[ Local ]

• After months of controversy, the Draco Well Pad proposal from Civitas Resources, Inc., a 26-well project in Weld County, is approved by the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) in a 4-1 vote.
• The Boulder County branch of the NAACP announces its plans to dissolve due to retaliation from the city manager, government entities, and police leaders. However, the national NAACP says they don’t have the authority to dissolve the branch.
• Well-respected local immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra, who is an immigrant herself, is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and transferred to the GEO immigration detention center in Aurora in a move that has been called a political attack against a leader on immigration reform.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hold a rally at Denver Civic Center Park as part of their Fight Oligarchy tour.

[ National ]

• After Donald Trump’s imposed tariffs on imported goods caused massive market losses, the president reverses course and drops down to a 10% tariff on all countries except China, which will now have a 125% tariff. The White House claims that the reversal was always planned, implying that Trump caused economic chaos for no reason.
• After Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was detained and threatened with deportation following his involvement in pro-Palestine protests, a judge orders the government to justify the planned deportation.
• A federal judge rules that the Trump administration’s attempts to bar The Associated Press from presidential events constitutes a violation of First Amendment rights to freedom of the press.
• Tens of thousands of people across the country participate in “Hands Off” rallies across the country on April 5 to protest the actions of the Trump administration.

[ International ]

• Israel resumes bombing Gaza in an attempt to force Hamas to release more hostages before the negotiations begin on the second phase of the ceasefire, even though that is not what Israel and Hamas agreed to in the ceasefire brokered by the Biden Administration in January.
• South Korea’s Constitutional Court removes President Yoon Suk-yeol for declaring martial law late last year.
• Donald Trump becomes “very angry” with Vladimir Putin for claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t have the legitimacy to sign a peace deal and threatens tariffs against Russia.
• Heavy rains in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital of Kinshasa causes massive flooding and at least 30 deaths as the Ndjili River overflows.

Quotes

“Jeanette [Vizguerra] has spent decades fighting for her community. We will not allow her to disappear without a fight. Our faith compels us to love boldly. Our values demand that we take risks. And our democracy requires our participation. We are not alone. We are not powerless. But we must act.” 

– Rev. Sean Neil-Barron, Acting Senior Minister at Foothills Unitarian and Foothills Immigration Team

“Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s attempt to impose martial law in December 2024 posed a grave threat to human rights and the rule of law. If martial law had been maintained, South Koreans would have faced the risk of arrest and detention without trial as well as severe restrictions on their freedom of expression and assembly, among other human rights violations. The Constitutional Court’s ruling was a decisive step to uphold human rights protections and democratic values.”

– Lina Yoon, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch

“The aim has been clear: to remove the leadership of NAACP Boulder and reshape our Branch into a powerless symbolic entity that serves the city’s interests rather than the community’s—one that provides mere performative gestures, a prop for inclusion, rather than real empowerment.”

– Statement from the NAACP Boulder Branch in their press release about their intention to dissolve the branch

“Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less.”

– U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a Trump appointee, in his decision to reinstate the Associated Press’ access to presidential events

By the Numbers

$506.4 billion

The total of all U.S. imports from China in 2021, the country Trump slapped with a 125% tariff

28

The number of years Jeanette Vizguerra has been building a life for herself in the United States

1,400

Number of “Hands Off” protest rallies that were held across all 50 U.S. states on April 5

0

Number of members of South Korea’s Constitutional Court who voted against removing their president from office in a country that knows how to deal with abuses of power

Like journalism like this? Consider becoming a sustaining supporter (and get our printed copy monthly at home.)
Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.

Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.