowd of protesters.
But despite the challenges, Bradley said, she continues to have faith in people.
“I know we will be courageous, we will take action and we will prevail,” she said.
Mary Yadon, 78, of Arvada, Linda Dermyer, 75, of Lakewood and Anita Antony, 74, of Golden attended the demonstration together, hoisting handmade signs and bundling up against the cold.
The three friends remember how turbulent American life was during the 1960s, from the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
To see the same upheaval return is “heartbreaking,” Yadon said, but also sparks fear and anger.
“It’s like a fall down a flight of stairs where you hit the landing and you bounce and think you’re going to stop, but then you keep falling,” Yadon said.
Dermyer said she was angry about the federal government’s actions in Minnesota and Good’s killing.
“I can’t believe there are still so many people supporting Trump and his ideas,” Antony added.
Denver residents Eric Hagan, 35, and Samantha Pickren, 33, said they want to see more change come from the protests, including action from lawmakers.
“I’m sick of this (expletive) disregard for laws and due process and people’s civil rights,” Pickren said.
As demonstrators began gathering on Lincoln Street to march through downtown, leading chants while a marching band played “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Busbee pulled out his phone to take a photo of the crowd spanning most of the block.
“I want the people who are afraid to see that there are people here, and I want people to see that everyone on every side of the spectrum is in this movement,” he said. “It’s not a left or right movement, it’s a right and wrong movement.”
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