Rapid Response Action: Denver Protests Trump’s War

The setting sun splashed along the street, Summer’s first heatwave shining a spotlight on the inverted U.S. flag billowing above rows of signs held aloft by sweating protestors along Lincoln Avenue in Colorado’s capital.

Only hours earlier, the United States executed “Midnight Hammer,” a military operation involving more than one hundred aircraft in a coordinated entrance into the Israel and Iran war. Ostensibly the bombings were directed toward three Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan and Vice President J.D. Vance insists we are only at war “with Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

In Denver, on Sunday night, almost one hundred people found themselves staring down the sun in defiance of the Trump Administration’s decision to enter the war. Some were answering the call made by political organizers like the Party for Socialism & Liberation and 50501 Colorado. Some simply showed up, feeling the need to state out loud and publicly their dissent.

Protestors carrying signs decrying the United States involvement in the Israel Iran war line Lincoln Avenue in front of the Colorado Capitol in Denver, CO on June 22, 2025. Photo by Vince Chandler | Yellowscene

“I promise we’ll keep things brief, but powerful, with this heat everyone,” Katie, an organizer for PSL said, taking the microphone and coaxing a crowd hidden in the shade of the trees and buildings surrounding their red truck.

The group size doubled as folks carrying homemade signs, some specific to the Israel Iran war, some left over from the previous weekend’s No Kings Day activities. Organizers distributed plenty, as well, for the unprepared.

“What the Trump Administration did last night, was that peaceful?” Katie asked those gathered, who bridled. “No! What they did was an act of war. Funded, with our tax dollars y’all. Do we want our tax dollars to go to war?”

“No!” came the overwhelming response.

From the speakers to those in the crowd, the conversation was absolutely had that they were surprised that President Trump, who ran not only on a platform of peace but also to protect the working class, would enter another taxpayer-funded war in the Middle East at a time when tariffs continue to squeeze their bottom line.

To some, it wasn’t such a shock.

The financial implications of another military campaign conducted in the name of regime change was a way something which feels far away could be felt, immediately, by every person there. To further iterate the reality of the situation, the speaker brought us to the violence of war. The mood grows somber.

“Let’s be clear. This is no longer about a regional conflict in the Middle East. The reality is this is the start of World War Three,” the first speaker said before closing and handing the mic off to Shehab from the Colorado Palestine Coalition.

“When will we put the U.S. first, and care about our own people rather than sacrifice our own people?” Shehab lamented, calling into question in his speech the cost of American lives in wars overseas.

Nearly 5,000 United States service members were killed in the Iraq war.

Party for Socialism & Liberation organizer Elle speaks to a crowd gathered to protest U.S. involvement in the Israel Iran war on June 22, 2025. Photo by Vince Chandler | Yellowscene

Murmuring and mumbling rippled through the crowd as the speakers exchanged the microphone. Refrains of what-if and how-do-we started to echo. Some questioned why more people weren’t there. Frustration was palpable, colliding with a sense of futility.

Elle, a PSL organizer, spoke directly to those concerns. The week before, hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Colorado in the largest autonomous movement since the Elijah McClain protests. The day before, the street we were then standing on saw a protest demanding further protections for trans youth.

“We’re going to be in our streets, we’re going to be in our communities, we’re going to be engaged, we’re going to keep track of what Trump is doing with our money and in our name,” Elle promised the crowd.

Fewer than forty minutes after the first voice rallied the crowd, music was played through the speakers and the programming ended. On a Sunday evening, about two hundred people gathered in Denver to say they didn’t support President Trump’s entrée to the Israel Iran war.

Colorado Palestine Coalition organizer Shehab speaks to a crowd gathered to protest U.S. involvement in the Israel Iran war on June 22, 2025. Photo by Vince Chandler | Yellowscene

Some were left asking why there wasn’t a march. Some were surprised that the moment seemed ended prematurely. Some continued to hold signs for passing traffic. Many left.

At the edges, coalitions of organizers chatted in the shade. People who have been around mass mobilization regularly and who have seen the ebbs and flows of the People’s participation in demonstrations downtown.

President Trump’s decision to enter the war was still new. In our disjointed media ecosystem the information was still being distributed. Ending the first weekend of the Summer, many are recovering from the week just had while planning for the week ahead.

That week ahead could very well include more people using their voice and waving a sign.