National Issues Archives - Yellow Scene Magazine

Longmont Under the Lens As Council Shapes Surveillance Future

Elli Woodward — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 20:23:29 +0000

Longmont has long prided itself on being ahead of the curve. It was the first city in Colorado to offer municipal broadband, provides the majority of public utilities, and has been a community that has never shied away from embracing what comes next. But in December, residents packed city council chambers and forced a reckoning over surveillance cameras, pushing out one ALPR vendor in Flock and setting off three months of hard conversations about privacy, data and power. Now a new vendor is in, 15 cameras are headed back up, and Longmont finds itself with a chance to prove that being ahead of the curve means more than just adopting technology first: it also means governing it well.

To understand what that actually looks like, I spoke with two anti-surveillance activists, two city council members and the police department’s leadership.

Andrew Palmer has been a fixture at the public comment stand in recent months. Raised by two educators, he was drawn to science and technology from a young age, eventually becoming a systems engineer at Advanced Space. He has spent his career studying complex systems, and pertinently, how they fail.

Andrew Palmer

“Sometimes failures are an unknown consequence of actions that you couldn’t possibly have foreseen,” he said, citing his work on Boeing 737s.

That lens brought him to city council meetings. “The most complex and most important systems in our lives are the ones made up of both technology and people,” he told me.

“Failures in those systems are critical and catastrophic and can affect people’s lives, even be life and death.”

Palmer stressed the importance of “systems thinking” and believes the city should be applying it to the surveillance conversation. He is not alone. His efforts to raise the alarm about risks to citizen privacy led him to the Visible Government League, an activist group whose mission is to “encourage caution, transparency, and public oversight regarding government use of surveillance and other emerging technologies.”

For Palmer, the central ask is not necessarily the removal of cameras, it’s sequencing.

“By the time these technologies are implemented and part of city strategy, it’s often too late to do much about it,” he said.

In his view, an emerging technologies advisory board is a prerequisite for smart policy. A board seated before the next technology arrives means the city can evaluate it on the front end, with civil rights lawyers and technical experts at the table, rather than scrambling to catch up after the fact.

“If we can’t satisfy certain requirements for this technology,” he said, “we shouldn’t have it.”

He wants residents who aren’t following this closely to understand what’s at stake:

“These are not simply CCTV cameras. These are networked and capturing personal information of everyone entering and leaving the city.”

And he has a message for anyone who thinks one voice doesn’t matter. “I have found that I’ve had a much greater impact than I thought I would,” he said. “One visit with a city council member, one email, one time attending one of these meetings can be hugely impactful.”

Palmer sees Longmont’s response to surveillance pushback as an opportunity for broader influence. “Denver watches us. All the cities around us watch us. And then the nation watches Denver and the Front Range,” he said. “I want Longmont to continue being the leader in what good use of technology looks like for other cities.”

Council member Matthew Popkin also considers himself a systems thinker. With a day job at Rocky Mountain Institute, this is not his first rodeo when it comes to approaching new technology on a municipal scale. He tracks emerging technologies across the energy, sustainability and municipal functions spaces, and one thing he keeps seeing is how much data management and data protection matter regardless of the sector.

Matthew Popkin

“We manage a lot of data,” he told me.

“How we manage that matters, and how we protect that data is critical.”

Popkin pointed out that ALPR technology reduces the number of direct interactions between officers and the public, because if a camera can determine whether a vehicle is even relevant to a case, an officer doesn’t need to make that stop.

“You can have a black Subaru with this license plate and suddenly you’re no longer concerned with all the rest of the black Subarus,” he said. “It allows our officers to focus just on that, and go into those situations more prepared.”

Kellen Lask, a local software engineer and member of Visible Government League, sees that differently. For Lask, a safer community isn’t built by officers surveilling it from a distance but rather from officers embedded in it, connecting with the people they serve. Lask is not reflexively anti-technology. In fact, he was the kid programming games on his graphing calculator in school and describes himself as fascinated with technology.

Kellen Lask

Even so, he has doubts that the efficiency that comes with this surveillance technology will equate to safety.

As a fourth-generation Longmonter, former legislative staffer and teacher, Councilmember Jake Marsing comes at this from a different angle. He campaigned on fighting for working families, and when I asked him how that shapes his view on surveillance, you could tell the question carried real weight for him. He was also the one to make the motion to terminate the city’s contract with Flock during the December council meeting. Popkin seconded it.

Marsing considers the surveillance topic akin to issues like housing affordability in the sense that it begs the question: “What kind of governance are we doing, and what kind of community are we leaving our kids?” He expressed the desire to do everything he can to protect citizens’ privacy in an era where that is increasingly difficult. At a minimum, he believes, the city should ensure resident’s data is protected and not accessible to other jurisdictions except in active investigations.

Lask echoed this sentiment, but frames the stakes more broadly. “What kind of community are we building?” he asked.

“An automated eye in the sky tracking every single person? That feels like a very paranoid and distrustful community. That doesn’t feel like a happy, ‘I go help my neighbor’ kind of community.”

If people assume the cameras are watching, he argues, they may stop watching out for each other. “We’re offloading the responsibility to our community to keep an eye out for each other” Lask maintains “Like ‘Oh the cameras will do that.’”

A more disconnected community, Lask fears, could be one of the quieter, unintended consequences of building a future around this technology. He also worries about the impact on expression itself, and that perhaps the persistent awareness of being tracked suppresses behavior in ways that go beyond what any policy intends, leaving people less comfortable simply being out in the world.

During his conversation with Yellow Scene Magazine, Council member Marsing spoke frankly about the fine balance a councilmember must strike.

Jake Marsing

“We sit in this cross section of legislative branch policymaking and executive branch oversight, where we are also obligated to support our public safety department, to make sure the public safety team has the resources they need.”

That tension is personal for him. His father was a Longmont officer for 14 years, retiring in 2010. The department’s headcount hasn’t grown meaningfully since, even as the population has increased by approximately 16%. “So when our public safety chief says, ‘If you’re going to take away these cameras, I need more bodies, I agree with them.”

When I asked Marsing about his vote to approve the Axon contract, which struck some community members as a hasty decision, he was direct.

“It’s not that my thinking changed at all. It’s that my understanding of the reality here on the ground maybe shifted. I did not believe it was going to be possible for us to get cameras fully removed from the city. But what is possible is for us to work with a vendor that has significantly stronger data protection and does not involve a national data sharing model.”

He has heard the argument that Axon and Flock are the same thing.

“They’re not the same thing. Yes, the core camera tech is similar, but the back-end data sharing policies, the way that Axon has operated as a company for 20-plus years, do not have the same kind of data sharing practices that made me significantly more uncomfortable with Flock.”

Lask, who is particularly interested in trying to understand Axon’s architecture, agrees that the distinction matters, but stresses that the picture remains frustratingly incomplete. The questions he keeps returning to are technical and specific: when the data is transferred, is it encrypted? What encryption standard applies once it lands on a server? Who has access at that point? How much more secure is Azure Government than Azure?

“The details are just so deep and difficult to explore, even as a technical person,” he said.

One grey area Lask pointed out is the possible use of an Axon platform called Fusus, marketed as a cloud-based, real-time crime center (RTCC) designed to unify public safety and community intelligence. The platform would allow the city to integrate privately owned cameras, including residential doorbell cameras such as Ring, into the Axon system when camera owners grant access.

It has not been determined whether Longmont Public Safety will opt-in to this feature.

Both Council members Marsing and Popkin kept coming back to one distinction above all others: the difference between Flock’s opt-out data sharing model and Axon’s opt-in. With Flock, Longmont’s data was visible to any partnering agency by default unless the city actively shut them out. That, Popkin told me, is how data ends up shared without anyone consciously deciding to share it.

“That’s an operational default,” he said. “And that’s what other departments across the country are also realizing “‘hey, we didn’t even think to check that setting.’”

With Axon, the starting point is zero. Longmont has to explicitly grant access agency by agency.

“We’re keeping it tight,” Popkin said. “And that was part of the direction coming out of December.”

For residents whose anxiety centers on federal immigration enforcement, of which there are many, Popkin was measured but clear. The city cooperates with federal authorities on criminal warrants and active investigations. It does not enforce civil immigration violations. “It’s not Longmont’s role to enforce federal immigration law.” The default settings of the vendor, he argued, matter fundamentally to whether that policy holds in practice. It should be noted, however, that according to the Electronic Frontier Foun

dation (EFF), any resolution that claims to protect local data is null when the state and federal government do not allow cities to withhold data.

There are two other distinctions Popkin raised that have gotten less airtime. The first is that unlike Flock, Axon does not sell or share aggregated data collected through the platform. The second is that Axon does not use Longmont’s data to train AI.

The second distinction involves a platform Longmont already knows. All ALPR data through Axon is stored on Evidence.com, the same platform the department has used for seven years to store body camera footage. Popkin noted the significance of that. Body camera footage captures some of the most sensitive, private moments imaginable: officers entering homes during domestic violence calls, medical emergencies, moments of crisis.

“That is some of the most personal, sensitive, and private information that we might have on someone,” he said. The department has trusted Axon with that material for nearly a decade.

The ALPR data, by comparison, Popkin believes, is far less intimate. He notes that this is a photograph of a license plate, and nothing more.

Lask argues that this information, though simple in nature, can still portray an intimate picture of one’s life when aggregated. “Innocuous data adds up to a very personal picture,” he asserted, “your life is small bits of data that in isolation mean nothing, but across time it adds up to context.” The question of who holds that context, and what they can do with it, is where his concern lives.

I wanted to hear what this conversation looks like from inside the Public Safety Department. I sat down with Police Chief David Moore and Assistant Chief Phil Piotrowski, the people who are now navigating one of the most scrutinized technology decisions in the city’s recent memory.

Moore stepped into the chief role in October 2025, walking straight into the Flock controversy. He described the moment the Loveland data-sharing scandal broke that summer: “As soon as we found out about it, we took steps to assure that that wouldn’t happen with us.”

There is also a data misconception both officers were eager to address. When an ALPR camera captures a hit, all that exists in Axon’s system is a photograph of the rear of a vehicle and its license plate. No image of the driver. No personal information. Everything else, including the individual’s name, address and the details that make a plate number mean something, comes from NCIC and CCIC, national and state law enforcement databases that have existed for decades and operate entirely independently of any ALPR platform. Officers must verify a plate hit against those databases before making a stop.

“That’s really important,” Piotrowski said, “because in anything that we do, especially with technology, it’s having that human in the loop to verify and make sure that information is correct, because if we’re not doing that, that’s how we get in trouble.”

At the same time, the national record gives some reason for pause. An 2016 Associated Press investigation found that between 2013 and 2015, more than 325 officers across the country were fired, resigned or suspended for unauthorized database queries, using law enforcement systems to stalk ex-partners, surveil neighbors and dig up dirt on journalists. A decade later, this threat has evolved into a coordinated targeting of constitutional rights. EFF datasets from 2025 reveal that over 50 law enforcement agencies have weaponized ALPRs to physically track protesters and reporters at demonstrations. By bypassing traditional warrant requirements to log hundreds of searches, police are effectively penalizing public assembly and dissenting speech through retroactive surveillance. For some police departments across the country, the human in the loop has been a source of abuse.

Moore isn’t interested in framing ALPR as a replacement for officers.

“It will never be a replacement for an officer doing the work,” he told Yellow Scene Magazine. But the math cuts both ways for Moore. “I can’t have someone standing on a corner, or in our case, in 15 different locations in the city, constantly watching for a stolen vehicle to pass or a homicide suspect to pass, and then alerting their fellow officers that, hey, I just saw that car go by,” Moore said, “It’s just not practical, we can’t do that 24/7.”

The department has 15 cameras, positioned deliberately on main thoroughfares coming in and out of the city, not in residential neighborhoods.

“We want to know if there’s a wanted felon, a stolen vehicle, a missing person- if they’re leaving or entering the city,” Moore said. “That’s really the use case for us[…]It’s just an invaluable tool when used the right way,” he said.

That phrase “used the right way” is exactly where the community’s anxiety lives, and Moore knows it. The department requires individual logins, dual authentication and a mandatory case justification for every search, backed by annual audit trail reviews. An officer can’t run a plate without logging a reason. “If there’s one mistake you can’t make, it’s an integrity issue,” Moore said plainly.

Lask respects the intent but questions the scale. Other municipalities have reported query volumes upwards of 20,000 per month.

“Are we really to believe that, in addition to everything else public safety is doing, someone is going to sit down and read every single entry in an access log and match it to the case and the officer?”

When asked about alternative methods for secure access, Lask brought up his preference for the warrant system. “If you want to query someone’s phone records, you have to convince a judge it serves the public interest. You could build something similar here- some procedural, documented way to get sign-off from someone with no stake in the case. That keeps with the American tradition of following a process rather than just having unlimited access.”

The voice you rarely hear in these council chambers, Moore noted, is the victim. This could be the person whose stolen car was recovered, whose case was closed, whose family got an answer. “What I think is lost in these conversations is bringing closure to victims.” Moore emphasized that community engagement is his No. 1 priority, and that the trusting relationship the department has built with city council is too important to jeopardize, especially over a piece of technology.

City council’s oversight measures reflect that same balancing act. The Axon approval came with a one-year review, regular audits and a transparency portal where the public will be able to see what communities Longmont is sharing data with at any given time, which was never possible with Flock.

Perhaps the most anticipated development is the Technology Policy Advisory Board. Per the draft ordinance presented at the City Council Pre-Session on May 12, 2026, the board will serve to give technology policy recommendations to the council with no administrative or operational authority. Its responsibilities cover three key areas: resident data privacy rights, AI and algorithmic transparency, and camera and surveillance technologies. It will periodically review and update those policies as technology and laws evolve, deliver an annual report with recommendations and weigh in on high-impact technology issues when referred by council.

What surprised me most was learning that the Technology Policy Advisory Board, one of the central demands from the Visible Government League, was something the department itself helped set in motion. “We are not the experts at technology,” Moore said. “What we want are experts in technology that can bring an objective view on what the technology has to offer, what some potholes might be.”

The board is expected to be seated Jan. 1, 2027.

“This board is going to be able to access and look at the back end of our data in a way that other boards can’t,” Marsing said, “and that’s on purpose, because I want them to be able to get the best possible expertise that they can.” Applications are expected to open in November 2026.

For Palmer, the board is the most meaningful outcome of this entire saga as it will allow the city to intelligently respond to emerging technology and its risks.

For Lask, his focus is more personal. As a queer person, he’s acutely aware that the populations most vulnerable to surveillance aren’t always the ones visible in these conversations. “Gender ideology has been declared terrorism-adjacent at the federal level,” he said. “I have friends who are much more vulnerable than I am.” A national network of cameras that can share data across jurisdictions, even informally, is not an abstract threat from where he stands. Recent public records show that when guardrails are weak, local police have used these networks to target specific identities rather than actual crimes. Between 2024 and 2025, over 80 law enforcement agencies across the country used the system to run sweeping searches targeting the Romani community based entirely on racial slurs and stereotypes. For Lask, the worry is how easily a local system can be weaponized against marginalized groups when oversight is left up to the departments themselves.

It’s a reminder that these conversations, however technical they become, are ultimately about the people. While the Axon contract is still being finalized, the advisory board has yet to convene, and privately owned ALPRs continue to operate without the restrictions the city is working to codify, one thing is clear: Longmonters from all walks of life are coming to the table and asking hard questions about the kind of city they want to live in.

Marsing put it simply: “I remain really impressed by the engagement in our community and the care that folks put into our city, because that is what makes Longmont so special.”

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The post Longmont Under the Lens As Council Shapes Surveillance Future appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Is Free Speech legal in Boulder? The Case for 1 Protestor

Sprout Foster-Goodrich — Tue, 12 May 2026 12:08:34 +0000

Correction (5/13): A previous version of this article incorrectly referenced Rachel Friend in connection with Laura Gonzales; that reference has been removed.

A Boulder resident is being targeted with criminal charges for protesting Israel and their occupation of Gaza. Her attorneys argue the prosecution is a direct violation of her right to free speech.

A Boulder resident since 2011, Laura Gonzalez has spent the last three years as a prominent advocate for Palestine at city council meetings. Her activism is rooted in a complex personal history: she is the youngest of ten children, the first American born to undocumented immigrants, and the child of a survivor of the Guatemalan genocide. Gonzalez, who is Indigenous with Mayan ancestry, views her vocalism as a direct resistance to the erasure of marginalized people.

“Silence is erasure,” Gonzalez said. “We have 500 years of white-washed history in the United States and I don’t want that to happen to Palestine.”

Gonzalez now faces multiple legal hurdles, including a felony charge following an incident with council member Matt Benjamin. Police arrested her at her home the day after that encounter. She also faces a misdemeanor and a separate accusation of graffiti.

Represented by attorneys Cameron Bedard and Andy McNulty, Gonzalez noted that rules of decorum changed quickly before she was hit with charges like “harassment of a public official.” She maintains the legal action is targeted. “I’m being used as a scapegoat,” Gonzalez stated. “But this is all about Palestine.”

Gonzalez was referencing Boulder’s $35 million dollar portfolio holdings in corporations profiting from Israeli military occupation. Boulder’s portfolio includes Microsoft, which has supported the Israeli military and settlement’s technological needs, and Caterpillar, which supplied bulldozers used in Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza that allegedly buried wounded civilians alive.

“Boulder is more focused on investments and corporations than it used to be,” Gonzalez emphasized.

Cameron Bedard, Gonzalez’ defense attorney, also expressed disappointment in Boulder’s shifting priorities. “This fits a growing trend nationally using the legal system to discourage activism,” Bedard remarked. “Boulder is a seemingly progressive bastion, but when over a hundred other progressive cities like Atlanta, San Francisco, and Detroit passed a symbolic ceasefire, Boulder refused to do so.”

Gonzalez, among other Boulderites, publicly protested the council’s decision, and for three instances of protest she is facing legal retaliation. Andy McNulty is Gonzalez’ civil rights attorney for a charge of “graffiti” for writing “Boulder City Council invests $30m/yr in genocide and ecocide in Palestine” in washable chalk on Pearl Street Mall. McNulty explained, “Freedom of speech violations are broad, but 1st Amendment violations are much narrower [to claim]”

In a direct response to pro-Palestinian’s protests and increased intensity at city council meetings following the June 1st Pearl Street attack targeting Jewish community members, rules for public comment changed: the time for each speaker was reduced from three minutes to two, the visual component of recording speakers was removed, and a randomization system to pick 20 speakers from the public comment list was put in place. Removing visual components from speakers made it so protestors couldn’t use signs to convey their messages, or fly Palestinian flags, as noted by Gonzalez.

The randomization system does not have a transparency statement on the city of Boulder’s website, but the city clerk did provide details on the process upon request, including the use of Formstack and Excel’s randomization formula. City Clerk Elesha Johnson said, “The data is sorted after community members that were selected to speak at the last meeting are removed in accordance with our Council Rules of Procedures that prohibits speakers to be selected for 2 consecutive meetings.”

McNulty, responding to the changes made to public comment, stated “There are no First Amendment violations in changing the rules of public comment. There is no First Amendment reason that city councils have to have a public comment portion at all.” Places like Weld County have removed public comment from their board meetings altogether. He continued, “But what is a first amendment violation: that Laura is banned for a year from city council meetings for speaking out against Israel. That is viewpoint discrimination.”

One of the incidents for which Gonzalez faces charges, she asked a council member over a megaphone whether “the hundreds of thousands of children that are dead because of your money” mattered. This amongst other pointed questions were cited as “true threats” or “fighting words”, and begs the question of what the line is between dissent and harassment.

Gonzalez responded to claims of harassment from elected officials, saying “The difference between [the council member’s fear] and my anger is that my anger comes from pain and trauma, and their fear comes from the fear that [pro-Palestinians and Indigenous] are going to do to them what their ancestors did to us, which is not true. All we want is freedom.”

While free speech is being threatened nationwide, Gonzalez’s lawyer Cameron Bedard supports her and others’ right to be politically outspoken, stating, “This is a righteous case. A state institution prosecuting apparatus targeting a person for voicing their concerns and speaking out against genocide is wrong.” He continued, “I don’t care which side of the equation you’re on – if you are pro Zionism or anti-Zionism. The First amendment doesn’t care.”

As Boulder leaders and residents navigate the legal and social fallout of these cases, the focus remains on the intersection of municipal law and constitutional rights. Gonzalez and her legal team argue that the prosecution serves as an attempt to silence opposition to the city’s financial and political ties to the conflict in Gaza. They contend that the outcome of her case carries implications for all Boulder citizens, regardless of their political stance on international issues.

“They don’t have to like me, or my tone, or my opinions,” Gonzalez said. “I’m still fighting for their rights [to free speech] and if they don’t fight with me and I go down, they’re going to go down too.”

While the city maintains that the charges are a matter of public decorum and safety, the defense insists the criminalization of these protests sets a dangerous precedent. The proceedings continue to draw attention to the boundaries of protected speech within local government chambers.

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The post Is Free Speech legal in Boulder? The Case for 1 Protestor appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Why Colorado’s Sex Work Decriminalization Bill Vanished

Akshaya Krishnan — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:14:17 +0000

Senate Bill 26-097, a Colorado bill that would have decriminalized commercial sexual activity throughout the state, was dropped a few weeks ago just hours before it was set to come up for a first vote in the state Capitol. The legislation sought to repeal state criminal offenses related to sex work, including soliciting, patronizing, and owning or controlling a place for such activity. While the bill would have maintained penalties for pandering involving intimidation, its primary goal was to replace the term “prostitution” with “commercial sexual activity” to distinguish consensual work from exploitation.

This distinction is central to the argument for reform, as supporters suggest that current law conflates consensual adult sex work with human trafficking. While trafficking relies on force, fraud, or coercion, sex work involves consensual activity between adults. Proponents argue that removing criminal penalties is not an endorsement of the industry but a recognition that criminalization pushes the trade further underground. This displacement makes it harder for law enforcement to identify genuine trafficking victims and harder for those victims to seek help.

State Senator Nick Hinrichsen, sponsor of the stalled SB 26-097, photographed in 2022. Photo from Jeffrey Beall

Despite these arguments, the bill failed to gain the political momentum necessary for a hearing. State Senator Nick Hinrichsen, a lead sponsor, confirmed that the measure lacked the votes to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rather than advancing the bill to a contentious hearing where sex workers feared public exposure and harassment, Hinrichsen chose to postpone the legislation indefinitely. “Without the votes to get the bill out of committee, it was not worth the risk,” he told Colorado Politics. Though he is not running for re-election, Hinrichsen noted that the effort was a significant step in educating the public on why the current system fails.

The safety concerns cited by Colorado supporters are mirrored in other jurisdictions and research. In Maine, selling sex has been decriminalized to make reporting crimes easier, and research from New Zealand suggests that decriminalization allows workers to feel more able to refuse dangerous clients. Pasha Ripley, founder of Parasol Patrol and executive director of Red Light Sources International, argues that criminalization creates a “perceived institutional impunity” for those who commit violence against workers. As Ripley told Yellow Scene Magazine, “Criminalizing sex work does not end exploitation, it just makes it more dangerous.”

Beyond local laws, federal actions like SESTA-FOSTA have further complicated the safety landscape for sex workers. While intended to stop trafficking, these laws shut down websites that workers used to vet clients and negotiate safety. Researcher Danielle Blunt notes that these policy failures often stem from a lack of direct engagement with the community.

Advocates in London demand legal protection and decriminalization outside the Houses of Parliament in 2019. Similar global movements for safety and autonomy informed the arguments behind Colorado’s stalled Senate Bill 26-097.
Photo from Koca Vehbi

“They’re coming at it from an academic standpoint with no real experience. And a lot of what they’re asking about is based on stereotypes,” Blunt told WHYY.

This disconnect suggests that media portrayals and academic research often ignore the violent crimes and safety issues workers face due to their legal status.

The failure of Senate Bill 97 highlights a persistent gap in how society regulates sexual activity and addresses exploitation. For many advocates, the exclusion of sex workers’ voices is the primary reason for their ongoing vulnerability. Any successful future policy will likely require lawmakers to center the voices of those most affected by the law to ensure it provides meaningful protection rather than further marginalization.

While the bill is stalled for now, the debate over autonomy and harm reduction remains active in the state Capitol. Hinrichsen remains hopeful that the conversation will eventually lead to a policy that prioritizes the safety of all involved. As he told Yellow Scene, “big changes do not often happen on the first attempt. Some policies can be a major shift, and they can take time.”

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The post Why Colorado’s Sex Work Decriminalization Bill Vanished appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The Hormuz Tollbooth: Resource Imperialism in the Second Trump Term

Guest Contributor — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:27:04 +0000

By Larry Lagarto

Featured photo: The Strait of Extortion

The Toddler-Boss Framework

To understand current U.S. foreign policy, abandon the idea of “geopolitical strategy” and look instead to the logic of the “transactional bully.” The Trump doctrine is a three-headed monster: a toddler’s need to “make things go boom” to feel tough, a mob boss’s view of every interaction as a shakedown, and a bottomless greed that sees the world as its personal gold mine and views stability as an obstacle to profit.

When you look past the daily rhetoric, a chillingly consistent pattern emerges. From the seizure of South American assets to the attacks on Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the goal isn’t “democracy” or “stability”—it’s the creation of a global energy cartel where the U.S. President sits as the primary broker.

Profit Through Chaos: The $100+ Barrel Strategy

For years, conventional wisdom suggested that high gas prices hurt presidents. Trump has flipped that script by leaning into the U.S. position as a net exporter. On March 12, 2026, he laid the cards on the table in a Truth Social post:

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

– Washington Times

By heightening tensions in the Middle East, he created a “Chaos Premium.” On March 23, standing on a tarmac before his flight to Mar-a-Lago, he revealed his vision for the Strait of Hormuz—not as an international waterway, but as a joint venture, essentially as a tollbooth for the world’s economy:

[The Strait will be jointly controlled by]
“Maybe me. Me and the Ayatollah, whoever the next one is.”

– NY Times

This isn’t a joke. It’s a confession. By threatening to “decimate” Iran one day and offering “joint control” the next, he keeps the market in a state of permanent whiplash, ensuring that oil prices remain high enough to enrich his “preferred” domestic producers while extraction costs remain stagnant.

The Venezuela “Acquisition”

The most concrete example of this resource imperialism is the ongoing occupation of Venezuela. Following the January 2026 “Decapitate and Delegate” operation that saw the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Trump has been explicit about the spoils.

On January 7, he announced that the U.S. would seize up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to be sold at market rates, with the proceeds managed by the U.S. Treasury (Al Jazeera). He essentially told the world, “We have so much oil we don’t know what to do with it,” while simultaneously telling allies, “You should buy it from us.” (whitehouse.gov)

By putting Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in charge of “running” the country, he has transformed a sovereign nation into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the U.S. Executive Branch.

And Now, What? The Ceasefire as a Shakedown

As of this writing (mid-morning, April 8, 2026), a fragile two-week ceasefire has been reached. Oil prices have dipped to $92 a barrel, but this is not a return to normalcy. It is a strategic pivot. Here is what we can expect next:

The “security surcharge”: The ceasefire terms allow for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but with “technical limitations” and “coordination” with the U.S.-backed forces. This is the “Tollbooth” phase. Expect “favored” tankers to pass freely, while others are hit with “protection fees” or forced to buy American-sourced LNG.
Energy loyalty pacts: Trump’s rhetoric to allies—”Go get your own oil”—is a threat, not a suggestion. He is forcing Europe and Asia into 20-year contracts for U.S. and Venezuelan oil at inflated prices, using the threat of a renewed blockade as the primary negotiation tool.
The privatization kickback: In Venezuela, look for the “temporary favors” to become permanent. The administration has already begun issuing licenses to specific U.S. oil giants while blocking others. This creates a “pay-to-play” system where corporate loyalty to the administration is rewarded with exclusive access to the world’s largest oil reserves.
Escalation to renew profit: When the cast of favored oil companies changes, when one executive or oligarch outbids another for his favor, look for military escalations to bump the price back up until the new players are in place to profit.

Conclusion

The flip-flopping and chaos may be signs of incompetence, but they are also the strategy. By maintaining just enough violence to keep prices high, and just enough “ceasefire” to keep the oil flowing into the hands of his allies, the President has realized the ultimate mob boss dream: he isn’t just part of the market; he is the market.

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Fighting ICE from the Sky: Behind the CU Key Lime Air Protests

Sprout Foster-Goodrich — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:23:25 +0000

Key Lime Air, boasted as the #1 air charter in the world, is based out of Colorado’s very own Centennial Airport in Englewood. What was once a point of pride for Coloradans took a sour turn for many in September 2025, when organizations Human Rights First and Colorado Newsline confirmed that Key Lime Air is part of a loose network of deportation contractors called ICE Air. Data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows that Key Lime Air has been running flights for deportation and detention transfers, accounting for 11% of ICE’s total. This knowledge sparked an uproar at Colorado University of Boulder, as the university has held a contract with Key Lime Air since 2011 for transporting their men’s and women’s basketball teams. Protestors have been putting pressure on CU to take a stance against ICE and cut the contract with Key Lime. At their March 17th meeting, students and outraged community members rallied for change, but CU’s board of regents ultimately declined to end their contract. During a conversation with Yellow Scene Magazine, an active member of the overall resistance of ICE activity in Colorado conveyed strongly that the fight at CU is far from over. In fact, it is continuing with a tailored approach: from the angle of airline safety.

The White House has depicted deportations as highly militaristic affairs, with social media posts showing deportees filing into Air Force C-17s. However, the reality is that 85% of flights transporting detainees as of March 21 have been on charter planes like Key Lime. Dana Miller, a former flight attendant for almost 30 years, now co-lead of Denver Immigrants Partnership Team has joined the fight at CU

“Flight attendants are trained to evacuate a certain way in case of emergencies,” Miller shared, “but how do you safely evacuate an airplane where everyone on ICE Air flights are shackled at the waist, hands, and feet?”

It’s standard that full shackles and chains are used to restrain individuals being deported or relocated to another ICE prison.

Miller said, “Flights like this existed before the Trump administration, but the difference now is there is no due process. Everyone is assumed guilty.”

Aside from the visceral display of dehumanization, the shackles are a safety concern for several reasons. One reason is their hindrance to evacuations. The FAA has a “90 second rule” for emergency evacuations, and the majority of recorded ICE flights have exceeded that time limit, one of which took over 7 minutes to evacuate 115 passengers.

Miller explained , “Seven minutes may not seem like a lot of time, but think about if the plane was on fire […] It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

Another safety concern expressed by Miller was cabin decompressions. “If a plane loses altitude, oxygen masks are supposed to drop from the ceiling for passengers to put on, but the detainees were not able to reach their oxygen masks because their hands were restrained.” Cabin decompressions result in the thinning of breathable air, and even 30 seconds in this atmospheric condition struggling against chains to reach for a mask can cause hypoxia.

Flagging the health and safety of detainees on ICE flights will not convince those who do not view detainees as human. Trump has long used racist and animalizing language when talking about immigrants, convincing his followers that the majority are dangerous criminals. Upon the launch of his first presidential bid in 2015, Trump claimed, “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting,” and in 2024 he stated that Mexican migrants “are not humans. They’re animals.” Pivoting from morals to include public safety concerns – with specific airline industry knowledge – was a strategic choice made by the ICE opposition at CU.

Dana Miller said, “My organization [Denver IPT] has a three page document of safety concerns with Key Lime, including those for staff.”

Former pilots and other staff have also expressed safety concerns for Key Lime at large.

“There seems to be quite a bit of disrespect for Key Lime in public pilot forums, often referring to them as ‘Key Slime’.”

This sentiment was echoed by five pilots who had quit Key Lime in 2025. The pilots told 13 Investigates that they’ve “experienced problems with landing gear, GPS, or the autopilot system that should have kept Key Lime Airplanes on the ground, but didn’t.” Documentation shows that one pilot was told to “reset circuit breakers on an airplane mid-flight to resolve a critical issue with the autopilot function.” The company responded to these and several other claims of Key Lime compromising both staff and customer safety with the following statement:

“Key Lime Air has an impeccable safety record during its 27 years serving destinations throughout Colorado, the United States, and Canada. The company is dedicated to safety as its single highest priority, including strict pilot training and stringent operational and maintenance programs. The allegations recently raised by some pilots are an attempt to avoid their contracts with Key Lime Air. Key Lime Air looks forward to proving its case in court against these pilots.”

Miller explained the resistance to ICE at CU is made up of two arms – one dedicated to convincing CU’s board of regents to end the contract and the other dedicated to Key Lime’s accountability. Aurora Unidos CSO, a grassroots organization fighting for immigrant rights and Chicano liberation, have led the efforts of the latter arm, including a car rally at Centennial Airport with Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition to apply pressure on Key Lime. Miller, from the contract side of the fight said, “Every week I sent the board of regents emails and each week they were about different things: what actually goes on on ICE charters, documented safety concerns at Key Lime, corporate culture at the airline, what’s happening to CU’s reputation in the community, and so on.” Denver Immigrant Partnership additionally compiled a four page safety analysis, including fatal and non-fatal incidents upon Key Lime Air.

In a February 24th letter, however, the board of regents dismissed the public’s concerns:

“(We) spent additional time gathering information on that issue and are satisfied that the airline has a strong safety record for its passenger division, which is the arm of the airline that flies people to and from destinations.”

Additionally, the CEO of Key Lime Air, Cliff Honeycutt, has refused requests for conversation with movement leaders, and Key Lime has provided only the following statement in response:

“Key Lime Air respects the right of all individuals to peacefully protest and share their opinions. As a matter of policy, we are unable to discuss our charter operations. Our focus remains on conducting ALL Key Lime Air flights in accordance with the highest federally mandated safety standards. We kindly ask that any demonstrations remain peaceful and that the safety of all participants, employees, and members of the public be maintained at all times.”

Key Lime Air has confirmed that they work under a subcontract for CSI Aviation, one of the largest federal contractors for ICE flights. CSI Aviation holds an approximately $563 million contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

As of now, CU’s board of regents plan to see their agreement with Key Lime through to the end of 2028, but Miller and other protestors are not deterred.

“In the 1980s, CU divested from apartheid in South Africa. It took a year or two of consistent effort to get them to move, but eventually they did.” Miller also felt there was reason to believe that “a couple members” of the nine-seated board are on the movement’s side, and that there is sway occurring behind the confidential doors of executive sessions.

In the call to end the litany of horrors being inflicted upon immigrants, those suspected of immigrant status, and dissenters alike, pleas for humanity have not changed the direction of some Colorado leaders. As demonstrated by CU’s protestors illuminating the hazardous faults in Key Lime and ICE Air’s safety practices, when the emotional facts are not enough to change hearts or minds, resistance can adapt and take a more precise aim.

To find out more about CU’s contract with Key Lime and the efforts to end it, email organizers at notokeylime@gmail.com.

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The post Fighting ICE from the Sky: Behind the CU Key Lime Air Protests appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

No Kings Rally: Boulder, Colorado, 03.28.26

Jamie Lammers — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 21:25:55 +0000

This is a selection of social media posts following the No Kings 3 event hosted in Boulder, Colorado, on March 28th, 2026.

Boulder Democratic Socialists of Colorado, Facebook post, Mar. 31st, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.

Boulder DSA at No Kings on Saturday. 9500 of our neighbors turned out to demonstrate against the tyrannical Trump regime, and we showed up to help our community get organized and turn anger into sustained action. No kings to rule us; no bombs to kill in our name; no billionaires to steal the fruit of our labor. A better world is possible, and together we can build it.

Natalie Longhini, Facebook post, Mar. 28th, 2026 at 8:05 p.m.

Huge turnout today in Boulder for No Kings. All of us clearly paid agitators and domestic terrorists. (Snark)

Young and old – lots of folks got out there to express themselves in a peaceful and constitutionally legal way.

Colorado 411, Facebook post, Mar. 28th, 2026 at 5:41 p.m.

Hey, everyone.

Wow, many protesters showed up in Boulder, Colorado, today for the NO KINGS protest.

Chris Goodwin (desrowVISUALS.com), Facebook post, Apr. 2nd, 2026, 2:51 p.m.

Here are a few shots from last Saturday’s fantastic “No Kings” protest here in Boulder. Co., where thousands gathered, then marched through downtown in conjunction with “No Kings” demonstrations that drew millions of protesters around the country and the world.

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No Kings Rally: Longmont, Colorado, 03.28.26

Kenneth Wajda — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 17:06:08 +0000

Article and Photos by Kenneth Wajda

They say the third time’s the charm. After two large protests in summer 2025, the No Kings protest returned to downtown Longmont, Colorado, on Saturday, March 28, 2026, to send a message to those in office that protesters stand behind the U.S. Constitution and not behind an administration that acts like it’s run by a monarchy as it carries out ICE raids and starts foreign wars without Congressional approval.

Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse led off the event by offering positive words to encourage change during remarks to the large crowd that was gathered at noon at Roosevelt Park. After his comments and several other speakers, protesters left the park and marched to Main Street. Once there, they lined both sides of the street, plus the center median, from Longs Peak Avenue down to 4th Street.

Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse speaks to the crowd at Roosevelt Park.

Among the signs there were ones that read, “Orange Lies Matter,” “Men of Quality Don’t Fear Equality,” Fund Healthcare Not Warfare,” “Draft Bannon,” and “Get Money Out of Politics.”

Kathryn Whitt, of Longmont, said she found the experience very hopeful. “It was good to be around a lot of kind people supporting each other and seeing many people come out and saying what’s happening isn’t normal, and it’s not acceptable,” she said. “And it gives me a lot of hope that people will show up at the polls and that the votes will reflect a lot of what we saw today.”

Cars slowly made their way up and down Main Street to an almost non-stop cacophony of horns and gestures of thumbs up and waves between drivers and protesters. Some drivers carried signs of their own.

Erin Woltkamp and Kathryn Whitt, both of Longmont, with their signs.

Erin Woltkamp, of Longmont, said, “It was very uplifting to see so many people out here and using their voice and speaking out against something that is wrong. And I was really excited because I’m a teacher and I saw a lot of fellow teachers, and I saw a student of mine out here, just really neat to see all the generations, all the people coming out to speak up.”

The crowd size was estimated at between 6000-7000. One of last summer’s protests had an estimated 5000 people in attendance, and several people today commented that this one appeared to be a larger turnout than the past events.

No Kings rallies were held across the U.S today.

One protester created a stir and faced some backlash with a sign that read, “Jesus created two genders. Abortion is murder.” But the rest of the signs were in solidarity, protesting the actions of the current White House administration, and the event was peaceful overall.

Nancy Johnson, of Longmont, said as she was leaving the rally, “I’m here today because I’m seeking unity with all the other people who are against this administration. I think it was a great turnout. Way to go, Longmont.”

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Why NCAR is in Colorado and Why It Must Stay

Doug Geiling — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:27:27 +0000

In the high prairie of southern Wyoming, just west of Cheyenne, a glass-fronted building houses one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Named “Derecho” by a Wyoming middle schooler, this house-sized machine can process every document in the Library of Congress faster than a human can blink.

Derecho “thinks” at a rate of twenty quadrillion calculations per second. But Derecho isn’t reading books in the Library of Congress. It has a more specific mission. Derecho is there to help us understand and predict the Earth’s weather and climate, taking in and analyzing massive volumes of input data from the Earth’s many weather-influencing systems and events.

For instance, it could calculate how smoke particles from a fire in western Colorado may interact with ice crystals in a Front Range thunderstorm to determine the likelihood of a hailstorm. It can analyze and visualize the patterns of “sub meso-scale” ocean eddies (little swirls in the ocean just a few kilometers wide) across the entire Pacific Ocean to simulate rates of oceanic carbon absorption.

Derecho is just one part of the scientific infrastructure overseen by the Boulder-based National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Recently, the Trump administration has signaled the possible dismantling or relocating of NCAR. The center is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent federal agency that reports directly to the Executive Office of the President.

While the political motivations behind such a move warrant their own investigation, this article delves into NCAR’s inherent value in its current form and the impracticality of its relocation.

“Science thrives when politicians, Democrat or Republican, stay out of it,” said Dr. Roger Pielke, Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Pielke is a former NCAR scientist, founder of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR), and a longtime Fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). He took the time to speak with me while traveling in Australia.

As Dr. Pielke explained, while NCAR is primarily funded by the NSF, it is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), a consortium of about 130 North American colleges and Universities. Two of those universities sit at NCAR’s doorstep: the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. Both universities are among the best in the nation for weather related research.

The Trump administration has argued that research institutions like NCAR should be relocated from “elite” coastal or mountain locations to the “industrial heartland.” But NCAR didn’t land in Boulder arbitrarily. It sits at the center of one of the densest concentrations of atmospheric and environmental science in the country — and moving it would sever those connections entirely.

Within a roughly 50-mile radius, NCAR neighbors:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder
The Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL) in Boulder. They monitor global carbon dioxide levels
Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder. They are the nation’s source for alerts on solar flares and magnetic storms
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder in partnership with CU
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) in Fort Collins in partnership with CSU
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden
National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) just south of Boulder

Furthermore, the combination of top universities and infrastructure means that the Front Range arguably harbors the highest concentration of atmospheric science talent in the world.

NCAR employs over 800 people in the Boulder area, many of whom would likely choose not to relocate to an “industrial heartland,” due to the likely smaller talent pool for this kind of specialized knowledge . Consequently, moving NCAR’s headquarters would likely trigger a major “brain drain” in a highly complex, data-heavy discipline.

There is precedent for this. In 2019 two U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies were moved from Washington D.C. to Kansas City. In that instance approximately 75% of the impacted workforce chose to resign or retire rather than move. While the reduction in staff through “forced attrition” may have been part of the goal, the result was a substantial set-back to the progress and effectiveness of these agencies.

One of the reasons why it’s important that NCAR remains on the leading edge of global atmospheric research is because of international competition in the sciences. “There is a need in the U.S.,” said Dr. Pielke “to ‘up the game’ in weather prediction.” Attempting to decommission or relocate NCAR would substantially reduce America’s global competitiveness in weather and climate science precisely at a time when accelerating scientific advancements are most needed. “The view from thirty-thousand feet is that any scientific institution can be improved upon,” said Dr. Pielke, “but what the Trump Administration is doing is not helping that.”

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado. Designed by architect I. M. Pei with landscaping by Dan Kiley. Photo: Daderot, September 2005 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Furthermore, the combination of top universities and infrastructure means that the Front Range arguably harbors the highest concentration of atmospheric science talent in the world.

The competition is, in fact, strong. In Europe, NCAR’s equivalent is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). It is an intergovernmental organization supported by 35 nations and widely considered the leader in global numeric weather prediction.

The Europeans utilize a multinational cluster of supercomputers that is more scalable and powerful than Derecho or the operational U.S. forecasting systems, Cactus and Dogwood, which operate out of Arizona and Virginia, respectively. When fully utilized, the European supercomputers can outpace Derecho, Cactus, and Dogwood multiple times over, partly by leveraging Finland’s LUMI system. LUMI by itself is currently the world’s fifth most powerful supercomputer with a peak performance of 380 sustained petaflops (compared to Derecho’s 20 petaflops).

LUMI is being utilized for the European Commission’s Destination Earth (or DestinE) Initiative, an ambitious plan to create a complete digital twin of the Earth and all of its “systems” by 2030. Europe’s digital twin Earth will bring the scale of their geographic modeling down to 1 kilometer which will allow for the real-time simulation of individual clouds and urban heat islands among other very granular weather features.

On the other side of the planet lies China and its own very ambitious equivalent to NCAR, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), a division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). China’s equivalent to NCAR and ECMWF is their Earth System Numerical Simulator Facility, or EarthLab, opened in Beijing in 2021. Its goal is similar to Europe’s DestinE platform—to simulate the atmosphere, ocean, land, cryosphere (ice), and biosphere of the Earth as a single unit.

These global competitors are well-organized, highly funded, and poised to race ahead of American atmospheric science innovation should we let politics blow headwinds into our progress. American innovation has long been rooted in world-leading scientific research. Losing our competitive edge in atmospheric science research may shift the focus of innovation to other world regions. Those competing regions will then gain the economic opportunities that always follow scientific discovery and innovation.

What NCAR Means to Those Who Rely On It

Kody Wilson is a Colorado-based independent meteorologist. His Facebook page, Denver & Front Range Weather, now has over a half-million followers, myself included. By going independent, Wilson is able to provide the depth and nuance to weather forecasting that traditional news station meteorologists just can’t match with a 5-minute weather segment on the evening news. Wilson’s large local following is a testament to his work ethic and the simultaneously entertaining and educational ways he presents our complicated weather.

It’s also a testament to the fact that people love to talk about the weather. A weather event is often at the center of extraordinary life experiences—both good and bad. Perhaps it was the Christmas Eve Blizzard of ’82, or the Limon tornado, or Hurricane Andrew, or some other weather experience, but just about everyone can point to a weather-related event in their lives that impacted them in a major way.

For some of us, these weather-related experiences lead to a lifetime career in meteorology. Wilson explained to me how, as a middle school aged kid, “a powerful microburst hit our home and farm in eastern Oregon. The damage was so intense we initially thought a tornado had come through. One hundred-year-old cottonwood trees were ripped out of the ground. The roof of our calving shed was torn off and thrown across the yard. Two by fours were driven into a storage freezer in our shop.”

“Moments like those didn’t scare me away from the weather,” Wilson said “They deepened my curiosity and strengthened the path I already felt called to follow.”

NCAR has been instrumental in Wilson’s career. “Many of the models, datasets, and forecasting tools I rely on, including advancements in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) system, originate from NCAR’s research,” Wilson said. “Their work turns complex atmospheric science into usable guidance, and my role is to translate that guidance into clear, real-time information that helps communities make decisions… In that sense, NCAR provides part of the scientific backbone, and I carry that science across the finish line into the real world where it protects lives and supports local communities.”

I asked Wilson what he thinks NCAR’s value is to Colorado: “NCAR isn’t just a building in Boulder, it’s one of the engines behind the tools meteorologists rely on every day to help protect lives [and] property… across Colorado and beyond,” Wilson said. “It also supports major research investment into the state, making it a tangible asset for Colorado taxpayers. Dismantling NCAR would be a costly step backward, not just for science, but for public safety, economic resilience, and the future of weather preparedness in the West.”

Climate researchers from the NCAR preparing for the ARCTAS mission.

As I write this, Dr. Scott Denning, Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, is on a ship somewhere in the Indian Ocean teaching undergrads in a “Semester at Sea” program. He was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions about NCAR and how it relates to his life work.

Early in his career, Dr. Denning worked closely with the late Dr. William Gray, CSU’s pioneering hurricane scientist. The fact that the world’s foremost hurricane scientist operated from a university about as far as one can get from the ocean is a testament to the value of CSU’s proximity to the atmospheric research facilities in Colorado’s Front Range, like NCAR.

“He was a warm, funny, brilliant man,” said Dr. Denning of Dr. Gray. “And he was my friend and neighbor.” According to Dr. Denning, Dr. Gray had “worked out the structure and function of these storms based on his own personal field work before anybody had ever seen a satellite image of a hurricane!” Dr. Gray’s pioneering pencil-and-paper theoretical work was complemented by NCAR’s tools in data and airborne instrument measurements to create a legacy of hurricane forecasting and modeling that persists to this day.

Dr. Denning, of course, has his own long history in working with NCAR. “I’ve worked closely with both land-surface modeling and biogeochemistry groups [at NCAR] for decades,” said Dr. Denning. “It’s been just fantastic to collaborate ‘right down the road’ for all these years! Great people, great facilities, and a concentration of expertise that’s just unmatched anywhere in the world.”

“The new frontiers [at NCAR],” said Dr. Denning, “include fusion of satellite remote sensing, numerical modeling, and AI. I’m especially interested in how these new tools relate to the study of the fate and transport of atmospheric CO2.” I asked Dr. Denning why Colorado’s Front Range is the ideal location for NCAR, and his response reinforces my research: “The Front Range is a great place for NCAR and its work because of the tremendous concentration of scientific work here: NOAA, the USDA, the USGS, and our great universities and people.”

Show more 11:46 PM View of Boulder, Colorado from the NCAR mesa, southwest of the city. Photo: Laurascudder, December 1999 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Clearly there is a passionate community here in Colorado and around the world for atmospheric science. But, some of it can seem a little abstract. The idea of creating an Earth digital twin or the ability to simulate a single cloud may not seem like they have much everyday use. But NCAR’s historical value has often been found in common-sense solutions to big problems.

“Climate change is important,” said Dr. Pielke, “but it’s really a small part of NCAR’s portfolio. Much of what NCAR does has practical applications.”

Improvements to Air Travel Safety

These days we don’t hear much about airplane crashes caused by strong winds, but that wasn’t always the case. Prior to the 1990s, low-level wind events—specifically wind shear and microbursts–were the leading cause of major U.S. airline accidents, including a Delta flight in 1985 that crashed while attempting to land in Dallas due to a sudden microburst, killing 137 people.

This and other weather-related crashes prompted NCAR scientists to lead field studies that resulted in the creation of new detection systems like the Low Level Wind Sheer Alert System (LLWAS). As a result of this work, airports around the world now have a perimeter of low-level wind detection devices and specialized radar systems that detect surface-level winds and immediately alert cockpits to threats. Since 1995 there have been zero major U.S. airline crashes caused by microbursts, and only one (Little Rock, 1999) where wind shear was a contributing factor. These NCAR-led solutions have saved thousands of lives and made air travel substantially safer in recent years.

NCAR’s work towards aviation safety continues today as they are currently working with the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to outfit aircraft with turbulence-detection devices that automatically report and feed into air traffic control alert and communication systems. Without this solution, pilots are asked to voluntarily report turbulence to air traffic controllers, a slow and ineffective system. The new automated detection system for turbulence will utilize the “big data” of thousands of simultaneous airborne flights to model flight path turbulence risk, giving air crews better real-time information on turbulence and alternative flight paths to find smoother air. This could save the aviation industry tens of millions of dollars annually by avoiding turbulence-related damage, injuries, and delays.

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA’s DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

Innovations in Wildfire Detection and Mitigation

The practical contributions of NCAR go well beyond low level wind detection. In the early 2000s, NCAR developed the Coupled Atmosphere Wildland Fire Environment (CAWFE). Large wildfires create their own weather. This model allows meteorologists and on-location firefighting agencies to better predict fire behavior, improving firefighting strategies and public safety measures. This technology contributes to the smoke forecasting we’ve seen in recent years where forest fires in Canada, for example, create bad air quality in New York.

A visitor to the NCAR facility in Wyoming, where Derecho resides, offers the opportunity to see first-hand the wildfire modeling that massive supercomputing can accomplish. Right there in the visitor area you can watch a precise simulation of the behavior of the December 2021 Marshall Fire as it jumped and spread into the northern Denver metro suburbs by hurricane-force chinook winds.

The future of fire weather science through NCAR involves AI applications that can accelerate mitigation and firefighting responses through real-time simulations of fire behavior that take into account micro-scale inputs like low-level winds, urban street topology, and the impact of “ember storms” that can ignite new spot fires across highways and fields.

Agriculture

Two of the most compelling recent initiatives from NCAR combine weather and climate science with tangential interests like agriculture and disease prevention. For agriculture, NCAR is working on a program called CropSmart, a digital twin solution presented pragmatically as a decision-making tool for sustainable agriculture. The modest nature of that description hides a very sophisticated technology-centered solution for vastly improving the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production, one of the planet’s most impactful systems on climate and the human condition.

CropSmart will provide growers with an end-to-end application and web-based tool for planning and decision making based on the digital simulation of their land combined with the inputs of local precipitation, soil conditions, and irrigation flows.

Disease Prevention

The mosquito is the deadliest animal on Earth. It kills almost a million people every year by transmitting disease. The prevalence and spread of disease-bearing mosquitos is heavily influenced by climate and weather patterns.

NCAR has helped pioneer modeling systems that predict where and to what extent mosquito outbreaks will occur so that public health officials and municipalities can proactively mitigate or reduce the risk to their communities, saving lives and improving overall public health.

Balloon launch at Super Science Saturday, Mesa Lab, NCAR. Photo: C. Calvin / UCAR, November 2018 (CC BY-NC 4.0)

These are just a few examples of the practical value that NCAR has produced over the last several decades. Rapidly advancing power in raw computing combined with near-term opportunities to apply AI-based solutions, has created an opportunity for the atmospheric sciences to have an enormous positive impact on the future of humanity and the Earth in the coming years and decades.

Relocating or dismantling NCAR would fracture the powerful scientific brain trust built in Colorado over the last several decades. Such fragmentation would stifle American innovation, ceding our competitive advantage to Europe and China while degrading the safety and resilience of our local communities.

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Right to Refuse Laws Sound Good. One Veteran Isn’t So Sure.

Steve Nelson — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:03:07 +0000

There is a small, noble campaign centered in Boulder that seeks Refuser Protection (RP), legislation meant to protect those who refuse to follow illegal orders. RP laws would prohibit retaliation or punishment of any person who refuses to follow any order or instruction that violates the Constitution, statute or any relevant regulations .

This campaign is led by Matt Nicodemus, founder of Sworn to Refuse (StR). Nicodemus has been engaged in this work for more than a decade and has drawn a few encouraging responses, but no definitive results, from legislators including Congressman Joe Neguse and Maryland colleague Jamie Raskin.

Niciodemus’s efforts gained elevated relevance as a result of the Trump administration’s unsuccessful attempt to indict a group of lawmakers, including Colorado Congressman Jason Crow, for making a video reminding the world that one can – must – refuse to follow illegal orders. The impetus for the video was, seemingly , the arguably illegal deployments of active military to American cities and the illegal actions of ICE agents that took place afterwards .

Rep. Jason Crow visits Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. (Photo: U.S. Space Force)

The lawmakers’ arguments included a broad claim that all members of the military are already trained to know not to follow illegal commands. Congressman Crow went as far as to cite his own experience as an Army Ranger:

But let’s be really clear. The man (Trump) has never served a day in his life in uniform. I went three times to war for this country in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was a paratrooper and I was an Army Ranger. From my first day of boot camp, we were taught about the law of war. We were taught about the Constitution. Before we ever deployed, I sat my men down, my soldiers, my paratroopers, and I taught them about their obligations under the law and the Constitution. This is ingrained in service.

The video was more a publicity stunt than a selfless public service. While I support the lawmakers, it is baldly contradictory to claim that all members of the military are routinely reminded of this obligation and then say the video was to inform the military folks of their rights and obligations.

Crow’s statement is also not reflective of my experience.

I was drafted in 1966 at the height of the war in Vietnam. On my first day in boot camp we were not “taught about the law of war.” We did pushups and were taught to keep our mouths shut. For the next year I did pushups and tried to keep my mouth shut through boot camp, advanced individual training (AIT) and Officer Candidate School (OCS). In a year of training to potentially serve in an immoral war, I can’t recall a single mention of the Constitution. We were, instead, conditioned to dehumanize the enemy by using ethnic slurs (gook) and shoving bayonets through dummies painted with slanted eyes. I was lucky and served in Georgia and Thailand, not Vietnam.

Although the horrific slaughter of 504 women, children and elderly men in the My Lai massacre is emblematic of illegal military cruelty, we Americans killed as many as 2,000,000 innocent Vietnamese in our indiscriminate ignition of hellfire during the war.

In his book, Vietnam: A War Lost and Won, prolific British author Nigel Cawthorne wrote:

“But what the Viet Cong and NVA feared most was the B-52 strikes. They called them the ‘whispering death’ because the first they knew of the presence of the bombers high above the jungle canopy and the clouds was the whistling of the bomb. Aerial bombardments could go on for days or weeks at a time. Even the most battle-hardened veterans lost control of their bodily functions, soiling their pants and shaking uncontrollably. Some went mad and no one who survived could ever be cured of the abject terror a B-52 strike inspired. A B-52 mission could drop up to 54,000 pounds of bombs on a single target . . . Tran Thi Truyen, a sixteen year-old nurse who served in a field hospital in southern Laos, recalled how intense American bombing denuded the jungle and there was no place to hide. During her month-long march down the (Ho Chi Min) trail, she carried a rifle, a sixty-pound knapsack, and a shovel. When American planes came overhead, her group would disperse and dig foxholes. After the bombing had stopped, she said she could not focus her eyes and her head ached for hours. Wounded Vietnamese soldiers were brought up the trail for her to treat in her underground hospital. Most were so badly wounded, nothing could be done for them.”

I watched those B-52s take off from a Thai airbase, heavy with bombs, and return to the base in time for happy hour at the Officers Club. It was nauseating.

All these years later, I read with fresh horror of our slaughter of innocent Iranian schoolchildren – collateral damage on a smaller scale than our role in the genocide in Gaza, where 75,000 Palestinians are dead by way of our complicity in Netanyahu’s bloodlust.

While protecting the rare refuser is an important ethical obligation, what is needed is a broad reckoning of who we really are.

We refuse to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) because, to paraphrase our national narcissism, “Nobody can tell us what we can do!”

In a frantic flailing after 9/11, we avenged 2,977 deaths by killing several hundred thousand innocent Iraqis, who had nothing to do with 9/11.

In Gaza, the ongoing slaughter and starvation of 75,000 Palestinians is retribution for the – admittedly horrific – deaths of 1,195 in Israel on October 7th.

In Iran, the deaths of schoolchildren and many other innocents are retribution for, perhaps, the attempts to expose the president’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein’s international child sex ring.

Most soldiers would be hard-pressed to distinguish between legal and illegal orders. They, like their corrupt and incompetent commander-in-chief, are not well-versed in the Constitution or other legal or regulatory matters. A careful reading of proposed Refuser Protection legislation reveals good, but overly broad and overreaching, intentions. RP laws as suggested would encourage and protect those who refuse to do anything that appears to violate a law, a statutory clause, a pledge or oath, a rule or a workplace regulation. Given the predilections of many folks to litigate, I can imagine chaos ensuing as grievances proliferate.

I doubt that Nicodemus’s efforts will spark ethical legislation in a Congress that can’t reign in an absurdly incompetent, grandiose authoritarian wannabe. While useful to look after the rights of conscientious objectors, what we must do is focus on those who issue illegal orders, defy the Constitution, and possess the power to unleash mayhem within and outside our borders.

We don’t have to protect the powerless if we hold the powerful to account.

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The post Right to Refuse Laws Sound Good. One Veteran Isn’t So Sure. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

‘We Still Need Support’: Starbucks Workers Rally Amid Strike

Sprout Foster-Goodrich — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:25:56 +0000

“Starbucks isn’t unique; They’re only unique in their particular brand of stubbornness.” Autumn Archer, labor coach for the Boulder Denver Socialist Association and organizer for the Starbucks Workers told Yellow Scene Magazine. Archer was one of the organizers of the January 27 Unite the Unions rally at Civic Center Park, where organizations including Starbucks Workers United, Denver DSA, and other labor rights advocates gathered in solidarity with Starbucks workers and unions across Colorado on the Capitol-backed lawn.

While Autumn Archer’s five year employment as a barista and shift manager has come to an end, many of her friends as well as her partner are still working for Starbucks.

“Starbucks makes up a majority of my home’s income,” Archer illustrated. “And many employees often have to choose between groceries and rent every month.”

SBWU called for a strike November of last year in an effort to finalize their union contract, in which employees have bargained for fairer scheduling, more accessible healthcare, and higher take-home pay.

“We’re living in the most expensive economy many of us have ever seen in their lifetime,” Archer explained. “So we’re asking for a tangible increase in take-home pay. The company says it pays the equivalent of $30/hr, but they’re factoring in benefits like Spotify and we know these are benefits employees pay for out of their paycheck.”

SBWU strike leaders, including KC from the Lafayette store, said the Unite the Unions rally was meant to draw attention back to the ongoing strike and build public support for their efforts.

“I hope this is a reminder to people that Starbucks is still on strike and we still need their support.”

KC had worked at Starbucks locations all over the country, and two weeks after starting at the Lafayette location, the store went on strike. KC relayed their experience from the picketline, saying, “We get a lot of people spitting in our faces, telling us to go find real jobs, telling us we don’t matter. There’s one woman who loves to throw every slur under the sun every time she crosses the picket line.”

KC reiterated that this level of dehumanization is common in the service industry and a root cause of the underpayment and unlawful work conditions they and other service industry workers experience. “We’re all wiping the sweat off our brow, and breaking our backs to go take care of the very same people who dehumanize us [….] like, ‘Are you sure you want a non-human making your Americano?’”

Crowd gathered for January 27 Rally Photo by Sprout Foster

It’s not only customers hell-bent on their daily dose of convenient coffee who are clashing with strikers. Before the formation of SBWU, Starbucks was one of the top contributors to federal labor law violations, with over 1,100 ULPs for union-busting and other unfair labor practices. NLRB Judge Michael A. Rosas found that Starbucks had violated the National Labor Relations Act hundreds of times through “egregious and widespread misconduct demonstrating a general disregard for the employees’ fundamental rights.”

“It’s not beneficial for either side to bring every single one of these cases before the NLRB,” Archer explained. “It’s very time consuming and very expensive. So we asked them to sit down for an arbitration [to quicken the process], but they’ve used that to stonewall on finalizing the union contract for over a year and a half.”

The goal of the Unite the Unions rally was to not only show solidarity with the Starbucks strikes in Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, and Fort Collins, but to show solidarity for all labor movements in Colorado.

Archer said, “These exploitative practices are not isolated to a single workplace or environment. They are widespread and symptomatic of an economy that is concentrating its wealth to a few bad actors.”

Other labor leaders like six-year member of Denver DSA Matt Crook have seen increased need for union participation, as Crook watched his local association fluctuate greatly after pro-laborer Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. “All the energy got sucked out of the room once the old dude stopped running [… ]I watched the chapter deflate, which is understandable.” However, Crook urged, “We need to find ways to sustain through the losses.”

Other organizations and city leaders like Denver City Councilmember Sarah Parady joined on the lawn for pizza, non-affiliated food truck coffee, and rousing speeches from organizers and Starbucks employees. Unifying the efforts of all union efforts, Attorney General Candidate David Seligman and Senate representative Julie Gonzales expressed the dire need for the Worker Protection Act. The bill was reintroduced only after Mayor Polis rejected the legislation that would remove a significant barrier in unionizing that is unique to Colorado. After the vote to unionize, unionized workers must hold a second election, which must be won with a 75% approval – as compared to a simple majority win in the first election – before being able to negotiate dues with their employer. Similar to what Archer called “stubborn” stonewalling tactics of Starbucks, barriers such as the one the WPA is attempting to remove are viewed as just another bureaucratic form of union busting.

Autumn Archer acknowledged that Starbucks has some of the best benefits in the industry, but gives credit to union solidarity for this fact. “Howard Schultz, former CEO and founder, loves to take credit, but those benefits pre-date his tenure,” she explained. “Starbucks had a union in its main roastery building in the mid 1980’s. Part of the expansion of the business into the cafe business was to water down union density in the company.”

As the speeches of Unite the Unions concluded, Host Raven Caruth demonstrated a lesson their cohost Kylie Anderson admitted as “cringey.” Caruth wore the iconic green Starbucks apron and yanked on a rope in a tug-of-war with a faux-CEO on the other end.

Participants in a Labor themed Tug of War Photo from Sprout Foster

One by one, Starbucks workers and supporters rushed forward to join Caruth, grabbing the rope and sending the faux CEO skidding across the bird-poop-filled lawn as the crowd cheered. The lesson might have been “cheesy,” but things that are considered cheesy often get that way through repetition, and there are certain lessons worth repeating. At Unite the Unions, the lesson that bears repeating: the path to more just and more humanizing workplaces for all Coloradans is one in which we choose again and again to come together and look out for one another.

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The post ‘We Still Need Support’: Starbucks Workers Rally Amid Strike appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Colorado Starbucks Workers Join Nationwide Strike For Fair Pay

Sprout Foster-Goodrich — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:31:51 +0000

Since November 13th of this last year, Starbucks strikes have been sweeping the nation, and Colorado is no exception. The Starbucks Workers Union (SBWU) has been working hard to unify Starbucks unions to advocate for the completion of their union contract. The demands within the contract are for a higher take home pay, consistent hours so employees may qualify for healthcare benefits, consistency of scheduling and staffing, and for Starbucks to resolve their labor violations with the National Labor Rights Board.

January 11th, at the 16th Street Mall location, employees and supporters alike formed a picket line to put pressure on Starbucks to finalize the nearly-complete contract that HQ has been delaying for the last year and a half.

Naomi Wilson had been an employee for three years and when they were informed the 16th Street Mall Starbucks was a union store, they didn’t know what that meant at first. But after learning more about collective action and the union process, Naomi found themselves being elected as a bargaining representative and strike captain. “

To be a bargaining representative, I was on these Zoom calls with the union representatives that were in person with the company, and we would get all the information that they were given, and we would vote on different proposals and things, send the proposal back, rinse and repeat […] We met every month for, I think it was like six to eight months, and then by the time we got to October, we were on to wages, and that’s when things started getting a little more difficult.”

Clarence Mills, co-chair of Denver’s Democratic Socialist Association (DSA) labor committee said that DSA has been supporting SBWU since they started the fight four years ago.

Mills emphasized the importance of this movement for all workers by saying, “If wage and hour demands are met, it will create a tiered structure that will accelerate union organizing for all new unions going forward.” He went on to say, “This would be the first national fast food union contract and that creates a template for other hard to organize places like Chipotle, Trader Joe’s, and REI.”

Mills said that there are detractors of the movement and aggressive picket line crossers who’ve said, “If you don’t like your job, go find a new one.” “I’d argue that these protesters love their jobs,” Mill countered. “If you really care as a worker, you stick around and try to improve the conditions at your workplace.”

Workers outside Starbucks Lafayette
Photo from Sprout Foster

Lucille Wayne, Strike Leader and Starbucks employee of two years, said she left her job at Dutch Bros because of the health care that Starbucks offered. All Starbucks employees are guaranteed health insurance at 20 hours a week, but that rule has been consistently deviated by scheduling employees exactly 19.5 hours.

“What I want is for every employee to receive healthcare benefits like I have.” Wayne continued, “I love my job and my coworkers and I want that positive experience to be consistent.”

Thirty minutes North in Lafayette, another Starbucks location is showing solidarity. Kai Ott is Colorado born-and-raised and has been a Starbucks employee for 7.5 years since they were 16 years-old. For the first few years of their employment, they were told by management that “Unions are only for the stores that are really terrible and broken. [Unionizing] is a terrible thing to do to your managers.”

“It made me really scared of unions; I wouldn’t even look it up to find out what they were,” Ott said. But when they finally did start searching, Ott learned that unions were simply a way to support employees’ rights. In the last two years, managers were cracking down at the smallest infractions, ostensibly in retaliation to the national Starbucks union movement.

“We were getting written up for everything, like dirty aprons, which are supposed to get dirty, and for missing nametags.”

When Ott realized they could be getting support with a union in such situations, they jumped on-board and led their Starbucks’ location in the process of unionizing.

The workers at west South Boulder Road have been receiving support on the picket line from community members and politicians such as John Hickenlooper, but have been faced with various union-busting tactics as well.

“The barrier around the store was widened to supposedly ‘make the entrance bigger’ but it makes it so we can’t directly picket in front of the store… There was also one night that had been completely dry, no precipitation, and when we arrived the next morning to set-up the sidewalk was covered in ice. We checked up and down the street and there was no ice anywhere else.”

Another common practice that SBWU is attempting to remedy with the contract negotiations is the “two-person play.” Ott explained, “A two-person play is when two people are scheduled to run the whole store, even during peaks, which really sucks.” Ott said it has become common for, “employees to get woken up by frantic calls asking where they are, because the schedule had been switched the night before.” Additionally, before the uptick of strikes in November, Starbucks was the largest NLRB violator in the nation with over 700 unresolved unfair labor practice charges.

The next action to support the Starbucks Workers Union and other labor efforts will be the Unite the Unions Event, January 27th from 3-5 pm at Civic Center Park in Denver.

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The post Colorado Starbucks Workers Join Nationwide Strike For Fair Pay appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The Venezuela Strike and America’s Crisis of Belief

redtornado — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 23:15:19 +0000

This piece is part of Yellow Scene Magazine’s Opinion section. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent a reported news position. At Yellow Scene, opinion pieces speak freely, challenge assumptions, and say the quiet parts out loud.

As the U.S. claims control over Venezuela’s future, Americans are responding not with rallying energy, but with exhaustion, disbelief, and growing fear for their own democracy.

They may act with force, but they no longer control belief

Today we woke up to a set of headlines that have Americans talking. Overnight, the United States carried out a strike on Venezuela. Some reports describe it as the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, followed by Donald Trump telling reporters at a January 3, 2026 press conference, held after the attacks, that the United States would take control of Venezuela and place its oil industry under U.S. management.

People are uneasy, and not just about foreign policy. The economy does not feel as strong as this administration claims. Democratic guardrails are eroding in plain sight. And despite the familiar language of strength and freedom, Americans do not seem to be buying it. They are not rallying around the concept of “America the Great.”

That reaction tells us more about the state of the country than any press briefing ever could.

This legitimacy disconnect did not come out of nowhere. It is reinforced every day by the material reality Americans are living with.

What the hell is happening in Venezuela?

As more information becomes available, one thing is already apparent: the administration’s version of events is not aligning with what reporters, international observers, and Venezuelan dissidents are describing on the ground.

The official narrative frames this action as liberation, freeing the Venezuelan people and Americans from a criminal drug cartel. That framing does not withstand even basic scrutiny.

This action had no congressional authorization, no international mandate, and no clear legal justification.

Whatever language is used to describe it, whether strike, seizure, or abduction, it represents a unilateral use of power with serious implications for constitutional oversight, international law, and future precedent.

Beneath every explanation offered so far, one constant keeps resurfacing.

Oil.

Venezuela holds some of the largest oil reserves in the world. Years ago, its government reclaimed control of those resources, shifting them away from foreign, often American, corporate dominance and into state hands.

Whether that control was handled responsibly or disastrously is a legitimate debate. It does not justify U.S. intervention legally, historically, or morally.

This is a familiar pattern.

Which is why focusing solely on the character of Nicolás Maduro misses the larger point. You do not have to believe Maduro is a good leader, or even a legitimate one, to recognize that unilateral force carried out without legal authorization is still illegal. The obvious question then becomes what comes next. Invading China?

Socialism, state control, and a well-worn shortcut

Part of how actions like this are sold to the American public relies on political shorthand that collapses important distinctions.

Socialism refers to collective or democratic control of economic resources. State control refers to centralized authority exercised through government power. They are not the same thing.

That complexity has been flattened into an easy shortcut: socialism becomes tyranny, capitalism becomes democracy.

Venezuela does not fit neatly into either category. It is best understood as a state-controlled oil economy shaped by corruption, sanctions, and repression, not as a clean example of socialism as an economic theory. Naming that accurately matters, not to defend the regime, but to prevent propaganda from doing the work of justification.

When reclaiming resources from multinational corporations is treated as authoritarian by default, force can be sold as liberation rather than extraction.

The hypocritical pretext of drugs

Drug trafficking has been offered as a moral justification for U.S. action against Venezuela. It is a familiar claim, and a selective one.

Venezuela is not a major drug-producing country. Some trafficking routes pass through its territory, as they do through many countries in the region. That does not amount to evidence of a state-run narco enterprise.

The hypocrisy becomes harder to ignore in context. Trump has welcomed cartel-linked families into the United States and shown tolerance toward criminal actors when it aligned with his interests. He is also notably cozy with Saudi Arabia and its leadership, despite well-documented ties between the Saudi state and extremist networks, including figures linked to al-Qaeda.

Americans have seen this script before.

Vietnam was justified through a credibility gap later exposed by the Pentagon Papers.

Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were sold with urgency and certainty, only to be revealed as fiction.

Afghanistan was framed as a necessary response to terror, stretching into a twenty-year occupation that ended in withdrawal and devastation, and it did nothing to reduce what the United States calls terrorism. If anything, it expanded it.

That history is not distant. It shapes how people hear claims like these now.

American buy-in is missing

What makes this moment distinct is not only the action itself, but how Americans are responding to it.

The public is not disconnected in the way it is often portrayed. People are talking, sharing information, and trying to make sense of what they are watching unfold. Many are openly naming authoritarian drift and the erosion of democratic norms.

Large-scale protests, including the recent No Kings demonstrations that became the largest protest in American history, make one thing clear; aside from MAGA followers, the public is not supporting the actions of the current administration.

What is missing is consent.

The government has acted, but it has failed to convince the public that this action represents them. Protest is widespread, but it is protest against state power, not mobilization behind it.

Exhaustion is not apathy

This disconnect is reinforced by the conditions people are living under.

Housing insecurity is widespread. Medical care remains precarious and tied to employment. Debt keeps millions under constant pressure. Job stability feels fragile even for those technically employed.

Layered on top of all this is exhaustion. Just one year into Trump’s second term, people are tired, and that fatigue is not accidental. It is the point of attack after attack on civil liberties.

People are expected to perform citizenship inside a system that no longer seems capable of protecting them. When leaders insist the economy is strong while daily life feels brittle, trust erodes further.

Are non-voters to blame?

Roughly one-third of Americans did not vote, and they are often blamed for the state of the country. That framing is convenient and incomplete.

Some are discouraged, convinced participation no longer changes outcomes. Others refused to choose between candidates they felt neither represented nor listened to them, with Gaza playing a decisive role. Still others were blocked by voter suppression, access barriers, or intimidation, factors that remain consistently underexamined in post-election narratives.

In many cases, Democratic leaders responded by blaming “the left” rather than examining their own failures to listen, adapt, or meaningfully respond. That reluctance is hard to separate from the fact that they accept much of the same corporate and lobbying money as the GOP.

Disengagement exists, but what we are witnessing is a participation crisis rooted in legitimacy, not indifference.

When the Democrats echo the same story

Cynicism deepens when Democratic leaders reinforce the same framing.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis publicly celebrated the removal of Venezuela’s leadership while acknowledging the absence of congressional oversight and a clear plan. Statements like these attempt to split the difference, condemning procedural failures while endorsing the outcome.

For many Americans, that contradiction confirms there is no meaningful institutional opposition to executive overreach, only variations in tone.

Why “freedom fighters” are cheering it on instead of fighting

MAGA did not appear overnight. It was built over decades through coordinated propaganda efforts by organizations like the Heritage Foundation, whose mission was to reshape political reality for conservative voters.

MAGA voters often frame themselves as distrustful of government and defenders of freedom. Yet as the leaders they support act in openly authoritarian ways, resistance has been replaced by celebration.

Freedom is defended when it is personal or partisan, and dismissed when it applies universally. That alignment explains enthusiasm, but it does not create legitimacy. It also illustrates how authoritarianism gains power, not by convincing everyone, but by securing a loyal minority willing to excuse force as long as it targets someone else.

Force without legitimacy

Force does deliver short-term results. It can remove leaders, criminalize dissent, and illegally seize assets. What it cannot do is compel belief.

Rule by force produces compliance, not consent. Over time, systems built on coercion require constant escalation to maintain control, while public trust continues to erode. The result is not stability, but a governing structure that survives by pressure rather than participation.

What can we learn from history?

Authoritarian systems rarely collapse all at once. More often, they hollow out slowly as belief erodes faster than force can compensate.

In late Soviet Eastern Europe, regimes did not fall because tanks disappeared, but because legitimacy did.

Spain’s dictatorship ended through prolonged stagnation, elite fracture, and public disengagement that made continued repression unsustainable.

Even the French Revolution began as a legitimacy crisis rooted in extraction without representation.

Closer to home, the Vietnam War unraveled not only on the battlefield but in public consciousness. Once the Pentagon Papers exposed the gap between official narratives and reality, belief collapsed. The war did not end immediately, but its legitimacy never recovered.

History does not promise restoration. It offers clarity.

America is not returning to a normal most people recognize. There is always an after. What ours will be, and how long it will take, remains unknown. Force can hold power for a time, but it cannot manufacture belief. And when belief disappears, something else always begins. History rarely offers certainty. It does, however, record what happens when people stop accepting what no longer feels legitimate.

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The post The Venezuela Strike and America’s Crisis of Belief appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

A Strange Christmas in an Unsettled America

Destiny Hale — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:40:15 +0000

We are two days out from Christmas, and it does not feel like it.

If you are feeling a little down this holiday season, you are not alone. On both a local and national scale, this year’s holidays feel strained and harder to settle into. Christmas has long been the dominant holiday in the American cultural imagination. Corporations roll out glossy ad campaigns, storefronts glow with red and green, and for a brief stretch the country appears to move in sync. Even for those who do not celebrate Christmas itself, the season has traditionally carried a sense of shared pause and collective ritual.

That sense of unity has become increasingly rare. As monoculture continues to fracture and Americans struggle to feel aligned on much of anything, the holiday season has remained one of the few moments where a shared national rhythm still exists. This year, even that feels disrupted. For Coloradans especially, the season has continued a year defined by dislocation.

According to CPR, Colorado experienced its second-latest first snowfall since 1882. This December has broken multiple heat records, ranking among the warmest in state history. The familiar markers of winter are missing. There have been fewer snowy mornings, fewer opportunities for sledding, fewer moments that anchor the season in place. These changes are not flukes. Climate watchdogs have long warned that as climate change accelerates, Colorado will face worsening heat, drought, and wildfire risk. What feels unusual now is quickly becoming the new normal.

Climate change is often discussed in terms of sweeping systems and future projections, but it also produces quieter losses. Fewer white Christmases. Fewer snow days. And fewer children who will have memories of snow angels and warming cold hands around a mug of cocoa.

The broader national mood has only deepened the dampening of the holiday spirit. In the past two weeks alone, the country has watched a string of violent and disturbing events unfold. On Saturday, Brown University students Ella Cook, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, were killed in a mass shooting on campus that left nine others injured. Just days later, MIT physics professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was killed at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Then came the killings of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, who were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been charged with two counts of murder. In response, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social mocking Reiner’s death, suggesting it was caused by his past criticism of the president. The post drew condemnation across the political spectrum. When shown a screenshot of the post, 72 percent of Americans said it was inappropriate, while just 17 percent said it was appropriate.

Much has already been written about how the United States has entered a new era of normalized violence, both political and otherwise. Mass shootings and high-profile killings have become grim fixtures of the news cycle. Still, there is something particularly jarring about this level of brutality unfolding during a season traditionally associated with warmth, reflection, and goodwill. Rather than lowering the temperature, national leadership has often chosen to inflame it, reinforcing a sense that even the holidays are no longer insulated from political cruelty.

Economic pressure has further dampened the season. Prices continue to creep upward, making holiday shopping more difficult for families already stretched thin. Analysts predict those costs will keep rising in the year ahead. Despite repeated rhetoric about economic relief and support for working families, the numbers tell a different story.

With the country facing the strong possibility of another government shutdown, meaningful legislative intervention appears unlikely. While the holidays have never been a time when political conflict disappeared, the combination of economic strain and relentless political hostility has cast a long shadow over this year’s celebrations.

There is data to support the sense that this season feels heavier. A Gallup poll released yesterday found that just 24 percent of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, while nearly half describe current economic conditions as poor. Another poll suggests that this sense of political and economic doom is taking a measurable toll on Americans’ mental health. The share of people who say they are experiencing holiday season stress in America this year has risen sharply compared to last year, with much of that anxiety centered on affordability. Polls cannot capture every emotion, but they point to a public that feels anxious, strained, and worn down.

So what do we do with a holiday season that feels off-kilter?

Despite the doom and gloom, reports show that many people still experience an increase in mood during the holidays. That joy has not disappeared entirely. Coloradans do not need to turn away from the realities unfolding around them, but those realities do not need to consume every moment either. There is still joy to be found in celebrating with family and friends. Holding onto those moments may be the only way to enter the new year with any sense of steadiness at all.

The ones who dared to fight City Hall.

When Boulder denied public access to police body-cam footage, we took it to court. Our fight for transparency is now before the Colorado Supreme Court — because accountability doesn’t stop at the city line.

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The post A Strange Christmas in an Unsettled America appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Longmont Residents Win Fight Against AI Surveillance

Sprout Foster-Goodrich — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 22:09:22 +0000

A community outcry against Flock Security Systems occurred at Longmont’s city council meeting last night. Nearly every seat was full and 90% of those in attendance were there to urge their city council to not renew their contract with Flock, some going further to request that all existing Flock cameras be removed.

Flock is the security system that’s been sweeping the nation with its Automated License Plate
Recognition programming (ALPR) and its concurrent controversies. According to Longmont’s transparency statement, ALPR is being used to capture computer-readable images of license plates to compare against those of stolen vehicles or cars present at a crime scene. Using ALPR police can determine if a vehicle was at a crime scene. ALPRs can integrate data from national or state crime databases for real-time alerts.

The controversy was sparked by multiple instances of Flock’s AI recognition program providing false positives or being mis-interpreted, as in the case of a Denver woman who was wrongly accused of stealing a package by Columbia Valley police. The presumption of guilt rested entirely on an image of her car driving through the same part of town where the package was stolen. The Denver woman then had to spend weeks proving her innocence.

There have also been troubling cases of data misuse. The Loveland Police Department granted account access to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and ATF agents then used Flock data to run searches for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This violated state law, which bars sharing this information with immigration authorities without a warrant or court order. Flock later acknowledged that as the owner of the collected data, it has a standing agreement allowing immigration agencies full access to camera data from any police department that accepts the invitation.

A Longmont resident gives public comment during the City Council meeting on Dec. 9, speaking out against Flock. Photo taken by Sprout Foster

Two of the biggest concerns expressed last night, however, were transparency and privacy.

Lead software engineer and Longmont resident Andrew Gentry noted, “Longmont’s websites states the community’s safety cameras do not perform predictive analytics or facial recognition. That same assurance is absent from the Flock page, leaving me to believe that this
privacy standard may have been quietly discarded with Flock’s adoption.”

Gentry went on to say, “Flock’s retention policy doubles the length of retention used for community canvas, from 14 days to 30 days, once again signaling to me that the Flock program has been a convenient way to stretch existing privacy standards.”

The city argues that renewing the Flock contract will improve community safety. Community members like Gentry point to the flat trend of car theft in Longmont since the cameras went up, and Diego Luis cites a 2021 Electronic Frontier Foundation analysis that looked at 63 police departments in California and found that only 0.05 percent of millions of scanned plates were tied to any suspected wrongdoing.

Luis also raised concerns about the technology’s accuracy, referencing an innocent Aurora family held at gunpoint and a San Francisco driver that was “handcuffed and humiliated,” only for police to later admit the car wasn’t even the same make or model of the suspect.

“Instead of requiring a warrant or individualized suspicion, Flock cameras allow police to conduct location tracking on everyone all the time. This turns what should be targeted, more base searches into mass surveillance systems that bypass judicial oversight entirely.”

Another lead software engineer, Kellen Lesk, spoke from a decade of experience and graduate-level machine learning training to emphasize how insecure Flock’s data protection systems are, saying, “It’s just as secure as your grandma’s email address.”

He outlined how easy it is to pull imagery from the cameras and how Flock’s privacy promises can be easily broken.

“They use internet connectivity to update these camera. How we do this in the software industry is we load all of the software that we could ever want onto the device, and then we use what’s called feature flagging to turn off and on features. [Flock] says they don’t do facial recognition and person identification, but I guarantee the software is on those cameras and they just have it disabled. And that is a five minute update to turn it on.”

Longmont City Council members deliberate during the Dec. 9, 2025, meeting.
Photo by Sprout Foster

Despite Flock’s promises that private data won’t be shared, many companies rely on Data Clean Rooms, where information can be uploaded and cross-referenced. Only the final results are shared, allowing companies to claim they never “shared” the underlying data even as it’s used to draw detailed conclusions.

During public comment, many residents warned that Flock’s system enables constant monitoring that can build a detailed portrait of daily life. It can reveal who someone meets, where they go, and the routines that define their private world. Speakers pointed to real examples of abuse. In Texas, a woman seeking an out-of-state abortion was tracked and told she would be prosecuted if she returned. Officers elsewhere have used surveillance tools to stalk ex-partners, spy on neighbors, monitor activists, and look up journalists.

After four hours of testimony and debate, the council voted 5–1 to reject any future expansion of the city’s contract with Flock.

The ones who dared to fight City Hall.

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Where the Banned Words Go: Inside the Shredded Trump Archive

Emilia Martinez — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:57:54 +0000

In the years since Donald Trump’s inauguration, a new wave of protest art has resurfaced. Across the country, artists are reacting to the administration’s censorship, immigration policies, and assaults on public institutions. One of the most striking responses is in a dim, quasi-office space in Boulder where an artist will spend nearly four years slowly destroying her own work.

The piece is called Effigy 1462—a reference to the number of days in a presidential term. It began the moment the artist read reports that federal agencies were quietly flagging certain words and removing them from websites, grants, and contracts.

“I was shocked, like everyone else,” the artist, Yumi Roth, told Yellow Scene Magazine. “I got an overwhelming sense of disbelief followed by anger.”

She began collecting the banned terms, going as far as to download screenshots from federal employees and solicit lists from friends. The result became a tower of offset-printed pages made up of government-censored language. Every so often, she walks into the room, turns on the fluorescent lights, and feeds one page into an Amazon Basics shredder.

“It never really goes away,” she said. “Its form just gets transformed.”

The shredded pile shrinks and shifts in tune with her emotions. Early on, the process was furious, almost cathartic. Now, Roth says, it’s become something quieter.

“I was angrier in the beginning, but when you do a long process over a period of time, your experience with it changes. Now I am less fixated on the specifics of the words but rather the action of turning a hotel’s piece of paper into a shredded pile.”

Effigy 1462 is not displayed in the main East Window Gallery but is stored at an off-site location in a bare room with HVAC-covered windows and little else. Most days, the artist is alone. Visitors can see the piece only by emailing the gallery for the address and, if they choose, shredding a page themselves.

The unusual nature of the work has made some institutions hesitant to host it. According to the gallery director, several spaces declined, worrying that it was “too outward of a display of protest.”

The piece will continue evolving until the end of the presidential term. After that, the future is uncertain. The artist has considered everything, from incineration to a new form of transformation, but refuses to decide too early. “It will change with me over the next four years,” Roth explained. “And I will know what to do by then.”

For now, the pile continues to shrink, one sheet at a time.

Viewers interested in seeing the installation can contact East Window Gallery through its website.

The ones who dared to fight City Hall.

The post Where the Banned Words Go: Inside the Shredded Trump Archive appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Sick with ICE: Healthcare at the Aurora ICE Detention Center

Guest Contributor — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:39:46 +0000

Editor’s Note: The journalist for this Yellow Scene Magazine story has been kept anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the reporting. They visited an ICE facility to verify conditions and interview a detainee while maintaining anonymity for safety and journalistic integrity.

According to a Facebook post by Victor Galvan on March 20th, political prisoner and long-time Colorado community member Jeanette Vizguerra told friends and family that she was receiving two pieces of bread, some jam and an apple per day at the Geo ICE Detention Center in Aurora, Colorado. As ICE activity has exponentially increased locally and nationally, this claim raised critical concerns about the physical well-being of detainees, among a litany of concerns about human rights violations.

Journalists are not permitted in the Geo ICE Center, so with the help of community organizers, I was able to visit with a detainee as a “friend” and further investigate claims. For their safety, the interviewee’s name will be omitted.

Visiting a detainee requires navigating strict scheduling and security protocols. Visitors must bring the detainee’s “A-number,” valid ID, and adhere to strict dress codes.

After around three hours of delays, intensive security screening, and sitting in a lobby with an American-flag-backdropped picture of Trump looming over it, visitors were ushered into a prison-like visitation booth, complete with white-cast cement walls, fluorescent lights, and shoddy phones to communicate through. My subject is an immigrant who told me they had been detained for over a year at the Aurora ICE Center. Despite willingly submitting themself to detention and deportation, the latter process had been continually delayed, subjecting them to further mistreatment in detention.

In 2012, my interviewee was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease, a set of persistent symptoms following Lyme infection. Its clinical recognition remains debated, similar to “Long COVID” following coronavirus infection. According to accredited medical resource LymeDisease.org, “An LDo published survey of over 3,000 patients with chronic Lyme disease found that patients suffer a worse quality of life than most other chronic illnesses, including congestive heart failure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. Over 70% of patients with chronic Lyme disease reported fair or poor health.” The interviewee had been able to manage their symptoms to much success before imprisonment, but lack of proper care in the facility allowed the disease to progress to a debilitating degree.

Considering that proper nutrition is central to treating Lyme Disease Persistent Symptoms (LDPS), my interviewee had a keen investment in the claims I was investigating. Since the visitation with Jeanette Vizguerra in March, ostensibly, the meals have improved for the wider detainee population in the GEO ICE Center. It was reported that three meals a day are served, typically consisting of a silver-dollar-sized portion of salad, small portions of beans (or other protein), rice, potato, cornbread, and fruit. Multiple doctors in the past advised that this detainee cut out gluten and sugar from their diet, so they are generally restricted to salad, beans, and rice.

A STOP sign bearing a “fascism” sticker stands outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Aurora, Colorado, photographed by unnamed journalist.

“It isn’t enough food to ever feel full from,” they told me. “I will often eat the food they give me, even if I’m not supposed to for my health, just because I’m so hungry.” Whether all detainees, including political prisoners or those under punishment, receive similar meals is unclear.

Another troubling aspect of the detainee’s treatment is the handling of their medication. Correct timing and dosing are crucial for treating. “It’s important that my medications are spread out over the day, especially around meals,” the interviewee told me. “But staff usually give me all the medications at once to save time, which makes me sick.”

Since imprisonment, the subject’s overall health has taken a sharp decline. They report a chronic fatigue, which makes any physical activity next to impossible; trouble focusing, so extreme it prevents them from reading (one of their favorite activities and one of few activities afforded to detainees), and other impairing psychological problems, including schizoaffective symptoms.

My interviewee’s experience at the Aurora Geo ICE Center illustrates the severe consequences of inadequate care, consequences that are being felt by the tens of thousands of detainees reported across the United States. The need for oversight and accountability for detainees, particularly those with chronic and medically complex conditions, is incredibly urgent. If GEO and ICE continue to operate with little transparency and no meaningful accountability, it is likely that Aurora and the nation will continue to see worsening reports of abuse, neglect, and death in these facilities. Organizations such as CO Stands Together and many others are advocating for such transparency and accountability from Geo and Colorado leaders. Such organizations are also providing a wealth of opportunities for Colorado residents to stay informed and get involved, such as attending the weekly vigil in honor of Jeanette Vizguerra held at the Aurora ICE center, supporting detainees with donations for commissary, and much more.

The ones who dared to fight City Hall.

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The Heart of the Nation in Ruins: The East Wing Demolished

Nicholas Bernhard — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 20:09:12 +0000

“If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart.” – Betty Ford

There is evidence that a fifth plane was almost hijacked on 9/11. It was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles that morning. Several passengers onboard raised red flags with the crew. When the FAA made the decision to ground all flights in the US later that morning, boxcutters were found left behind in the seats.

According to interviews with the men who planned 9/11, the target of United Flight 93 was the US Capitol. United Flight 23, the possible fifth plane, was likely targeting the White House. The dome of the US Capitol is is made of wrought iron; had it been hit it would have rained molten metal on whoever was still inside. As for the White House, we don’t have to imagine too hard about what that horror would have looked like. We have only to look at this week’s news.

Workers begin the demolition of the East Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 21, 2025. Photo © Sizzlipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Trump Administration has used the chaos of the latest government shutdown to demolish the East Wing of the White House. The current costs are estimated at $300 million. Trump has said that he plans to replace the East Wing with a lavish ballroom. For Trump, the poor man’s idea of a rich man, “lavish” means gold on every surface. Civil rights attorney Ken White was spot-on when he described the plans as “What is Uday Hussein ran a Ramada Inn?” The destruction of the East Wing came not from radical terrorists, but a different ideology: the untrammeled worship of human greed and the thirst for power.

The US Capitol was spared on 9/11 thanks to the men and women Flight 93. This included the captain, a Denver native named Jason Dahl. Before he was murdered, it appears that Dahl made efforts to alter the plane’s radio frequencies. He hoped the hijacker’s messages on the intercom would instead be relayed to air traffic control. This may have, in turn, given crucial information to the FAA in its pivotal decision to ground all flights.

The names of passengers and crew members of United Airlines Flight 93 are inscribed on Panel S-67 of the National September 11 Memorial’s South Pool in New York City, photographed on April 28, 2012. Photo by Luigi Novi

The passengers and crew of Flight 93 are honored in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Captain Jason Dahl is honored at Denver International Airport. Every time I fly out of Denver, I stop by the black stone memorial in Concourse B and pay my respects.

In 2025, the Trump Administration has given pardons to the men and women who stormed the Capitol on January 6, some of whom sought to kill legislators and called for the hanging of the Vice President. The polemicist Charlie Kirk, who plead the Fifth to the January 6 Committee about his role in the attack on the Capitol, was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And now the White House, seat of the US Presidency for 225 years, sits surrounded by rubble.

The images from this week brought up a small chapter from my own life. For two years, I volunteered for a local Historic Preservation Board. I reviewed the application for landmarking and demolition of properties. For any property in town at least 50 years old, we reviewed the demolition application based on the building’s cultural and historical significance. The builings in town, especially those dating back to its coal-mining past, are a record of the city’s history, and the board served as a check on the erosion of that history.

We were not a popular group. Every public comment section of an application had at least one screed from a citizen about our perceived uselessness. We were told that we held back growth and kept blight in town. It was common to be asked why “we” needed to keep “that old thing”, meaning whatever historic property was on the agenda.

I didn’t always feel good about the work, either. It felt like any efforts at educational outreach, the thing that might get the public to understand us, took years to plan. There were attempts to create public signage about local history; another city department said they would cost ten grand apiece to manufacture. Calling someone in another department was treated like an international incident. You would be surprised to this was a “have your people call my people” kind of place; so was I.

For anyone who has bristled at red tape with older properties, myself included, let’s all turn on the news and watch the dust rise from the debris of the East Wing. Those are the images of a world with no concept of history as part of the common treasury. A world where all property stands at the whims of its current resident. A world where nothing is of, for, or by “the People.”

Trump is the embodiment of “It’s mine, I’ll do what I want with it,” even if it’s the most famous house in the country. Even when it’s not home to just a man, but a country’s sense of itself, its heritage, both good and bad, its fears and its hopes. It’s the manifestation of Margaret Thatcher’s assertion that “There is no such thing as society, there are only individuals.”

I have known my share of people who thought “local character” and “sense of place” were punchlines, code words for stagnation. The question this week is: if “character” and “place” are not aspirations in the local township, why would they be respected at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Ongoing demolition of the East Wing, White House, Washington, D.C., Oct. 21, 2025. Photo © Sizzlipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The post The Heart of the Nation in Ruins: The East Wing Demolished appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Losing Our Humanity

Steve Nelson — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 17:40:37 +0000

We are not only losing our democracy, we are losing our humanity.

A recent New York magazine article is among the pieces of necessary journalism capturing the wanton cruelty visited upon children, women and men by masked ICE agents and other deputized thugs. This piece wields its power through images – exquisitely unbearable. You should look, if you can bear it.

Fear and despair are etched on faces, mainly brown and Black. It has always been so. It is easier to dehumanize brown and Black people. It is the ugliest truth of systemic and unrelenting racism.

I don’t write to dissect immigration policy or weigh in on the manifold complexities of race and class. There is something far more horrifying running through us. We are losing, or have lost, our capacity to feel the consequences of what is being done by us and to us.

Gradual numbing and normalization glaze moral vision. It has been going on for all of human history, but seems at a new, generalized level of anesthesia in the United States. Our political leaders and a sizable plurality of citizens are only temporarily discomforted by our complicity in blowing Palestinian children to bits in Gaza, cavalierly exploding boats in the Caribbean, or tearing screaming brown children from their parents’ arms and shelter beds in Chicago. Worse, if such a bland adverb suffices, is that many men – and they are mostly men – appear to enjoy the process and the product. Indifference or enjoyment are co-equal exhibits of raging anger or deep sociopathy.

Distance offers no excuse. The masked monsters who throw women to the pavement or manhandle terrified children are directed or enabled by men and women in fancy suits and suites who justify the cruelty without so much as a single teardrop. They are as guilty of war crimes and urban felonies as a psychopath who hires a hitman to kill his wife.

These images of real-time socio-pathological violence are deeply unsettling, but just the tip of America’s frigid indifference to the suffering of children, here and abroad. We seldom see pictures of the tens of thousands – or more – of malnourished children who depended on USAID to cling to life. How are the actions of American leaders different than snatching pieces of bread from the bony hands of starving children? Is it less vile if we don’t see it?

An estimated 50,000 children under age 5 die from preventable malaria each year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is agonizing, often ending in coma and death from multi-organ failure. Our abandonment of just one such child is a profound moral failure.

Groups of smiling white men – Donald Trump, Russell Vought, JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Mike Johnson, et al – slash budgets and agencies, killing brown children as surely as if they slashed their throats.

I’ve often ridiculed the idea of American Exceptionalism. I was wrong. We are exceptionally cruel, exceptionally arrogant, and exceptionally calloused. Even before the needless government shutdown, resources for the most vulnerable among us were being withheld under the American doctrine of “you get what you deserve and deserve what you get.” In a matter of days things will get exponentially worse as Trump golfs, preens like a vainglorious baboon and takes literal and metaphorical wrecking balls to our shared history.

No Kings Day was necessary but wholly insufficient. Every day we should line the streets and the empty halls of Congress with images of the pain being inflicted on the world’s children – and our own – with our silence as proxy.

I can’t – or perhaps don’t want to – believe that all ICE agents and other officials derive pleasure from watching other humans cower in fear or scream at the terror of losing a child. Instead of blind obedience, we need civil disobedience. I know and understand the objections to comparing our authoritarianism-lite to the rise of the Third Reich. But the difference is in scale, not nature.

Are there no people of moral courage in the chains of authority? Can no military man say, “No sir, I will not fire on a boat in international waters.” Can no government agents step in front of a helpless family and say, “You cannot do that to a child.” Have we lost all ability to see our own children and grandchildren in the terrorized or emaciated faces created by our actions and inactions?

Preserving our democracy and preserving our humanity go hand in hand. If we save one, the other will follow.

But we cannot, must not, look away.

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Coloradans conflicted over promised immigration crackdowns and the realities of how they are carried out

Guest Contributor — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 21:24:14 +0000

Due process and masked men: Coloradans conflicted over promised immigration crackdowns and the realities of how they are carried out

We asked hundreds of Coloradans what they thought of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies and tactics. This is what they said.

By Stephanie Rivera, Colorado Public Radio, CoLab Newsroom Storyshare

Over the last several months, Nicholas Pierce’s work as an asylum, refugee and deportation defense lawyer on the Front Range has meant playing catch-up. The immigration policies and orders that seem to come on a near-daily basis from the federal government have been hard to keep up with.

In a recent interview, Pierce tried to make sense of the latest effort by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which activists said was called “Freaky Friday,” offering unaccompanied immigrant children cash to self deport, and potentially depriving them of the right to hearings. A local human services agency had reached out to him earlier in the day asking how it would impact the young immigrants in their care.

He couldn’t answer. Instead he had to turn to others, including a contact at ICE, to figure it out.

“It is, in a lot of ways, much worse than what I had anticipated, much faster than I had anticipated,” Pierce said about the impact the president’s immigration crackdown has had on Colorado. “I was an immigration lawyer during the first Trump administration, and there was just a lot more checks and balances in the system.”

With about 400 cases on his plate through his Denver-based firm Amistad Law, Pierce said he’s seen firsthand how families and communities are being torn apart. He said many have had their legal statuses stripped away, through things like ending Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans – many of whom sought refuge in Colorado. Others, he said, have chosen to go into hiding for fear of being detained when appearing for their asylum interviews.

Pierce, who is a former U.S. Army Reserve service member and whose work receives state funding through the Colorado Refugee Support Program, is one of hundreds of Coloradans polled by CPR News and other outlets in the Colorado News Collaborative who have expressed either complete opposition to or frustration with some of the ways Trump has carried out his campaign promise to close the southern border and reduce the number of undocumented immigrants living in the country.

Immigration attorney Nicholas Pierce sits at a table during an Afghan support conference with paralegal Swita Omari (right) in this undated photo. Courtesy of Nicholas Pierce.

A small number we heard from say they support the president’s actions, calling them necessary to free up government resources for things like housing and Medicaid for citizens or protect the country from socialism.

Since the beginning of the year, the Trump administration has increased immigration raids across U.S. cities, including in Colorado, escalated tactics like sending the National Guard to back up ICE in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and reversed Biden-era policies, including allowing arrests at schools and churches.

What Coloradans are saying about immigration

In the survey circulated by Colorado newsrooms, including CPR News, a majority of the nearly 400 respondents said that, even if they supported some of the president’s stated goals, they opposed some of the immigration enforcement tactics currently being used by federal agents.

Specifically, Coloradans take issue with federal agents violating due process and not focusing on deporting the “worst of the worst” criminals.

“I have no problem with deporting those convicted of felonies, but ambushing families is despicable,” said a woman in Grand Junction.

“I am in favor of the overall goal, but I do take issue with some of the practices,” said a man from Broomfield. “Treat people as human beings, even if they are criminals.”

A man in Durango summarized it like a report card. He gave efforts to close the border an A+, deporting criminals a C-, visa restrictions a D-, the use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement an F and described the use of the National guard as illegal. He said Trump also failed in the area of “Politicalization.”

“Deport criminals not workers,” said a woman in Durango. ICE tactics like “unmarked cars, civilian clothes, refusal to identify themselves should be eliminated.”

“It’s a waste of time to deport people contributing to the economy,” said a man in Colorado Springs. “I’m more concerned with the affordability of housing and health care.”

“The response has been too extreme and brutal,” said a woman in Colorado Springs. “It targets too many law-abiding, legal, U.S. residents,: denying due process to detainees.”

Federal law enforcement outside the Cedar Run Apartments, where immigration raids are taking place early Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Evergreen resident Norman Sherbert said he believed the president was carrying out what he promised to do when elected and correct the previous administration’s actions.

“I’m not here to tell the government how to do their job,” Sherbert elaborated via email. “All I know is that 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants coming into our country, seeing pictures of the masses of people standing at our borders, and hearing of children without guardianship being used to gain entrance into the U.S. is not good policy. And, in the long run over the next generations, will have a deteriorating effect on our society and way of life.”

Sherbert sees the administration’s extreme measures as a necessary way to right the situation with the limited time and resources it has.

At a flea market in Colorado Springs on a recent weekend, JoAnn Antaya said she believed Trump wanted to help people during his first administration but doesn’t agree with the tactics being used today.

A German-born American who remembered how difficult it was to adjust to a new culture as a child, Antaya believes society has lost its compassion.

“We do not care about our fellow man,” Antaya, 63, said. “So it’s easy to put a wall between here and Mexico because you know what? They have nothing to do with you. Heaven forbid if you should hand them a crust of bread. No, I’m not happy with my country.

“It’s like they’re not compromising. They’re not coming to a happy medium. They’re just combative. And that’s all it is: Argument, argument, argument.”

Colorado Springs resident JoAnn Antaya poses with her dogs at her booth where she sells a variety of items at the Colorado Springs Flea Market. Stephanie Rivera/CPR News

What the polls say about immigration concerns

Opinion polling suggests how Coloradans feel about immigration has a lot to do with where they live.

A poll from the Colorado Health Foundation released earlier this year looked at top issues facing Coloradans. It surveyed over 2,300 people across the state.

It found that “illegal immigration” was a major concern for about half of the residents surveyed, though the extent of the concern depended on where respondents lived, lower in urban areas (39 percent), versus suburban (58 percent) and rural (65 percent).

Ninety percent of respondents on the Eastern Plains believe illegal immigration is a problem in Colorado compared to 46 percent in Denver metro.

On the flip side, 20 percent of all respondents said the mistreatment of immigrants was an “extremely serious” concern compared to 42 percent of respondents saying it was “not too serious.”

Broken down by region, that concern fluctuated, with 44 percent of urban respondents saying mistreatment is extremely or very serious compared to 30 percent of suburban respondents and 23 percent of rural respondents.

“The regional, the urbanity and the partisanship seemed to really be driving how folks react to those problems and react differently to the two different framings that we tested,” said Lucia Del Puppo, senior vice president with the research firm that conducted the Pulse Poll.

CHF spokesperson Katie Peshek says Pulse Poll findings are shared with policymakers to help them understand the real issues residents are facing and prioritize those concerns.

“With a third of poll respondents pointing to government and politics as the state’s leading challenge, it’s clear that on issues like immigration, the cost of living and housing, Coloradans are ready for real action and solutions,” Peshek said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Denver Field Office Centennial. Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

Meanwhile, a national Gallup poll released this summer found that only 30 percent of Americans say immigration should be reduced, a position that has shrunk by fifteen points since last year.

But the support for staunching immigration largely falls along party lines, with the poll finding “Republicans are the only group still showing at least plurality support for reducing immigration.”

In a recent national poll of registered voters by the New York Times/Sienna, “51 percent said they thought the government was deporting mostly people who ‘should be deported,’ while 42 percent said the government was deporting the wrong people.”

That poll, too, found respondents wrestling with the administration’s aggressive tactics.

“More than half of voters, 53 percent, think the process of deporting people has not been fair; 44 percent said it was mostly fair,” according to The New York Times.

How Colorado leaders are responding to federal actions

Some Coloradans praised the work of elected officials to stand in the way of federal immigration enforcement.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has used his office’s powers to fight against federal immigration actions, from defending in-state tuition for noncitizen students to suing a sheriff’s deputy for involving ICE in a traffic stop that resulted in the detainment of a college student.

In the spring, state lawmakers passed a bill designed to protect undocumented immigrants from coming to the attention of federal authorities. And over the summer, Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress toured the state’s only immigration facility in Aurora, only to leave with more questions than answers.

U.S. Rep. Jason Crow speaks alongside, from left, U.S. Reps. Brittany Pettersen, Joe Neguse and Diana DeGette after Colorado officials toured the GEO Group-run ICE detention center in Aurora on Aug. 11, 2025. Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline

Colorado governments are in danger of losing federal funds and the state is being sued by the federal government for so-called sanctuary policies, but Democratic leaders have so far resisted the administration’s pressure campaign, arguing immigration enforcement is not the state’s problem.

That doesn’t mean inter-agency coordination isn’t happening. Despite state laws strictly limiting when officials can cooperate with ICE requests, state agencies were found to have provided federal immigration officials with Coloradans’ personal information in response to subpoenas several times this year. Those actions by the Polis administration have riled fellow Democrats and immigration advocates.

Looking ahead

Even though state laws prohibit local law enforcement from helping federal agents, targeted immigration raids continue to take place across the state, including outside of metro regions. In the last couple of weeks, local news outlets have reported on an incident in Alamosa where ICE detained a family with a baby inside a vehicle at gunpoint, smashing a car window, and a situation in Routt County where a county commissioner was blocked by ICE vehicles.

For Pierce, it’s not just new policies that have made it difficult for him – or other lawyers – to do this job. He’s seen announcements of immigration court judges resigning or being fired, resulting in longer processing times for cases. Clients are also being transferred to detention facilities out of state, making it hard to connect with their legal counsel and putting them at risk of being deported within days.

“So when it comes to hurting people, the system’s gotten a lot faster. When it’s come to helping people, the system’s gotten a lot slower,” he said.

The majority of Pierce’s cases involve Afghan men who fought alongside the U.S. military during the Iraq War and are now waiting to get legal residency. Most of them filed petitions in 2022 or 2023 but still don’t have a court date set. With the reimposition of the so-called Muslim ban by the Trump administration this summer, it has been difficult for them to be reunited with their families. Pierce says these policies betray a promise made by the U.S. government for fighting alongside its troops.

The situation is leaving the men with two options: risk likely death to join their families back home or wait in the U.S, in the hope that their families will eventually be allowed to join them.

It’s gotten so bad that Pierce has found himself for the first time ever advising people to seek asylum in Argentina or Chile. He’s even started to offer powers-of-attorney services so that family or friends with U.S. citizenship can take control of bank accounts and other assets if their loved ones are rapidly deported.

“I’ve dedicated my life to this, but the good legal advice has become, ‘Hide, or go somewhere else.’”

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Chants of Democracy: Longmont and Boulder March for No Kings

Carlina Grillo — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 17:19:59 +0000

The “No Kings” demonstrations, a national movement against authoritarianism, have stretched from Denver to Erie and as well as the neighboring cities of Longmont and Boulder. Across Colorado’s Front Range, protestors gathered not just to resist, but to reclaim what they believe democracy truly looks like.

NO KINGS DAY: Longmont

By Carlina Grillo & Destiny Hale

By midmorning, Longmont’s downtown was alive with movement and sound. The crowd, hundreds strong, streamed through the streets in rhythm, a chorus of voices bouncing off storefront windows and brick façades.
“Show me what democracy looks like!” shouted one protestor through a megaphone.
“This is what democracy looks like!” came the rolling reply, wave after wave of voices answering back.

Among the crowd, a man in a bright yellow chicken costume flapped his arms dramatically, drawing laughter and cheers. Handmade signs cut through the sea of color, “No Kings,” “Save Democracy” and “Fascism Has No Home Here.”

At one point, the chanting softened, replaced by the familiar opening melody of “This Land Is Your Land.”
Voices joined hesitantly at first, then in full harmony, filling the street with the language of protest that has echoed through generations. That was not the only song sung that day, a handful of protestors brought violins, guitars, and small speakers, and would periodically perform.

By singing one of America’s most iconic folk songs at an anti-Trump rally, marchers were making a statement: we are the inheritors of democracy, not its enemies.
Woody Guthrie’s lyrics, once written as a counterpoint to blind nationalism, have taken on new meaning here. When the crowd sang “This land is your land, this land is my land,” they were making a demand for inclusion, for equality, for a vision of America that resists ownership by one man.

The chants and songs worked to produce a sense of solidarity and unity. The rhythm kept people walking. The music kept them together. Every beat, every lyric, every shout was allowed Longmont to make their voice heard.

NO KINGS DAY: Boulder

By Emilia Martinez

If you were walking down Pearl Street in Boulder that same Saturday, you would have seen one of over 2,000 “No Kings” rallies nationwide. The turnout was massive. and the mood was electric. The crowd stretched from one block to the next, and the sky was filled with homemade banners rippling in the autumn wind, flags of every kind unfurling above our heads.

Flyers for the Socialist Democratic Party of Boulder circulated through the crowd. One representative told me he found it “outrageous” that government and military figures “seem to be pushing loyalty to an individual and not the Bill of Rights they swore to uphold.” His words carried easily above the noise of drums and chanting.

Everywhere we looked color and symbolism:

a woman in a Handmaid’s Tale dress stood silently near the courthouse, her crimson robe stark against the gray stone; a group of college students led chants through megaphones; others held signs reading “No Kings,” “Democracy Belongs to the People,” and “We Remember January 6.” The air vibrated with energy as whistles, clapping, the hum of conversation and sound of protest filled the area.

Police stood in small clusters along the sidewalks, present, watchful, but distant. Boulder PD’s Deputy Chief Hartkopp later told me that “a successful protest is one in which everyone is able to safely exercise their First Amendment rights.” He described de-escalation, property protection, and communication with organizers as central to department police. In practice, public confidence in these measures remains mixed as fear of government crackdown grows.

As the afternoon waned, the crowd thinned and the tone softened. I met a woman sitting on a bench, holding a sign that read: “How did you fight dictatorship today?”
She told me she’s been out here every weekend since February, calling her participation “street philosophy” that is represented by anyone who’s willing to lift their head for a moment and break the bubble of normal daily comfort.
“It’s not just protest,” she said. “It’s a conversation about fear, about hope, about what kind of country we’re becoming.”

When we parted, she hugged me, eyes wet. For a moment, the noise and slogans fell away. What remained was something quieter: people trying, in their own ways, to keep faith in one another and in the idea of democracy itself.

From the music-filled streets of Longmont to the charged avenues of Boulder, the “No Kings” movement continues to echo across Colorado’s Front Range with ordinary citizens defining, in unison, what democracy looks like.

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Tigers and Lions and No Kings, Oh My! The Front Range Rises Up for No Kings Day

redtornado — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 02:34:43 +0000

Updated to reflect that Denver’s crowd numbers may be higher.

From Denver to Erie to Longmont, Coloradans turned out in the tens of thousands for No Kings Day, standing together against authoritarianism with laughter, costumes, and conviction.

No Kings Day, Denver, Oct. 18th, 2025, photo by Shavonne Blades

NO KINGS DAY: DENVER + ERIE

By Shavonne Blades

It was a day of love and joy, filled with color, laughter, and purpose. When it was time to name the photo files, I couldn’t help but giggle at the titles I needed to choose: Cookie Monster, a unicorn, a T-Rex. It fit the spirit of the day. But beneath the smiles, the message was clear: Americans are rejecting the authoritarianism of the current administration.

As a local indie, we couldn’t be in every town that had a protest (there were so many of them), but we did make it to Denver and Erie, and photographer Kenneth Wajda covered Longmont for us.

Colorado State Capitol, No Kings Day, Oct. 18th, 2025, photo by Shavonne Blades

Across the Front Range, the energy was undeniable. In Denver, more than 25,000 people are reported to have turned out (with some stating it could have been as high as 40,000), exceeding the June No Kings Day. We know the march stretched for several blocks. Denver had a visible police presence, but the day remained peaceful throughout the protest. In Erie, at least a thousand Erieites turned out, and in Longmont, an estimated 6,000 joined in, an impressive turnout for a town of about 100,000.

No Kings Day, Erie, CO, Oct.18th, 2025, photo by Shavonne Blades

In Denver, we didn’t see many pro-Trump counter-protesters, and there weren’t many in Erie either—but in a smaller town, even a handful stood out more. Police presence was constant at the Erie protest, with officers repeatedly driving by, but they too remained peaceful. One man tried to start a fight and even put his hands on a protester, but the situation stayed calm as the protester walked away rather than react.

The most unsettling encounter came with two teenage boys proudly wearing MAGA hats. They were polite and cordial; that wasn’t the issue. What was troubling was their message. One of the boys asked why people were so focused on Trump, and the crowd told him it was because he’s been eroding the principles of democracy. He asked how Trump was doing that. When they explained Due Process, he asked, “Does everyone get Due Process? Even illegal immigrants? Pakistanis?”

It was a question that revealed more than it asked. The exchange was deeply troubling—not because of malice, but because it showed how far we’ve drifted from understanding the very Constitution so many claim to defend. Two elderly veterans, patient and kind, stepped in to continue the conversation. They’d seen this country fight fascism before. Let’s hope their words reached them.

It’s a strange balance; joy in the streets, gravity beneath it. It took Hitler just 53 days to dismantle Germany’s government. Trump has not succeeded yet, but the United States is slipping faster down the slope toward fascism.

Protests light the spark, but the real work begins when the marches end — in the daily, determined defense of democracy.

No Kings Day, Longmont, CO, Oct. 18th, 2025, photo by Kenneth Wajda

LONGMONT: RISES UP

By Kenneth Wajda, Photojournalist

The start time for the No Kings protest in Longmont was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. By noon, protesters were already assembling at 6th and Main, and others were beginning to fill Roosevelt Park.

No Kings Day, Longmont, CO, Oct. 18th, 2025, photo by Kenneth Wajda

By early afternoon, the crowd at Roosevelt Park—which had grown significantly—turned and marched toward Main Street, right past Colorado Chapter 434’s monument to Purple Heart veterans.

Along Main Street, for the next two hours, there was a steady cacophony of car horns, plus waves, peace signs, and thumbs up raised out of car windows and sunroofs to show support for the protesters. Some drivers even created their own signs and joined in with those who lined the main street from below 5th Street past 6th Street and up toward Longs Peak Avenue.

Crowds at the last No Kings rallies were estimated at 5,000 people. This event appeared even better attended—perhaps 6,000—many carrying signs and standing up to a Republican administration they feel has gone too far and is on the brink of destroying American democracy.

There was a small police presence. Two officers were parked next to the Pumphouse Brewery and were seen chatting with folks while standing beside their cruisers. The crowd was peaceful and respectful. At one point, a police cruiser drove down Main Street and received a thumbs up from protesters in the crowd.

The signs were direct, clever, and sometimes funny. The main message: America got rid of its last king in 1776, and there isn’t going to be another one. They want this administration to back off the ICE raids and military presence in U.S. cities. And they want Donald Trump to know they are not going to let an authoritarian regime rise in America without a fight—without standing up for democracy.

No Kings Day, Longmont, CO, Oct. 18th, 2025, photo by Kenneth Wajda

As the Purple Heart monument reads:

“My stone is red for the blood they shed. The medal I bear is my country’s way to show they care. If I could be seen by all mankind, maybe peace will come in my lifetime.”

No Kings Day, Denver, Colorado, Oct. 18th, 2025

Photos by Shavonne Blades

No Kings Day, Longmont, Colorado, Oct. 18th, 2025

Photos by Kenneth Wajda

No Kings Day, Erie, Colorado, Oct. 18th, 2025

Photos by Shavonne Blades

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What Texas A&M Can Learn From CU Boulder’s Darkest Hour

Nicholas Bernhard — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 18:30:05 +0000

This piece is part of Yellow Scene Magazine’s Opinion section. The views expressed here are those of the author, and do not represent a reported news position. At Yellow Scene, opinion pieces speak freely, challenge assumptions, and say the quiet parts out loud.

Some news out of Texas A&M reminded of a similar dark moment in Colorado’s history, and the leadership that met that moment.

First, the present. Earlier this month, Texas A&M president Matt Welsh III fired senior lecturer

Melissa McCoul. McCoul was giving a lecture on children’s literature, and mentioned that there were more than two genders. In an exchange recorded on video, a student objected to this statement, warning that it ran contrary to an executive order from President Trump, and her own religious beliefs.

Initially, Welsh defended McCoul in a conversation with the student who had complained. When this conversation was leaked to Texas state representative Brian Harrison, the pressure was turned up. Harrison called for the government to investigate. Texas’ elected Board of Regents promised audits of the entire Texas A&M system, the largest university in America.

Welsh fired McCoul, claiming she had taught material different from what was on the posted course curriculum. He also fired the head of the English department, and demoted the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the dean’s removal was “good”, and then said that Welsh must “also be fired.”

Just last week, and effective September 25, Welsh announced his own resignation, saying it was “the right moment for change.”

And now from present, to past.

In the late 1920s, the state of Colorado was run by the Ku Klux Klan. Their control extended from Governor Clarence Morley, a Klansman who banned sacramental wine to undermine Catholic churches, all the way down to the local level. In my hometown of Lafayette, more than one mayor was a Klansman, as were members of the city council. The city of Denver has had to reckon with this Klan past, as the Stapleton neighborhood changed its name to dissociate from its namesake KKK mayor.

Within Colorado, the Pillar of Fire Church, which still operates the radio station KPOF, was the Klan’s most prominent religious ally. Its founder Alma White, a former resident of Erie, helped organize Klan marches and proclaimed the Klan “a liberator of white Protestant women.” Many cross burnings were given a prominent venue at Crown Hill in Westminster, the highest point in Adams County.

In the mid-1920s, Governor Morley told Norlin that the state legislature would receive its budget for the year if it expelled its Jewish and Catholic students and faculty.

Writer and philosopher C.S. Lewis wrote that “Courage is… the form of every virtue at the testing point,” and this is where George Norlin and Matt Welsh III differ. The Klan had the power to bring the University of Colorado to its knees. I’m sure Norlin had boosters meet with him, saying it wasn’t worth ruining good ol’ CU for those Jews and Catholics. He had the state legislature, one of the state’s largest Protestant churches, against him.

George Norlin was tested that year, and he told the Governor no. He did not betray his principles, or the Jewish and Catholic members of the university.

There were consequences. The university’s budget was cut off. Defending the university’s freedom had a very real financial cost. CU had to survive off a property tax written into the state constitution. These lean times would be a foreshadowing of the Great Depression that was to come. Still, for Norlin, a university where a student or teacher could be kicked out because of their religion was against everything a university stood for. The 1926 election saw the Klan lose power in state government, and the university budget was restored.

In 1932, Norlin accepted a position from Columbia University as Professor of American Life at the University of Berlin. In Berlin, he saw the decline of a flawed republic into “Hitlerism”, as he called it. His memoir of those years, Facism and Citizenship, is, as nonfiction, more instructive than Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here. I would encourage people to read it.

It may not be tomorrow, in a month, or in a year, but everyone in this country will know soon enough how much George Norlin they have within them. We know Matt Welsh III at Texas A&M didn’t have any. As for me, when that time comes, I hope I’ll have enough of Norlin in me to count for something.

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8 Kansans Arrested, 3 Days of Protest in D.C.

Vincent Chandler — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:49:52 +0000

The room was tense, despite the late hour energies were running high and colliding as voices mixed and ideas flowed. The overlapping noise intermixed conversations, the group exchanging their thoughts in a twining mix. A ringing crescendo culminating in the decision to designate a remote control the talking stick.

Slowed down, the group of leaders listened intently as individual voices rang through sudden silence, discussing how to get their friend out of jail.

Seven in the room had been arrested earlier that day at the Dirksen Senate Building Cafeteria, one remained behind bars for allegedly resisting arrest during the nonviolent protest they’d staged. They had travelled to their nation’s capital to spend a week raising their voices for the Heartland, sent by their neighbors in Kansas to be heard.

The Free State Advocates, a coalition of political action groups from the Sunflower State, were going to be sure they were.

“I feel like in my local group, there’s only so much you can do holding a sign and attending a rally, or making phone calls, and we’ve done a lot locally but we don’t feel heard,” says Michelle Jones. “I wanted to make a statement not just for myself, but to show the people in my local area that you can do big things. You can be scared, and it’s OK to be scared, but it’s simple actions and it’s daring moves. I want to be able to give a voice to the voiceless to those who are afraid.”

One day earlier, they were a group of virtual strangers, many meeting for the first time as they boarded planes or arrived at Washington, D.C. hostels. Some flew, others drove their trademark Freedom Van over a thousand miles filled with supplies sent from home. Protest signs, a sizable collection of homemade buttons, stacks and stacks of zines to be distributed, hundreds of handwritten notes from Kansans to their Senators scrawled on yellow notecards.

Arriving in Arlington, Virginia the first task in getting to know one another was dinner. Heading to the grocery store they pulled the list of dietary restrictions and shopped cautiously, adhering to meet the group of fourteen’s needs with as broad a selection as possible. Plant-based dairy free cheese was found while ingredient labels read twice to be sure they were free from mushrooms.

The care taken in the early stages reflects the intentional, careful consideration that had united these organizers, activists and fueled the trip to D.C. Weeks earlier, an article discussing the initial decision by President Trump to deploy National Guard troops into Washington was shared into a statewide group chat. Shelby Hermosillo, from Salina seized her Jerry Maguire moment and asked who was going with her.

“It all just happened so fast, it was kind of like ‘are you kidding me?’” Hermosillo told Yellow Scene, reflecting on the quick build and immediate reception of her idea. “It was my last straw, because we’d been standing out there protesting every week, doing the things, making yard signs, doing all these little things and as much as it matters I didn’t feel like we were getting anywhere. I was ready to go to DC and face it. I messaged the group chat and just asked ‘anyone want to go to DC? Let’s rally together, let’s go.’”

Soon, the group had leadership from twelve statewide organizations equaling fourteen people were confirmed. Reigning the momentum, the group of experienced organizers transitioned from ideation to activation. Immediately, fundraising began and plans were made.

A rental home in their budget was found only miles from the Capitol, one they could all share. Virtual meetings were set to share personal experiences and plan for everyone’s role. For some, this would be their first time traveling to the east coast, their experiences building movements at home were extrapolated and applied. Representatives from Leading Kansas, Midwest Unrest, Sunflower Coalition, Noisy but Necessary, Kansas Impact Coalition, Central Kansas Activists, Arc of Justice, Franklin County Action Network, KC Women’s Action Collective, 50501 Kansas, Boots on the Ground, Indivisible, and “likely more,” coordinated and collaborated, concluding in an action plan.

“It was just inspiring, ” Malice, an organizer in Kansas City for KC Women’s Action Collective, told Yellow Scene. “We had so many people from different backgrounds, from different areas with different levels of experience and reasons for being involved. We had queer people, we had disabled people, we had young people, we had old people, seeing people that were so diverse coming together for the same purpose is what we want to see around the country. This was an example that it could happen.”

“I’m biracial, and looking back in history at the civil rights movement, we’re following the pathway that has created change, movement, for the rights we have now. I felt as though I was doing a very similar thing protesting in this way, causing civil unrest like my grandparents and great grandparents stood with in the 60’s.” says Olivia Philips, who was one of the eight arrestees on September 10. “ We come from the center of the country and we’re not getting heard. I feel like it’s monumental for us to travel all the way to D.C. and make a stand like this.”

The first question to be answered: what would they like to accomplish? They wanted to carry the voices of their neighbors, the messages from the signs which surround them in their separate corners of Kansas, to their elected leaders. They wanted to confront the National Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They wanted to speak directly with their representatives in Congress. Some were willing to risk arrest to take a stand.

“I’m not the leader of any particular organization, I’m just somebody who shows up and jumps in where I see something that can be done,” Sara Gillum, of Lawrence, Kansas, said. “If you had told me that I would be doing this four months I would’ve wondered who you were talking about.”

Her family, her husband and children, encouraged her to attend despite her reservations. Once she was in, Gillum was all in.

“If you’re feeling helpless and messed up, to create something out of nothing is such a good way to make sure you don’t feel hopeless, to fight back against feeling inadequate,” she reflects. “Especially with resisting this whole situation, to feel like you’re just a drop in an ocean, to have something tangible to hold is progress.”

For those who were fired up to take the legendary John Lewis advice to get into good trouble, a new partnership arrived a week after word spread of their impending adventure. Popular Democracy, a nationwide group who “unapologetically demand transformational change” approached Leading Kansas team leader Josh Fredrick asking if they wanted help.

Leading Kansas is a nonpartisan group of Kansans dedicated to holding elected officials accountable to the people, they stage regular readings of the U.S. Constitution in a weekly rotation outside of their Senators’ offices and coordinate town halls with officeholders. Planning to travel with the newly forming Free State Advocates, Fredrick brought the offer to the group.

“I wasn’t even initially a part of the group, to be honest. I saw the GoFund Me being advertised, reached out and asked if I could come, I’d like to do anything I can do to help” Fredrick says reflecting on how he joined the Free State Advocates coalition. “I had someone approach me at a protest and it really was a game changer. We wouldn’t have been able to bring as many people as we did without them, getting fourteen people there.”

They now had the institutional knowledge and organizational support to take their action to the next level. The first stop after arriving in D.C. would be a training on staging nonviolent civil disobedience on federal property, including what to expect as Capitol Police affix zip ties or handcuffs. To be sure their efforts wouldn’t go unnoticed they’d participate in a press conference with a member of Congress and activists from across the country sharing the stories of what brought them to this moment.

For the first night, though, ahead of tomorrow’s excitement the attention was on what was for dinner. The first four off the plane, shopping to fill the fridge for the week and paying so much attention to allergy concerns, landed on a spaghetti dinner. For this group from Kansas, of course corn would also be included.

Sara Gillum, of Lawrence, Kansas, finishes preparing a spaghetti dinner on her first night in Washington, D.C. with the Free State Advocates. Free State Advocates is a Kansas grassroots network of powerful leaders and activists traveling nationwide to uplift Kansans & fight for human rights. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Around the dinner table that evening, conversation turned to the events ahead. Concerns were shared about the consequences of their actions, hopes exchanged about how they could have impact. There to fight against proposed cuts in the proposed appropriations bill before Congress to Housing and Urban Development, personal experiences were passed around. Some had experienced varying levels of unsheltered homelessness, all carried the weight of housing insecurity.

At eleven, the stove was restarted and the meal reheated in anticipation of the Freedom Van’s arrival. Making the 22-hour trek from the midwest, four more Free State Advocates arrived at the house bringing a fresh spark to the evening, unloading their supplies for the week and chattering hurriedly about next steps as they fixed their plates with the hot meal ready for them. Only staying to introduce themselves and to fill their stomachs, they soon departed to meet the other half of the group in downtown Washington, where they were staying a stone’s throw from the Capitol.

In the morning, with the excited sense of a child’s first sleepover, the house buzzed with an eager energy. Today was the first day of a long week of coordinated actions, ranging from nonviolent civil disobedience to scheduled meetings with their lawmakers. A cold breakfast was foraged by those for whom coffee alone didn’t suffice, and with the sun barely breaking behind the grey, raining clouds they set off.

Walking into the basement of a church, it could be Bingo night. Rows of folding tables and chairs are arranged before a small lectern, the walls lined with additional seating, spare a/v equipment, and a short buffet where breakfast was being laid out. In minutes, the quiet space is transformed to a boisterous, busy meeting room. From across the country – from Colorado, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, and of course Kansas – activists were learning how their day would go, through conversation, instruction, and role play.

Introductions are brief, there’s a loaded agenda and getting to the heart of the planned action was centered in the palpable urgency. Today, the group was gathering to fight for housing. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that under the U.S. House’s proposed 2026 spending bill, 181,900 fewer households would be served, while under the Senate’s proposed bill 107,800 fewer households would receive rental assistance. The loss of these vouchers would disproportionately affect older adults, people with disabilities, and families with children.

Highlighting the need for the average American to take a united stand against the removal of the social safety net for the nation’s most vulnerable populations, a member of each state represented was selected and asked to speak. With rain still pouring outside the basement windows, the scheduled press conference was moved at the last moment from the Capitol grounds to the church basement.

Eyes turned to watch members of the media stream through the door, placards distributed to the activists as they gathered in a semi circle under a large banner set behind a lone microphone. A murmur of gasps and a wave of excitement rippled as their keynote speaker entered the room: Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Talib, the first Palestinian American elected to federal office.

“In my community the housing has gotten so bad,” Congresswoman Talib told the gathered crowd. “You’re here to tell people ‘you’ve got us in survivor mode, and we’re tired.’ We should be able to thrive, we shouldn’t have to worry like this. I don’t care who is in the White House, this housing crisis has not been addressed with the urgency that’s needed.”

Congresswoman Talib continued her rally cry, highlighting policy positions she has introduced to assist with home ownership, food and medicine assistance, and better education opportunities. She passed the mic to speakers from Philadelphia, PA, Little Rock, AR, Oakland, CA, and – of course – Salina, Kansas. Shelby Hermosillo approached the lectern taking a deep breath.

Shelby Hermosillo, of Salina, Kansas, speaks following Congresswoman Rashida Talib during a Popular Democracy press conference before staging an act of nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol. “I had this weight over me, knowing that I was leaving my family back home, losing money because I’m here to do this, but it matters more than making sure we had a check at the end of the week,” Hermosillo said. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“This comes from the heart,” she started. “A year ago I had a great life. We were living life comfortably, and then life happened and it wasn’t. We started getting behind, and we got so far behind on our rent and behind on our bills that we could never catch up. Our electric got shut off. Our gas got shut off. Our internet got cut off. Our kids couldn’t play the games that were the only distraction from what Mom and Dad were going through. Having to watch our kids watch their Mom and Dad cry together because we lost our home…and now fighting with HUD.”

“This fight is personal for me, I speak for many people I know and love who are also going through the same thing, as embarrassing as it is to admit my own story I hope it can help bring awareness and help others find hope and stand with us,” she concludes as the crowd around her closed in embracing the Kansas mother and chanting to answer the call, find dignity for all.

Fired up and ready to go the group split into two, some headed to occupy Senators’ offices demanding they recognize the needs of their constituents and some headed to the Dirksen Senate Building to disrupt a quiet lunch cafeteria.

A packed room of tables, the sounds of cutlery scraping on plates while smells of pizza and hamburgers waft through the air, office staff, lobbyists, and lawmakers sit together to eat. Sharing space and talking in low voices, this is a moment to pause from the day’s stresses and find some nourishment. Suddenly, voices start ringing across the room shouting that housing is a human right.

Deploying two large pop-out tents, representing the shelter that so many Americans find from harsh outdoor conditions while living unhoused across the country, the activists sat down making noise and sharing their stories in a united voice. Within minutes, Capitol Police had surrounded them, warning that if they didn’t desist they’d be detained. After a third warning, they began to arrest the group of fourteen people from across the country, many strangers to one another only a few hours earlier, now united in their cause.

Becky Norlin was the last person removed, and as she was pulled from the cafeteria she found every camera she could, being sure her voice was clear. For her effort, she was given an enhanced charge for resisting arrest, the only member of the group who wouldn’t be processed and released that day she’d spend the evening in a jail cell in D.C.

Gary Phillips, of Salina, Kansas, raises his fist overhead while surrounded by Capitol Police arresting his group for staging a nonviolence sit-in in the Dirksen Senate Building Cafeteria. he Free State Advocates travelled to Washington D.C. to join Popular Democracy for an act of civil disobedience protesting proposed cuts to the Housing and Urban Renewal in the recently proposed appropriations bills. Congress has until September 30 to reach a temporary funding agreement to avoid a federal government shutdown. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

The decision would alter the plans for the Free State Advocates, forcing them back to the drawing board for the next day’s planned protest. Suddenly, they had to offer court support.

“I am from the heartland of America, the middle of America, the line in Kansas and I want the world to know that there is a spark in the middle – even – of the United States,” Norlin told Yellow Scene following her release. “I am in love with the people in my country and my community, and the people that I work with every day. This was a no-brainer for me.”

Knowing that their peer would not be proud of them pausing, the Free State Advocates decided to continue with their efforts to meet with law makers and continue to strive toward equitable policy decisions benefitting their midwest neighbors, meeting their needs.

The next day, after a short break in the hot late-summer afternoon sun, the swampy humidity forcing a stop for water and some shade, the Kansans mount their scooters and head off toward the White House. The only evidence they had been there: a single homemade zine left tacked to the wall they’d been resting on, waiting to be found and read.

Access to medical care, cuts to education, the loss of SNAP benefits, and an impending cut to housing assistance compounding their concerns and pushing a ripple of anticipatory anxiety about whether their voices would suffice with their Senators, they headed back to Capitol Hill, where a majority of the group had been detained and charged fewer than 24 hours earlier. With a meeting scheduled with Senator Jerry Moran’s office, they decided to attempt to drop-in with Senator Roger Marshall and their members of the House.

“If you knew what was going on, you would be fighting for us,” said Norlin, who would not be making the trip with the group because of a personal ban from the property stemming from her additional charges. “We’re not gonna stop, and we could travel all the way to D.C. because we have a wonderful team of people in Kansas that we represent who got us here. We’re trying to sound the alarm bell, wave the flag.”

Only hours before they’d been in the D.C. Municipal Courts, providing support for the final member of their group who had been held in jail overnight. They had travelled across the country to their nation’s capital city to raise a united voice, bringing to the forefront of national politics their crisis in the center of the country.

The Free State Advocates travelled from House offices to Senate offices, popping in to ask to talk with their leadership or aides. In Congresswoman Sharice Davids’s office, they were allowed a comfortable impromptu meeting with Senior staff who heard feedback on the needs to protect immigrants, the poor, and the queer community.

“Right now, the only people they’re listening to are the people who can drop a dime and fly across the country on a moment’s notice and that doesn’t represent the majority of American people,” says Josh Fredrick. “If that’s all they’re listening to, that’s all they’ll know. We need to make sure that the underrepresented has a voice in this conversation.”

In Ron Estes’s offices aides met the group with a sense of reservation, asking them to state their issues and were quickly asked to depart. For their meeting with Senator Moran’s staff, they were brought to an internal conference room where they sat around the table discussing concerns about National Guard deployments to Wichita – where the crime rate is four times worse than in D.C. – about education, and about preservation of the federal safety net.

Jesseka Greene speaks with Congresswoman Sharice Davids’s staff in their Capitol office, where they were allowed a comfortable impromptu meeting with Senior staff who heard feedback on the needs to protect immigrants, the poor, and the queer community. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“I’m the only trans member of the group, I need to push my voice just as much as I’m helping to push everyone else’s,” says Jesseka Greene, from Abilene, who travelled with the group to advocate for special education funding. “There is no difference between my civil rights and your civil rights. Some people feel uncomfortable with me, but that’s their deal and has nothing to do with me. In Moran’s office, I felt heard. I felt the emotional response I got when I got into the details of my experience as a trans woman looking for a job, after a lifetime of struggling through school needing more support.”

Following what they saw as a successful day on Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress gave them time to talk and others left them feeling unheard and frustrated, the group paused for a human moment. Finding a Thai restaurant, they took a moment to celebrate Becky being released, and group member Mary’s birthday. Around the table, stories were shared about the excitement of participating in civil disobedience which resulted in arrest and hope was eschewed that not only could they individually have impact but that their efforts could inspire their neighbors at home to follow their lead.

Becky Norlin smiles during a pause in conversation at a dinner celebrating group member Mary’s birthday and Norlin’s release from police custody. Eight of the Free State Advocates were arrested the previous day and released in hours, Becky was held overnight on additional charges of AOP Resisting Arrest. Arraigned the next day she was released to an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd for her action. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

After dinner, they weren’t done. With such limited time in the capital city, there was little rest or recovery to be found in the week. Not with work to be done. The final day of the 30-day deployment order originally issued by President Trump and the sun now sinking below the horizon, the group readied themselves to again hit the streets. They were going to get first-hand experience of night time in what they called “occupied D.C.”

In a silent city, absent from the normal late-night clamor of lobbyist cocktails and tourists, they rented scooters and bikes and set out. Rolling across the streets, their eyes peeled for ICE vehicles or armed Guardsmen, there was a tense sense of unease. They were not certain what they would find, and they were most certainly not in Kansas anymore. MAGA Republicans had rallied outside the White House earlier that day, with J6 activists leading the charge for further liberation for those who supported the administration.

All was quiet, though, and hours later as the Freedom Van returned to bring them back to their rental their attention was now on the next morning and their final protest action: guiding their legislators back to heartland value. In classic Kansas style, they’d be doing it by building a yellow brick road for them to follow home.

Jesseka Greene, Christie Peterson, Michelle Jones, Sara Gillum, and Miranda Bachman (L-R) work to construct a yellow brick road, built with “bricks” carrying messages from Kansas constituents, to bring to their representatives in the U.S. Senate. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

For weeks, they had gathered hundreds of handwritten notes on yellow note cards asking Kansans to share what they’d like their lawmakers to focus on. Healthcare, housing, humanity, the topics ranged far and represented the red state’s people’s priorities. Some included asks to end the genocide and occupation in Palestine, others called for protection for immigrant workers. At daybreak the work was begun to build the road.

50 feet of “road” was made by laying the cards as bricks across cloth, something easy to roll up and carry to the Capitol. The Free State Advocates headed back to The Hill for the third straight day carrying the concerns of Kansas, off to see the wizard. Debuting the reference to Dorothy’s iconic pathway, they took a group photo and spoke to tourists and curious passersby about their project before beginning its rapid deconstruction to deliver the notes to their Senators.

Jesseka Greene and Christie Peterson were selected to represent the group in the offices.

“People on the coast tend to have more power, because of access. They are closer to where the decisions are being made, I think here in the middle we have to raise our voices really really loud to be heard. I don’t think the plight of the farmers is being heard by politicians on the coast.” Peterson, who is a State Organizer for Kansas 50501, and had been arrested at the Dirksen Senate Cafeteria only days earlier, told Yellow Scene. “The call is for people who believe in upholding the Constitution, ending executive overreach, maintaining the three coequal branches of government, and equality for all. As far we’re concerned these should be no-brainers.”

Their first stop would be Senator Moran. Entering the office with a shaking, calm voice, she explained the yellow note cards came from constituents in Kansas asking for their Senator to be heard. She played a video of the yellow brick road being constructed and displayed at the Capitol, explaining that this won’t work if it’s just a cool video – they need people to join the call and they need their representatives to hear them. Within minutes, a silent alarm had been pushed and she found herself again surrounded by Capitol Police.

“It was like a gut punch. The fact that they couldn’t even talk to me, or tell me that they’d like me to leave the office… I was talking to them so reasonably and as a constituent, to have them call the police on me really felt like feeling the voices of Kansans to their office was somehow a threat,” Peterson reflects. “They did allow me on my mission to continue my mission of bringing the voices to Senator Marshall’s office.”

Christie Peterson, of Kansas 50501, talks with Capitol Police outside of Senator Roger Marshall’s office. They had escorted her to deliver messages from constituents after being called to remove her from the office of Senator Josh Moran moments earlier. The Free State Advocates had carried hundreds of handwritten messages to their Senators from neighbors in Kansas, written on yellow paper and briefly turned into a yellow brick road, hoping to lead their representatives home to heartland values. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

That office was locked and the door remained unanswered. Christie signed the guest book outside, leaving a note promising to mail the Senator his collection of cards, thanked the officers for their personal escort through the building, and departed.

“I wanted to go into this with an open mind, I wanted to meet with other organizers and learn what next steps could be,” Miranda Bachman, of Salina, told Yellow Scene after the week’s events. “I was really happy with being able to spread our message and there’s no way that [Senator] Marshall didn’t know we were out there.”

Since the event, Senator Marshall has responded to press inquiries spinning his constituent’s messages asking for attention to be paid to their values as threats of political violence.

“I think it’s important for people to realize that as red as some of these states or cities vote, there are people out here who didn’t vote for this,” Bachman continued. “Medicaid cuts are really going to hit rural Kansas, and as we feel this we’re going to be more in your face. I think that’s what we need, it’s important to write your legislators and call them, but they’re not listening. We need to stay peaceful, but speak with a loud voice until we’re heard.”

“You’re capable, you can do it,” Malice said after returning home already planning the next direct action in her hometown of Kansas City. “Organizing in Kansas isn’t the same as organizing in large cities like Chicago or New York, but I don’t want anyone to think that’s a reason to not do it.”

The work that could be done now done, the group retreated to their shared temporary home for a final evening of reflection. Sitting together while the Freedom Van was packed, they stayed up late into the night talking about what they felt they’d accomplished, discussing lessons learned, and sharing ideas for what to do next. Some went to bed as the clock ticked past midnight and others swapped stories as those who had driven started to ready their departure.

“It was a little hard to say goodbye to each other, especially recognizing that we may never be in the same room again,” said Josh Fredrick, looking back at the sudden end and departure after three days of intense direct action and police interaction.

With promises that they’d do all they could to build on their momentum, tears were shed and embraces held for more than a few beats. In the dark of night, the first group started their trek back to Kansas with Becky Norlin starting the van’s engine and taking the wheel. They’d return, and they’d do it with more of their neighbors.

This November, with a shared pulse from the Heartland, the Free State Advocates plan to bus hundreds of Kansans to Washington D.C. carrying their demands and raising their united voice insisting to be heard.

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post 8 Kansans Arrested, 3 Days of Protest in D.C. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Kimmeled in America

Steve Nelson — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:48:09 +0000

I believe a new word has been coined: Kimmeled.

Little did I expect to be among the many to be Kimmeled over Charlie Kirk’s murder.

I offered a relatively mild piece suggesting that Kirk’s dismal record of bigotry made his lionization by the right wing quite astonishing. Flags at half staff, Medals of Freedom and all.

Apparently some local conservatives began calling YS advertisers, threatening to boycott their products and services because of my/our insufficient reverence. As is the case in communities around the nation, my hometown, Erie, CO, is quite divided along partisan lines. The current mayor, whom I’ve characterized as MAGA-lite, has moved the town away from its gay-friendly recent history and its tenuous commitment to affordable housing. He and his slate-mates hold a 4-3 majority on town council. It is not clear that he or his mates are actively encouraging the boycott effort.

The boycott group remains anonymous, except for first names, which may be fiction. I am routinely dismayed and humored that such folks are unwilling to be identified with their repressive efforts. My opinion pieces, which seem a major catalyst for their campaign, are always clearly attributed to me.

The group has started a petition at Change.org, seeking to gain more support for their efforts to silence the YS voice. The publication operates on a shoestring budget and the loss of advertising revenue is a serious threat. I decline a modest fee for my columns, as the income would be relatively inconsequential and the survival of independent journalism is more important.

The petition uses my pieces as evidence of the magazine’s “radical” and “hateful” content. One assertion is that I/we hate white men, which is only partially accurate. I do dislike many of my brethren, including the very white men leading my community and my country.

Among the choices made by the local, straight white men was to remove the Pride Flag during Pride month, citing some convoluted bullshit about proclamations, precedent and local statutes. They, like conservatives everywhere, are relegating diversity efforts to the sidelines and promoting patriotism and the town’s annual Biscuit Day.

This partisan dynamic is not new, but was doused with rocket fuel by the murder of Charlie Kirk. It seems that Kirk is a hero and martyr, dying for the manifold causes of bigotry, sexism, homophobia, Christian Nationalism and racism. Quite a hill to die on, Charlie.

Having barely finished disappearing the Pride flag, the leaders of the Emirates of Erie lowered the Stars and Stripes to half staff, conforming to the commands of the despot-in-chief. Remarkably, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a gay man, joined right in the honoring of a man who dishonored him. Polis has triangulated more than a geometry teacher or geocacher so it wasn’t shocking.

Charlie Kirk did not deserve to die, of course. Nor did a Minnesota lawmaker and spouse, whose savage slaying merited nary a peep from local or national “leaders.”

Jimmy Kimmel didn’t deserve what he got either, although he will not suffer.

I asked town council why they lowered the flag for this man:

Mr.Kirk was a fierce proponent of Stop the Steal, preaching to his young acolytes that the 2020 election was stolen.

He spread misinformation about Covid-19, arguably leading to unnecessary illness and death.

On his opinion of Black people:

“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”

“We know, you (Black women) do not have brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”

On Martin Luther King, Jr:

“MLK was awful… He’s not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn’t believe.”

On transgender people:

“I refuse to lie. I will not call a man a woman or a woman a man, like, I refuse to do that. And in fact, I reject the entire premise of transgenderism. I don’t think it really exists. I think it’s a mental disease, and we’ve allowed it to all of a sudden become an identity… Transgenderism is a brain problem, not a body problem, and that’s how we should go about it.”

On feminism:

“…it is the leading feminist organizations in the country that are either silent or complicit in pushing this [transgender rights], because feminism was never about advancing female rights. Feminism was about hating men. What better way to hate men than to take young boys and chop off their parts?”

On Jewish people:

“Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them… It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans..”

On immigration:

“America was at its peak when we halted immigration for 40 years and we dropped our foreign-born percentage to its lowest level ever. We should be unafraid to do that.”

On what women should really want:

“The biggest thing is this: more younger women need to get married at a younger age and start having kids. The single woman issue is one of the biggest issues facing a civilization.

We have more single women in their early 30s that are the most depressed, suicidal, anxious, and lonely in America’s history because there’s a biological clock that’s going off and they realize that they’re not going to be able to have kids, that they’re not as desirable in the dating market or in the dating pool, and so they start to lash out on the rest of society by voting Democrat.”

On the importance of keeping Americans armed:

“Yes, people die from gun violence. It’s tragic. But that’s the price of freedom. Unfortunately, it’s worth it to keep the Second Amendment intact.

I think it’s worth it. It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights. That’s a prudent deal. It is rational.”

The Mayor responded politely, saying the President ordered it. Following this president is a moral failing. So much for courage.

Btw, I was not Kimmeled, despite the local cancel campaign. YS publisher, Shavonne Blades, said, “You just keep on doing you.”

If only wealthy, powerful media people had such ethical clarity.

You can help by supporting our advertisers and subscribing to YS and other responsible local media.

Like journalism like this? Support the local press that’s been telling the truth for 25 years. Become a sustaining member and get our monthly print edition at home. We’ve weathered 9/11, floods, fires, economic crashes—and some deeply chaotic years. With your support, we’ll keep going. Because democracy still depends on journalism.

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.

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Punk Rock is Political, Cleveland’s Gay Metal Bar Won’t Let You Forget

Vincent Chandler — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:54:34 +0000

The sun set hours ago. Despite it being a Sunday night, the coffee shop crowd continues to sip their hot beverages, smoke cigarettes, and chat amongst themselves. Their energy ripples through the dark sidewalks where people walk to the bus stop, glancing at their phones as they head to their evening’s next destination. Just down the street, a small group of 20-somethings are gathered on a bar patio, their excitement palpable, chattering away below billowing Black Lives Matter, Trans Pride, and Progress Pride flags.

Only blocks from a quiet residential neighborhood, separated by an active railroad track, in the Rust Belt city of Cleveland, they were there for an evening of art, community, and political discourse. As the first sounds of the show start to drift past the security at the door, the group disappears inside the venue, No Class.

Cleveland’s second-best gay bar, the space’s dive-y aesthetic and all-black sticker-covered interior sets the expectation immediately that you’re there to see a punk or metal band on stage. Any other night, you probably could, venue owner Emma Jochum has a lifetime of experience booking and producing shows for bands who play what she calls “extreme music.”

Tonight, though, Cleveland’s queer scene is here for a drag show. Ostensibly set to celebrate the birthday of host Bram Stroke-Her, you’re asked at the door to make a contribution to TransOhio, an organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights of trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender nonconforming people in the Buckeye State.

Drag performer Homer E. Rodick points to the sky while show host Bram Stroke-Her faces the audience during a performance raising funds for TransOhio at No Class in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller re-established Cleveland as a prosperous city of wealth during the second Industrial Revolution, building the city in his image of splendor while creating distinct divides between the baron class owners and the workers who generated his fortune. Like other industrial cities in the region, it has felt the impact of the departure of manufacturing, slipping into disrepair bearing signs of dilapidation.

Clevelanders in this eastern gateway to the Heartland insist, however, that their city is worth fighting for. Cognizant that they’ve been left picking up the tab for political corruption, they see the wealth gap that fuels the profits of billionaire developers and energy conglomerates, while leaving themselves and their neighbors behind. Recently, there has been a push back at the continued exploitation of the lakefront midwest metropolis, as the people work to build community first campaigns and organizations to reinvigorate and revitalize their town from the grass roots.

To do that, it takes people. Those people need the place to gather safely. At No Class, they find solidarity in a space where art and conversation can thrive. Existing for years as Now That’s Class before Jochum took ownership, the space organically transformed from crust punk hovel to its current existence as No Class, what can only be described as a gay metal bar. Show attendees may not know it when they walk through the door, but they’ve entered a political space.

No Class owner Emma Jochum speaks with people at her bar during a drag performance benefitting TransOhio on Sunday, September 14 in Cleveland, Ohio. The metal and punk venue hosts queer performances and politican functions, as well as local and nationally touring music acts. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“It’s really hard to make people care, and I just care,” Jochum says, sitting on the venue’s back porch moments after finishing a board meeting with a local community development corporation. “Trying to get other people to give a shit about stuff has been a struggle, but we’re working on it.”

Tonight, the effort to combat ennui would be through drag. Stroke-Her produced their birthday show with the TransOhio fundraiser attached and invited queens and kings to take the stage – and microphone – advocating for their rights, to discuss political violence, and to keep the community organized. The sounds of bumping dance music pulsed through the doors to the quieting avenue outside, while inside cheers erupted and joy was shared.

No one can enter this space without feeling the impact of local politics. Naloxone hydrochloride is available at the bar, a brochure rack near the restrooms is laden with notices for upcoming mutual aid group meetings, protest and direct action flyers adorn the wall. The drag show will obviously bring its own messaging of liberation and resistance, and on nights when heavy metal or punk rock acts take the stage canvassing and campaigning will be entwined.

“A lot of metal dudes are not into politics at all, or if they are, they’re into the wrong politics,” Jochum continued. “I’ve definitely caught some heat for being public about my opinions but ultimately, I don’t care. We do a lot of extreme metal, black metal and stuff, and there have been a few times where I didn’t vet the bands properly and had to cancel a gig.”

Platforming voices she feels need to be heard isn’t the only direct action the bar and venue owner takes. Serving on the Northwest Neighborhood CDC, covering Cleveland’s Edgewater and Gordon Square neighborhoods, is where she sees her impact the most. Combatting gentrification while advocating for community-driven growth through affordable housing and locally-owned business anchoring their neighborhood, she makes the time between her day job and No Class duties on the evenings and weekends to lend her voice.

Knowing she can’t do it alone, she utilizes the platform she’s built in No Class to raise the voices of local leaders, political candidates, and issues organizers. In June, her bar hosted a Punk is Political meet-and-greet for city council candidate Tanmay Shah. An Indian immigrant, union organizer, lawyer, and truck driver, Shah is a democratic socialist with popular support who has spent his fifteen years in Cleveland defending tenants against unethical landlords in housing court and organized a union at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.

Hosting canvass launches and candidate meet-and-greets isn’t enough for Jochum, though, she wants every person who passes through her venue to remember that punk rock is most certainly rooted in politics. In the months to come, as city and state elections near, she intends to host candidates like Shah and local organizers like Justin Strekal on-stage during shows, between sets, to tell the moshing crowds where else they can direct that energy.

“When we have bigger shows, bigger punk shows or even bigger drag shows, where I know that people give a shit about politics and will sit and listen, I want to get people on stage in the middle of the show and hopefully introduce a wider audience to candidates, let them hear what they’re running for and why and hopefully mobilize some more voters,” Jochum says. “It’s dangerous, and it’s hard, and it sucks a lot, but it needs to be done and the work is important.”

In Vice President JD Vance’s home state, where President Trump won by twelve points, organizing for progressive issues and candidates can be an uphill journey. The community identifying and supporting a safe venue for that work is important, and whether it was set up with intention, or completely by accident as is the case with Emma’s No Class, they fill a vital role in red states. She stresses the importance of not waiting until you’re told to do something, or think you have all the resources, but working with what you have, mobilizing, and getting to work.

Tonight, on an otherwise innocuous Sunday evening, the crowd came together to cheer on drag performers, to laugh after a week fraught with national stories of targeted violence and fear, and raised more than $500 for an organization which will continue to carry that message. Tears were shared, proverbial cups filled, and through joy and celebration of life, their mission continued.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Punk Rock is Political, Cleveland’s Gay Metal Bar Won’t Let You Forget appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Let’s Have an Honest Conversation about Charlie Kirk

Destiny Hale — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:11:46 +0000

This piece is part of Yellow Scene Magazine’s Opinion section. The views expressed here are those of the author in their role as Associate Editor, and do not represent a reported news position. At Yellow Scene, opinion pieces speak freely, challenge assumptions, and say the quiet parts out loud.

Last week, Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus. First, it must be said: this event has left a wife without a husband, a family without a father, and countless witnesses shaken by trauma they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. There is no downplaying that.

And yet, in the aftermath, I’m struck by the way this tragedy is being iconized and weaponized.

Charlie Kirk was a known political figure, though far from the stature of a Ben Shapiro or Joe Rogan. Much has been said about his legacy — but we can’t ignore what he actually stood for. Kirk spent years belittling Black people’s skills, questioning whether Black professionals earned their positions by merit or “affirmative action.” He once suggested he wouldn’t trust a Black pilot because of his race. He also believed the Civil Rights Act a “mistake” and “an anti-white weapon.” He championed the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, casting immigrants as pawns in a Jewish plot to erase white America. He denounced feminism, told women to “submit,” and consistently ridiculed LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities, and anyone outside his worldview.

None of this justifies his death, nor do I raise it to attack his grieving family. But to have a serious conversation about this moment, we must be honest about what Kirk contributed to. He didn’t simply “debate across the aisle.” He stoked a politics of division and fear, one that normalized hatred and, in some cases, inspired violence. The “great replacement” myth, which Kirk openly promoted, has appeared in the manifestos of multiple mass shooters. Kirk once told his listeners: “Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact.” Is it any wonder that young white men radicalized by this narrative have gone on to kill?

That’s why I cannot agree with those rushing to say Kirk was “practicing politics in exactly the right way,” as Ezra Klein recently wrote. Nor do I see Kirk as a martyr of “free speech.” If anything, his career shows how words have impact, and how rhetoric shapes the environment in which violence thrives.

We also need perspective. Some on the right are treating this assassination as a new turning point in American life. But political violence did not begin here. Last summer, a Democratic caucus leader was gunned down with her husband. In 2022, Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked in his home by a man who intended to kill her. The year before, January 6th rioters sought to execute lawmakers. These events were minimized, mocked, or even encouraged by many on the right — Kirk included. When violence targeted their opponents, it wasn’t treated as existential.

So no, Charlie Kirk’s death is not “the end of civil conversation.” It’s part of a longer pattern: political violence becoming normalized in America. The difference now is that figures who once fanned the flames are beginning to feel the burn.

Meanwhile, those who refuse to glorify Kirk are facing their own backlash. MSNBC’s Matthew Dowd was fired after suggesting Kirk’s rhetoric may have contributed to the circumstances of his death. Our own outlet, Yellow Scene Magazine, has received threats for publishing criticisms of Kirk. Ironically, the assassination is now being used as justification to silence critique of Kirk and his agenda, even though he was the one constantly parading as a defender of “free speech.”

We have a choice. We can pretend this assassination is an isolated tragedy, a break from civility in an otherwise healthy system. Or we can confront the ideologies of hatred and grievance that created the conditions for this violence, ideologies that Kirk himself helped spread. If we choose the former, more people will die. If we choose the latter, we might begin to reckon honestly with the politics that brought us here.

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.

The post Let’s Have an Honest Conversation about Charlie Kirk appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The New News: The Rise of Independent Political Media

Destiny Hale — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 17:27:33 +0000

It’s apparent now more than ever that the world is quickly changing under our feet in ways we’re still struggling to name. That change shows up everywhere: from the entertainment we consume; to how we spend money, vote, and, crucially, how we stay informed. Newspapers have been in decline for decades, but now it looks like another domino has fallen: traditional cable news. For years, political discourse was shaped by giants like NPR, CNN, Fox News, and the AP. However, new data from Pew Research shows that a new contender, the social media influencer, has entered the ring. When we think of influencers, we usually imagine beauty tutorials, comedy skits, and viral nonsense. That still exists, but it’s no longer the whole picture. There’s now a fast-growing community of independent political voices that are having a real impact on how people understand the world.

Take the 2025 election. In the wake of Kamala Harris’ defeat, critics noted her reliance on legacy outlets like CBS and NBC while largely ignoring newer, more disruptive platforms like The Joe Rogan Experience. Saying the Democrats lost solely because they didn’t go on enough podcasts may be an overstatement, but the fact remains that one-third of Americans now get some of their news from YouTube or Facebook and nearly half from other nontraditional sources. Alternative media is no longer fringe; it’s a growing, influential force. One that both politicians and voters need to understand to stay connected in today’s shifting political landscape.

So, what does it mean to be informed in 2025? There’s no single answer. But we can point you toward the voices wrestling with that question in real-time. Here at Yellow Scene Magazine, we’ve highlighted a few of the most compelling independent media figures out there. We’ve also scored interviews with two heavyweights, Mehdi Hasan, and Sam Seder, to hear directly from them on the future of news, the Democratic Party, and the role independent media plays in shaping both.

Mehdi Hasan
Veteran journalist Mehdi Hasan is known for fearless, surgical interviews that cut straight through manufactured narratives. With a career spanning Al Jazeera, MSNBC, and The Intercept, he’s now leading his own venture: Zeteo Media, a platform for unfiltered, independent reporting and pursuit of truth.
Follow Hasan and Zeteo for a rare mix of independent media’s freedom and traditional journalism’s standards.

Sam Seder

Host of The Majority Report, Sam Seder blends deep knowledge with relentless curiosity. He’s a former host of Air America, who reimagined his radio show into a daily must-watch livestream. Seder doesn’t just read headlines. He debates, interviews, and even takes live calls from viewers who disagree.
We recommend Seder for sharp, nuanced political analysis, and conversations with figures across the political spectrum.

Hasan Piker
He’s not your dad’s news anchor, and that’s the point. A Twitch powerhouse and former TYT host, HasanAbi delivers news and commentary with the energy of live streaming, the language of his generation, and a commitment to leftist politics. He’s impressed us with his work on the ground interviewing imprisoned firefighters in Southern California and coverage of the LA ICE protests.
We recommend Piker for digestible takes that especially resonate with younger audiences.

Krystal Ball
Former MSNBC host and now co-anchor of Breaking Points, Krystal Ball is a level-headed populist challenging power from both sides. Calm under fire, incisive in her critiques, she’s a steady voice in a media environment built for outrage.

Follow Ball for grounded, anti-establishment takes that reject partisan loyalty and corporate narratives.

Kyle Kulinski
Founder of Secular Talk and co-creator of Justice Democrats, Kyle Kulinski brings blunt, principled commentary with a progressive edge. Whether he’s breaking down policy or calling out both parties, Kulinski stays focused on his values.

We recommend Kulinski for hard-hitting progressive commentary and a long-term vision for political change.

Interview with Medhi Hassan

Can you share your personal political journey and how it’s influenced your work in independent media?

So I’m in a slightly different place to a lot of people in independent media, although people are now following in my footsteps in the sense that I come from mainstream media. I’ve worked in mainstream media organizations across the world. I worked at the BBC and Sky News in the UK. I worked at Al Jazeera, an English international channel based out of Doha. I’ve worked here in Washington, DC for NBC News, MSNBC, and now I’m running my own independent media company Zeteo. So I come at it from a slightly different place. I’m not born from within independent media. I was actually very mainstream and very corporate for a very long time, and I enjoyed it for a very long time too.

I know when Tucker Carlson quit Fox, he had his mantra: ‘corporate media is dead, join us’. And I didn’t take that hostile [of] a position. Obviously, I’m very critical of mainstream media. I was critical of mainstream media when I worked within mainstream media. But I don’t want to burn it all down. I do believe that there’s a lot of mainstream journalists who do a lot of good work. And so I do believe there should be some kind of synergy between the two.

What unique value does independent media offer that mainstream outlets might not?

I think what Zeteo is doing is trying to find spaces that are not occupied right now and trying to amplify voices. Something I did when I was at MSNBC, was trying to get guests who other people aren’t getting. If you switch on cable news, you will see the same people every hour of every day on every network. It’s the same consultants, the same former officials, the same journalists, the same op-ed writers. And what I tried to do at MSNBC, and what I now do, successfully at Zeto is try and amplify the voices you don’t always see.

I always chuckle to myself that if I never do anything else in life, I could always proudly say that I’m the guy who booked Noam Chomsky on MSNBC. And Noam wrote to me at the time, for 25 years, MSNBC has been on, and you’re the first person ever asked me to come on air, which was bizarre to me. So, for me, that was a lot of it amplifying really important voices who aren’t being heard, that are counter establishment.

The Mehdi Hasan Show

You mentioned there’s a synergy between independent and mainstream media, what does that look like?

Corporate media does a lot of good work with the resources it has that I don’t. But they also have to worry about their advertisers in a way that I don’t have to worry about advertisers. They also have to worry about their C suite in a way that I don’t have to worry about a C suite.

I’m funded purely by subscribers, which gives me huge editorial freedom to be able to take risks, to say things that others won’t say, to not have to worry about, oh, can I say Donald Trump’s a racist, or do I have to worry about calling him unhinged? But I do think there is synergy, because if the mainstream media is covering a story in the right way, we will supplement it. If they’re covering in the wrong way, we will be the first to bring the critique.

Kamala Harris’ decision not to interview with Joe Rogan during her campaign sparked discussion. What role, if any, do you think that decision played in the last election cycle?

It’s an important question, although, personally, I think the Joe Rogan thing is slightly overblown. Number one, I think they lied a bit about her, I think they [Kamala’s team] did want to do it, and there’s a debate about dates. I also think if she had that would have been a car crash, because I don’t think they would have really melded those two.

Some have suggested Democrats need a “Joe Rogan for the left”. What are your thoughts on such discussions?

My worry about the whole podcast debate is the danger of saying podcasters are now going to lead the way when it comes to political coverage. Podcasters tend not to ask tough questions. If you go on a Lex Friedman or Joe Rogan or whatever it is, it ends up being super conversational, and it’s a great listen. That’s why people listen to them, and they go on for two hours, but they’re not asking the follow-up questions, they’re not doing the forensic questioning, they’re not holding feet to the fire. They’re not being challenging in the way that I tend to be, or some others tend to be.

So politicians like the idea of, let’s just do podcasts, because it means they get to go on and say nonsense, no one’s gonna come prepared with policy-oriented questions, no one’s gonna have follow-ups or say, well, actually, what you said is not true. I think that is a problem for our political culture. American media already has too many softball interviews. And my worry with podcasting is that it’s just going to increase the number of cozy chats.

How has your approach or role changed with the arrival of a new administration, which feels markedly different from previous ones?

I just tweeted today in the wake of Jeffrey Goldberg publishing a second round of texts from the signal chat, ‘Dear fellow journalists, stop believing what these people say. Start from the assumption that they’re lying.’

The old ways of journalism do not apply to this administration, where you have to get a right to reply. You have to say he said X, but she said Y, he said something, but the administration denies it. That has to be thrown out. This is an administration that has lied so much, so often, so relentlessly, so demonstrably, that journalists have to start from the premise that everything they say is a lie. Otherwise it’s a dereliction of journalistic beauty. You have to adapt to the world you’re in, and the world you’re in is one where these people lie about everything,

Amid the challenges and polarization, what gives you hope for the future?

It’s hard to stay hope filled at a time like now, when there’s an all across the board assault on democracy, on freedom, on free speech, on the free press. I guess two things keep giving me hope. One is that the government may be a bunch of authoritarians and neo-fascists but they’re also super incompetent. Otherwise, we’d really be screwed. But number two, I do take hope in a lot of the young people who are on college campuses speaking out, who are becoming journalists like yourself, who are running for office and trying to displace the gerontocracy we have in this country, I do take a lot of hope from young people. I’m the father of two kids, and I think there is a young generation that hopefully will stand up to this stuff and make sure that America and the democratic experiment that is America survives beyond 2025 we’re only three months in, and it feels like we’re going to struggle to make the summer at this rate.

Interview with Sam Seder

What unique value does independent media offer that mainstream outlets might not?

Well, I think there is a sense of less pretense. There is no appeal to authority; you get judged more on what you are delivering over time. Also, you’re independent. Theoretically, you’re not influenced by who the sponsors are. I mean, I think it’s a problem in certain areas where people are getting money from certain places. And, we try to be very careful. We don’t take sponsorships from different industries that we think are problematic, anything we might criticize or is associated with policy, we won’t get involved with. We have gotten rid of sponsors because they were producing their goods in the West Bank, that was years ago.

Our audience keeps us on our toes about that. We’ll hear from our audience hey, this company is on the BDS list, or this company is providing support for oppressive regimes, whatever it is and will react to it. And I think on some level, younger generations expect a little bit more transparency and a little bit more access to tell us when we’ve gotten things wrong. And so the artifice is less important than it used to be.

Kamala Harris’ decision not to interview with Joe Rogan during her campaign sparked discussion. What role, if any, do you think that decision played in the last election cycle?

I think the Democrats need to communicate better. I don’t know that you need a Joe Rogan of the left per se to do that, but they need to communicate better, without a doubt. Part of that is a function of leadership that has clung to power in the Democratic Party for too long. So there’s almost a cultural problem in understanding, and I get that. For a long time, when people asked me what I did, I was embarrassed to say I’m doing a YouTube show. Because people my age and older would respond “oh, what?” But younger people don’t have that attitude. And I think, Democrats, for too long, were led by people who didn’t appreciate that.

I think there’s also a structural problem with the consultant class and the Democratic Party. They make more money if they steer their candidates towards TV advertising. I think if Democrats need a better vehicle to message, it’s out there, they just need to figure out how to use it more.

Sam Seder debating Charlie Kirk at Politicon.

The right has built a powerful independent media ecosystem, often backed by billionaire funding. Why hasn’t the left developed a comparable infrastructure, and what are the obstacles?

Well, they’re [Republicans] definitely more aligned with these people [right wing commentators]. They’re paid by these people. There was a moment recently on Tim pool where Milo Yiannopoulos revealed that Ben Shapiro and others in that sphere bought a lot of their views, and he called it, ‘fake it till you make it’. And this was clear. A couple years ago Ben Shapiro spent over a million dollars on Facebook advertising, and that was what was recorded. There’s no doubt in my mind that they get billionaire support that will come in, give them money to juice them in the marketplace, and then that becomes self perpetuating.

If I buy my way into the top 10 of iTunes, then it’s much easier to grow from that point. And frankly, you know, the agendas are more aligned because you’re not going to find many left wing billionaires. And to the extent that you do, they’re not going to be terribly happy with what I’m calling the floor, which is for them not to exist: a wealth tax. That’s a Dilemma.

How has your approach or role changed with the arrival of the new administration, which feels markedly different from previous ones?

It’s a good question; I’m still adjusting to it frankly. The job shifted on January 20, to one where I am reacting a lot more to the news, because so much of it is coming so fast. The difference is really tightening the criteria on what we assess is most important, and also making sure that we are finding opportunities to empower our audience. I think something that’s been difficult about this presidency is that there’s so many breaking stories coming out every day, and it almost feels deliberate, like some of these tickets of orders, nobody expects them to like pass, but they expect them to get articles. And it kind of feels like we might knock down the big, flashy thing. But what are all these, smaller things that are happening, and what’s the most important thing to have the audience know today?

With figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos wielding immense influence over platforms central to our news intake, are you concerned about algorithmic bias or the blurring lines between political power and media control?

It’s scary, I find it really, really disturbing. It is quite clear, the Washington Post endorsement was not going to make any difference whatsoever in this election, but the idea that Bezos was so determined to not offend Trump was the scariest part about that. It sounds a little bit like hyperbole, but that’s what fascism looks like. It looks like an authoritarian leader, and then major corporations and other institutions deciding it’s in their best interest to play ball. All of these things have melded into one agenda where all of these incentives are aligned, and it’s scary.

Amid the challenges and polarization, what gives you hope for the future?

Times have been worse in this country. It’s not super optimistic, the idea that things could be worse. I am encouraged by just getting a sense that people are mobilizing and are engaging in substantive stuff this time.

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.

The post The New News: The Rise of Independent Political Media appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Solidarity, Bipartisanship, and Satanic Protest in Kansas

Vincent Chandler — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 01:53:34 +0000

The red sun still laying low over the far away horizon, rolling hills and glowing roads guide the way as you arrive in Topeka, Kansas. Navigating the sleepy avenues toward the state’s Capitol. The air is cool and humid and the limestone building reflects the warm light, an omen of the hot day to come.

A dozen volunteers are setting up canopies, pulling wagons loaded with water and speakers. A microphone was just plugged in at the foot of the stone south steps. Greetings are exchanged as tables erected for an art station, a volunteer check-in, first-aid. Hours before hundreds of people would join, a handful of smiling people handed out walkie talkies and shared sour sentiments about Sesame Street.

Spirits were high, despite the underlying sense of dire urgency which had called this group to spend their Saturday morning building the infrastructure to protest their own government. A jobs market in sharp decline, the forced famine in Palestine, President Trump and the Epstein List; conversations swirled between topics which elicited tones of real concern and uncertainty. Some topics contrasted in conversation, questioning a lack of youth particpation while criticizing the growing support for populism and socialism in younger voters.

Representatives from Indivisible Kansas discuss the day’s events with rally attendees while selling yard signs as a fundraiser for the ““Real Kansans. Real Voters. Real Fed Up,” billboard campaign in the Sunflower State. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“I would ask people to talk to their neighbor, and not in a way that says ‘hey idiot..’ but more in the ‘are you aware’ way,” Kansas 50501 organizer Scott McFarland told Yellow Scene during the protest. “[We need a] connection to the younger generation to work with us and help in clearing the apathy. There’s a lot of dislike of capitalism, they’re being labeled as socialists, but it’s just that they’re tired of the corruption in capitalism.”

As support organizations and political parties continued to arrive, the crowd grew. A visible majority were people over 40, many old enough to recall their experiences seeing the unrest around the Vietnam War while discussing today’s events. There was a voiced sentiment of shock that they were seeing authoritarianism in their lifetimes and a concern for disinterest and acceptance by younger Americans.

Previous 50501 protests have attracted thousands to the streets of the Kansas capital. Each week in cities across the state, grassroots activists maintain consistent presences in the +16 Trump/Vance state. Organizers for today’s “Rage Against the Regime” event were cautiously conservative with their expectations for attendance, hoping to see a few hundred.

Ultimately, almost 500 Kansans were gathered as our day’s sole speaker approached the microphone and greeted the crowd. With a flowing, energetic speech matching her audience’s inertia, she spoke for a fiery thirty minutes, leading them in chants between reflecting on her personal experiences extrapolated to the national policy conversation. A sexual assault survivor, she outlined her rage that day being fed by seeing a credibly accused sexual predator sit at the Resolute Desk, using his power to pardon other assailants.

Kansans from across the political spectrum rally together on Veterans’ Walk in front of the state Capitol in Topeka ahead of a march through the downtown urban center. Organized as a “Rage Against the Regime” the 50501 protest are a “a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.” (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Wrapping up with a moment of silence for the children of Gaza, the energy returned like a shockwave carried on the wall of sound produced from hundreds of hand-made noise makers breaking the quiet calm. From the steps of the Capitol, where attendees had gathered for a group photo, they stepped off down the Veterans’ Walk toward the town’s major thoroughfare.

Keeping to the sidewalks, marshaled by volunteers who maintained adherence to street signals and crosswalks, the hundreds of unified Kansans marched through the city center. Along commercial roads on a path which brought them past the county’s Republican offices, they raised their voices declaring their dissent to authoritarianism, the loss of due process, and cuts to public services like health care and education.

The line of protestors carrying signs, clanging pots, blowing horns, and chanting loudly stretched for blocks. Passersby honked encouragingly, waving and cheering from their windows as they passed. Not without opposition, some shared crude hand signals with anger on their faces.

An inarguable Republican stronghold, a Democrat hasn’t won the presidential ticket since before 1980 and their U.S. House representation has been overwhelmingly red in the same period, one district never seeing a Dem victory. Statewide and locally, though, there is some partisan flexibility, the Governor’s seat has been blue since 2018.

In the same time period, the population of Kansas has not kept up with national growth trends, seeing a state increase of less than 3% in the previous census. Kansas lost a seat in congress in 1990, and in the presidential race lost some influence with ten electoral college votes falling to only six. The fastest-increasing portion of their population is 65+.

Civic engagement is split into two majority coalitions, registered Republicans making up the largest group and only a few thousand behind are non-participants. Of the two million registered voters in the state, nearly 800,000 chose to stay home in November 2024.

Young voters continue to connect more with social issues and movements over partisan idols and party politics. At the county Democrats’ annual fundraiser following the 50501 protest, politicos grappled with how to translate the evolution of local engagement for ballot initiatives specific to issues like abortion and the economy into capturing votes for candidates.

Current electeds, alongside candidates vying for their own seats, shook hands with constituents while volunteers prepared a buffet of picnic staples. Awards and recognition were distributed for service to the chapter and speeches were given highlighting the party’s want for coalition building and grassroots persuasion.

“A couple times during the presidential election, I went to bed thinking that change was really going to come for our country, and then I woke up disappointed,” Topeka Mayor Michael Padilla told the crowd assembled in the IBEW hall. “But that doesn’t mean that that disappointment makes me less determined to make that change happen with the help of fellow Democrats, independents, and – yes – Republicans.”

Topeka Mayor Mike Padilla, a Democrat and former police officer, speaks on the need to reach out to everyone with a tone of kindness and a resolve committed to Democratic values during the annual Shawnee County Democrats Picnic, telling the crowd “it’s necessary for us to speak up. I get pushback, and its because they want to silence my personal opinion simply because I’m in opposition to what they seek. When asked why they oppose these ideas of democracy, and freedom, and civil rights for everyone. They’re usually hard pressed for answers.” (Photos by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Reflecting the sentiment, a majority of the conversation was centered on moving those who cast their ballots regularly from the more conservative Republican ticket to the centrist-leaning Kansas Democrat platform. While the state’s place in the abortion rights movement was rightfully celebrated, and the need to expand access to affordable housing was constantly mentioned, the theme centered openly on the need for bipartisan cooperation and converting existing voters rather than finding the messaging which would create new ones.

The historic vote rejecting the ban on abortion in the Sunflower State saw an measurable shift in partisan response, illuminating the importance of elevating issues’ impacts above partisan and candidate politics. The Republican state voted against the ban, with more people casting a vote in the decision for abortion than the decision for president.

The sometimes apathetic unaffiliated voter in Kansas was engaged in this vote, legally unable to cast a ballot in the parallel primary elections but able to make a decision in the referendum. Almost 200,000 voters not affiliated with the two major political parties participated. In the lead-up to the election, Kansas was also the third most engaged state for young voters aged 18-29, with registration leaping from 2018 numbers and the Gen Z / Zillenial vote increasing their influence to the highest levels in thirty years.

Nearly 40% of registered voters under forty in Kansas cast their ballot in 2022, during a traditionally low turnout midterm primary election, called to action by an issue more than a person. In 2024, during the presidential race when voter turnout is traditionally at its highest, fewer than 2% of the same group went to the polls.

“One of the things that Kansans are good at, especially in some of the rural districts where I knock doors, is that we all have different opinions and we give each other time to talk,” Shawnee County Democrats Vice-Chair JP Porter told Yellow Scene Magazine at the event. “Right now, it’s time to build those relationships, just talk to people. Hear them out, make sure people are comfortable.”

As the Shawnee Democrats wrapped up their fundraising raffle with a 50/50, back at the Capitol another protest was beginning to be set up. While the morning saw hundreds rallying against the authoritarian creep in policy and posture by the federal administration, a few dozen were gathering to protest their state government in support of personal liberty and religious freedom.

The Satanic Grotto, an offshoot of The Satanic Temple formed in pursuit of increased autonomy, were returning for the first time since a series of dramatic moments during a previous protest they organized in March resulted in scuffles, police intervention, and four arrests. That event drew thousands to the Capitol grounds, a majority counterprotestors. Tonight, fifty gathered, including the police and five antagonists carrying crosses and warnings of eternal damnation.

While counter protesters and some attendees exchanged loud sounds and short statements, most stayed close to the newly erected sound system, once again at the bottom of the building’s south steps. Speakers and musicians exchanged the stage, bringing a mix of concert and rally to the crowd. Activist Ms. B spoke on the need to not be complacent, to not be lazy, in a moment that required presence and action. She illustrates her call to action with reflection and accountability for moments in her own past when she wished she’d done more.

Author, activist, and former local elected Mike Trapp quoted from his book “The Practical Guide to Building a Better World” offering his eleven suggestions to coalescing in movement work. He outlined his decades of experience advocating for a better world, discussing bearing witness to the slide from what he calls “friendly fascism” into something even worse. He encouraged looking past contrasts in aesthetic or approach to build allies aligned with the civic work to be done at a local level, in City Halls and on school boards, where individuals can have the most impact.

After a full concert set from Girard, Kansas metal outfit Rage Is My Rival, Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart took the mic warning those still gathered as the sun sank below surrounding buildings that he was definitely going to cry. He thanked his peers, organizers, lawmakers, community members, and even the Capitol police who practiced their principles of supporting individual and religious liberty by fighting for the Grotto to secure the required permits for the protest to occur uninterrupted that evening.

The Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart leads attendees on an umbrella march around the Kansas Capitol, stopping on the four cardinal coordinates and leading those gathered in a synchronized chant meant to evoke and emanate personal power. The Not Quite Witching Hour protest organized by The Satanic Grotto marked the end of a months-long battle to return to the spot exercising their first amendment rights after a briefly-chaotic culmination to the group’s previous event, a Black Mass held in the same spot in March 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

He remembered aloud his assault and arrest at the Capitol earlier this year. He reflected on how people’s perceptions and preconceived assumptions often inhibited the message he was advocating for. He cited specific legislation being discussed inside the government chambers he stood before while gave encouragement to those in attendance to get involved. Offering testimony, contacting representatives, organizing neighbors, his plan for action mirrored that of the organizers earlier in the day: participation.

“We cannot be the only ones fighting,” Stewart told those gathered. “The intersectionality converges right here on this battlefield. Hiding from it will not make you safe, it will only make you an easier target. Everyone, everywhere, needs to pick their battle and drive it the [expletive] forward.”

From the jump, a group of political organizers identifying themselves as Satanic is going to cause controversy. Some will find it easy to discount their message because of the container in which it is distributed. Some write them off as unserious performative art, others take their cartoonish construct literally and refuse to listen for fear of devil worship being the core talking point. Their consistent pushback at over-encroaching authoritarian policy and intentional organizing messaging, in tandem with their undeniable regionally and nationally rippling impact – though – suggest that their efforts should be seen more seriously.

“From a marketing perspective, their ‘extreme’ branding definitely gets their group plenty of attention and free press, but then people just judge the book by its cover and don’t actually look into their really solid ethics and organizing tactics,” Nebraska political organizer JD Hanson told Yellow Scene while reflecting on how other Heartland movements see and feel their influence locally. “Some people just hear satanic and then completely tune out everything else.”

Conservative Kansas is the contemporary reality in the state the Westboro Baptist Church calls home. While registered Republicans have decreased by more than seven thousand people this year already, a majority of the state’s voters are GOP members. Nearly a million. The only group of voters to grow in 2025, by about 3,000 people, is the second largest pool: the unaffiliated.

Kansas has a history of standing ten toes forward for their principles. Bleeding Kansas fought a small war against Missouri slavers to found their territory as a Free Soil state. Infamous abolitionist John Brown first made national headlines by violently fighting against the institution on the eastern plains, years before he’d be remembered forever for his failed attempt to start an enslaved persons revolt at Harpers Ferry. Touring the Capitol’s visitor center you’ll see that this radical history is still celebrated.

Kansas resident turned activist Molly Tolly distributes hundreds of protest placards she handmade at her “Sign Library,” a pop-up table she erects at actions across the state. She has attended 38 protests so far in 2025, often bringing more than 100 signs, she allows attendees to borrow them for the day, seeing at least 80% returned after the event. Not sure what she could offer the movement as an individual working as a family caretaker, she identified this art as activism project as one small way she could have a large impact. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

Less than a mile from the heart of the state’s government stands the historic site for the Brown Versus Board Supreme Court Decision. A court case that could have only happened in Kansas, because segregation in the state which had rejected slavery in its constitution was considered at the time the “gold standard” for the immoral act. Kansans relegated legal segregation only to large population centers and only by local control. While some cities outlawed it outright, others segregated children while spelling out in the law equal distribution standards for resources, in contrast to some of the more cruel forms of legal racism in the deep south.

It was for these reasons that the NAACP chose Kansas schools as their battleground to elevate the fight against state-protected bigotry to the nation’s highest courts. If the organization could prove that the midwest standard for the Plessy Versus Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine – which many people found acceptable – still created disproportionate harm to non-white students, then in contrast more violent forms in places like Louisiana or Arkansas couldn’t possibly stand.

Wherever they align ideologically, personal liberty is at the front of progressive movements in this central prairie state. Individuals find their place by measuring capacity and staying in their lane after it has been identified. Collecting impact statements from their neighbors and creating conversations on shared values, hoping to move them away from MAGA authoritarianism. Creating a pathway to political participation for ostracized weirdos or creating hundreds of handmade signs to distribute on loan at protests. Inside political party infrastructure or through autonomous grassroots organizing. In a moment that calls for many approaches converging toward a shared end, each individual voice creates a choir singing in chorus, though may be still finding the harmony.

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What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

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The post Solidarity, Bipartisanship, and Satanic Protest in Kansas appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Community Art, Music & Joy for Aurora ICE Detainees

Vincent Chandler — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:56:41 +0000

Sheets of cardboard were laid across the overgrown, tall grass as organizers walked across them carrying speakers, tables, tents, and even a trombone. Along the street, a dozen people greeted one another, some holding picketing signs and others hefting cases of water bottles over their shoulders. The large public parking lot closed by a concrete barrier haphazardly placed in its drive, they glanced at the no parking signs lining the street knowing their first civil disobedience of the evening would be to ignore them.

In Aurora, Colorado, at the private prison facility owned by GEO Group and currently being contracted by the federal government as the ICE Processing Facility for the region, the mood was light but serious. Ahead, there was an evening ahead of community, music, making art, and sharing food with a very real purpose.

To demand Jeanette Vizguerra’s freedom.

Community members, activists, and state-level officials picket and carry protest signs demanding the release of political prisoner Jeanette Vizguera outside of the GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

An indigenous Mexican mother, author, immigrant rights advocate, and community leader, Jeanette rose to national prominence in 2017 when she successfully evaded the first Trump Administration’s attempts to deport her by seeking sanctuary inside a unitarian church.

In a game of cat and mouse played out on television screens and broadsheets she never silenced her voice, writing and speaking from the church – occasionally even surprising crowds of thousands by appearing in-person under community protection. As federal policies like family separation and intentional cruelty in detention became standard by the federal administration, the Colorado Congressional delegation stepped in and a judge blocked the deportation order until 2019.

In 2021, still living in the church, the Department of Homeland Security announced that she would not be deported. It was the Biden Administration, and while many of the practices created by the first Trump Administration continued, Jeanette was able to return to her family and her life.

Regaining control in 2025 with the re-election of President Trump, Stephen Miller pushed plans to punish dissenting voices and make an immediate example of those who had used legal protections to usurp his authority in the previous term.

Churches, hospitals, schools – so-called “sensitive places” – would no longer be safe and accessible places for every person in the United States. Elementary school students would face the trauma of seeing their classmates learn they no longer had parents to go home to, or worse be detained themselves with peers watching. The sick or injured had to weigh the benefits of seeking medical attention against the risks of never seeing their families again.

Places of worship had to grapple with the idea that their leadership could no longer defend their flock, the federal government was going to take their sheep.

Arriving to her job at Target one morning, Jeanette was arrested and detained. The community response was immediate, to many this was a political decision and not one about making our country safer.

An embarrassed administration, still reeling from their failures to enforce criminal actions against a peaceful working mother, had targeted Jeanette to make an example of. Because of a swift outpouring from watchful advocates, the due process afforded under the constitution to all persons within the United States were called for. She was to remain in detention while her attorneys fought in court, but her location was local – known – and direct communication was possible.

Many who are detained by ICE are not so fortunate.

Under the early afternoon sun in Aurora, the activists had cleared enough of the field that a small tent faced a crowd of fifty people, growing as the evening approached and more working folks were able to join.

Jamaican immigrant Jeneil and her grandmother Edna speak to rally attendees after traveling from Maryland to visit her detained father at the GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The audience was rapt, silent, listening to the choked words pour out of the young speaker’s mouth in front of them. Jeneil, with her elder grandmother Edna at her side, spoke on losing her father to Stephen Miller’s systems of snatching and shuffling human beings; his system to lose people in the system.

An immigrant from Jamaica, she was visiting Aurora from her home in Maryland with no idea she’d find a community rallying in support of her family and all of those impacted by ICE. She shared her story, that her father had made his first ever return trip to his homeland to see family in February and on the return was detained by immigration officials for two already-dismissed and closed charges.

First being told he would be held in Pennsylvania, close to his family, the notice came down that he would instead be heading for Texas. They found him in Colorado, having celebrated his sixtieth birthday in a cage.

As she finished, Luna Vizguerra, Jeanette’s daughter, took the stage echoing the difficulties of a family losing its leader.

“I miss my mom, as many of the families here do as well,” she told the crowd, making eye contact with those with whom she’s shared this unique experience with. “It comes with a lot of hardships, a lot of turmoil. You come home to an empty space, my mom’s room is empty. It’s been four months. She’s missed not only our lives but she’s missed her life.”

To discuss the generational impact, passed down and felt in bloodlines, Courtney took the microphone next. A third generation Japanese immigrant, she spoke on her own father being kidnapped from Peru and being interned in a Crystal City, CO concentration camp during World War Two.

The children and grandchildren of those persecuted through generations of United States domestic policy then led the picket of the GEO ICE facility, walking the crowd now numbering in the hundreds across the streets to march along the sidewalk outside the private prison.

For an hour, community members, with the support of union representatives, a half dozen state level elected officials, and Notes of Dissent – a protest marching band – chanted, sang, and disrupted the quiet which had existed around the building only hours before.

Notes of Dissent, a Front Range protest marching band, plays a medley of anti-authoritarian anthems and spirituals while activists picket the GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

As the heat continued to climb and shade quickly shrunk over the sidewalks, water was distributed and hand fans deployed. The picket line continued to grow as people continued to arrive, some still dressed from their air conditioned office jobs, tucking work badges into pockets and out of sight, they’d come as quickly as they could.

After an hour, marshals briefly blocked traffic and the swollen crowd stepped their way from sidewalk to sidewalk, crossing the street back to the field where there was now a full resource fair for nonprofit and political organizations set up, hoping to capture their energy and funnel it to the next moment. Pupusa was sold as a fundraiser, a lecture was given on a blanket about nonviolent resistance, an art build began for an action planned later in the evening, and programming resumed.

Araseli, from Aurora, spoke about her husband – Hector – being snatched while riding his bike in their neighborhood. With no warrant, and not on the ICE list of folk to look for, she spoke from her personal experience on the importance of those who want to be allies in this moment to visit detainees, because they’re families cannot for fear of detention and deportation.

With the air heavy with angst, Yuzo Nieto of Pink Hawks kicked off the music for the evening with his song “Want to be a Gangster,” energizing the crowd, bringing a reminder that art is a tool those who would dissent can use to raise their voices.

Organizations from across the metro, including Aurora Unidos CSO and Housekeys Action Network, spoke on community organizing together and that there is infrastructure to join for those who want to help, but don’t know how to start.

Then, a roar rippled across the crowd, the largest it would be for the day, as Luna Vizguerra re-took the stage. A phone was in her hand.

Political prisoner Jeanette Vizguerra speaks to rally attendees via video call and translation provided by her daughter during a protest demanding her release from a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

Jeanette’s voice, amplified from a video call through the PA system, was greeted by cheers. From inside the building across the street, the tearful and thankful grandmother spoke through her daughter’s translation for more than twenty minutes.

Grateful for the community which has continued to show up for her and all of those being swept away inside Stephen Miller’s punitive nightmare, she blasted Colorado’s Congressional delegation for using her platform to win their previous elections and failing to show up even once for her now.

Her case is moving forward in the courts, an appeal filed in the fifth district could be decided any time and her attorneys are hopeful that she’ll be celebrating her release soon, right there outside the walls she’s speaking from behind, rallying for everyone still inside.

“If worse comes to worse, my work will continue bi-nationally and I will be back sooner than later,” she closed.

The sun was starting to sink, dusk sweeping across the now-flattened field where hundreds were gathered, and the soft yellow light inside the GEO private prison illuminated out. All day, a station had been set up to cut out and decorate paper butterflies.

Now, they were carried across the street to be hung on a chain link fence which acted as a second cage outside the barred, amber-light windows. To add a little bit of color, for those who could see out. A reminder that people on the other side of the cage saw their humanity and cared about them.

Notes of Dissent played loud, solemn spirituals and demonstrators sang, silhouettes appeared in the windows. Detainees inside waved, made hearts with their hands, and held up scrawled messages for those outside – who returned the gestures.

It was a heartbreaking and powerful moment. Tears were shed by many, some having to step away as they were faced with the distant-but-intimate contact with those who the system has worked so hard to dehumanize and hide.

Protestors sing and hang a paper art installation of butterflies and streamers on the fence outside the A large crowd of people fill the tree lawn and sidewalk outside of a chain link cage and prison windows, spilling in to the street around parked cars, while hanging an art installation and singing for the detainees inside a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

Darkness crept around and it was decided it was time to turn up the volume and for the final three bands of the evening to take the stage – performing over the crowd before them for those locked inside behind.

Wheelchair Sports Camp, 2MX2, and Flobots were slated to close out the evening. Former Denver Mayoral candidate and Sports Camp frontperson Kalyn Heffernan started with a warning that “they’re punk now,” before making the crowd move and whoop with their band’s signature mash-up of experimental music, observant humorous lyrics, and defy-authoritarianism brand.

Flobots frontman Jonny 5 gestures to a sign reading ICE while singing a bilingual protest song during a community action at the A large crowd of people fill the tree lawn and sidewalk outside of a chain link cage and prison windows, spilling in to the street around parked cars, while hanging an art installation and singing for the detainees inside a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

2MX2 continued to ramp the energy up, fusing chicano melodies with rap / rock lyrics delivered in a fiery escalation. Headbanging, two-stepping, bodies were encouraged to move instinctively as the protest evolved toward the joyful party environment synonymous with many Colorado grassroots movements.

“I don’t know if Tim Hernández is still here,” Flobots’ Jonny 5 said as the Denver hip hop group took the stage, “but I’m reminded tonight of something he once said. We cannot become the thing we hate.”

Referencing the Colorado educator and former State House Representative’s assertion that authoritarianism robs the community of creativity and joy, he reminded the crowd that we have to have energy to have power, and our power is rooted in collective good.

Closing the evening with a wildly high energy set which included their Billboard charting hit “Handlebars,” the crowd amplified their reminder of joy as resistance, allowing it to ripple through the concrete and steel separating families and communities from their loved ones inside.

___________________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

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The post Community Art, Music & Joy for Aurora ICE Detainees appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Fourth of July in Trump Country, CO

Vincent Chandler — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:58:26 +0000

As the Fourth of July approached and House Republicans worked through the night to garner the necessary votes to pass President Trump’s landmark One Big Beautiful Act by his Independence Day deadline, some in Colorado asked themselves what there could possibly be to celebrate this year.

The bill’s impact is projected to hit Colorado’s rural communities especially hard.

Estimates are that nearly 241,000 residents of the square state will lose their health care because of the bill’s $900 billion cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Disabled and chronically ill residents will have to leap through new loops to continue to receive life-saving care.

As protests were planned in the state’s urban centers, where the majority of the population lives and where s plurality gave Colorado to Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, the question remained: What were people celebrating in this moment?

And where to go, to find out?

On a clear day, the Rocky Mountains are just visible in your rear view mirror. They serve as a subtle reminder that you’re still in Colorado, though the plains rising to meet you begin to mirror neighboring Kansas.

On the sunny Fourth of July, two children break away from the produced activities to fish together in the stocked pond of City Park in La Junta, Col. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene)

As the mountains fade behind you, with them go the majority blue leanings of the Front Range. With Democrats controlling every branch of the state’s government and the last 20 years of federal elections going to a Democratic president, it can be easy to forget that – federally – this is still a purple state.

50% of Colorado’s representatives in the People’s Chamber are Republicans, and the two Democrat Senators are sure to make regular appeasements to GOP policies and appointments. Ostensibly they do this for the sake of bipartisan collaboration, it’s a reflection of the need to oscillate within the spectrum of political leanings they represent statewide.

Turning East from Pueblo, where voters flipped then flopped between Presidents Trump, Biden, and Trump again you enter the counties represented in Congress by Republicans like Congressman Jeff Hurd.

Here, you’re entering Trump Country, CO.

In the fertile Arkansas Valley, where settlers once passed through on the Santa Fe Trail, you pass feedlots and huge commercial farms following the train tracks until you arrive in La Junta, the county seat for Otero County.

Once a simple trading post, the small town reflects the natural beauty of the plains while preserving their historic past, the charm of centuries-old railtown buildings lining broad mainstreets as you head away from the railroad tracks. Commercial turns to residential as shady tree-lined streets lead you past parks, schools, and churches.

The Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center said in a press release that “In Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District—our district—nearly 1 in 3 people (31%) rely on
Medicaid for healthcare. That includes over 228,000 individuals, 14,700 people with
disabilities, and thousands of children. Cutting Medicaid funding would have dangerous,
real-life consequences.” (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

La Junta is also home to Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center. A 25 bed critical access hospital, AVRMC is the area’s only option for immediate life-saving critical response. The next closest is 75 miles away in Walensburg, requiring those with urgent needs to travel back to the 1-25 corridor for their care.

“Yes – ‘The Big Beautiful Bill’ will absolutely hurt AVRMC, other rural hospitals and the citizens in the communities we collectively serve,” stated a recent press release from the hospital. “It threatens emergency rooms, would force families to forgo essential care, and dismantle the fabric of rural communities like ours.”

In Congressman Hurd’s District— which includes Otero County — one third of the residents rely on Medicaid for healthcare, 228,000 individuals.

In November 2024, there were 14,164 eligible voters in Otero County and 5,520 cast their ballot for President Trump and with only 8,926 people choosing to participate, it was enough to secure 62% of the votes for the MAGA candidate.

Now, though, everyone would be feeling the impact of the policies being enacted whether they voted for them, against them, or chose to abstain.

In the Otero county seat, where the population has steadily declined as the poverty rate has risen – now more than 1 in 4 residents – still home to thousands of children and disabled Americans, the reality is they will lose access to necessary medical care leaving a significant portion needlessly vulnerable.

As President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Act into law, paying for tax breaks for the über-wealthy by gutting the health care of the poor, it was time to celebrate America.

In Denver, while the 4th of July parade meandered through crowded streets, people marched and protested the decision, engaging in direct action voicing their opposition to the new law.

In the Southeast, as the morning sun heated up the concrete streets leading into Trump Country, Colorado, it wasn’t immediately clear how the news was being received.

There were no Make America Great Again billboards on the farms you passed nor were duallys with more Trump flags than axels rolling coal to ensure they were noticed. When asked directly about the bill, many admitted they were nervous about feeling the impact personally while asserting they support the stated “put people to work” intentions of the Medicaid rollbacks.

When asked what they were celebrating that day, answers varied between general assertions of freedom to being compelled to wave a flag for a family member serving in the military. Not a single person said they were celebrating the trajectory of the federal government.

Watching how this community came together, though, in the early morning air as the bill that would close their hospital became law, it became clear what the party atmosphere revolved around. Their town. Their people.

Poet Toi Derricotte said “joy is an act of resistance,” though not a direct act, it is one which can offer a subterfuge to the hardships of living in a time when working people are seeing their safety nets removed for the sake of billionaires’ profits and to make Immigration and Customs Enforcement the largest federal law enforcement agency in the nation.

On the streets of La Junta, the community greeted the Fourth of July was greeted with joy.

Chuck Mongregon poses with his family during the annual 4th of July Wet & Dry Parade through the mainstreets of La Junta, Colorado. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

County residents encircled the main street business district and the Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Wet & Dry Parade, with the fire department using a large ladder truck to create a sheet of water through the central square as trucks and trailers carrying livestock water containers drove the loop. The people on the trucks tossed no candy and there weren’t the waving sign carriers ubiquitous with American parades.

Instead, those on the floats used every style of squirt gun, bucket, or hose to combat the onslaught of water sent their way from the similarly aquatically-armed crowd on the sidewalks. Smiles, laughter, and the sounds of sloshing shoes echoed.

Soaking, dripping and feeling the good sense of camaraderie from a game played with no stakes but to have fun, the event wrapped up as lunch time approached. Within an hour the streets and everyone’s clothes would be dry, compliments of the already-80-degree day. Some went to their homes to light the barbecue and begin their individual celebrations while many trekked to the city’s central park for the Stars and Stripes Festival.

Produced by Trent Ryan and Ark Valley Entertainment, attendees were invited to listen to a Christian prayer service from local minister John Jaramillo and performance from local singer/songwriter Caitlyn Tibbles while strolling through a market which included a mobile veteran’s museum, the local free kitchen, and a Medicare/Medicaid help booth.

Roberta Caulkins-Mendoza, a Otero County community leader and insurance professional, answers questions about Medicare and Medicaid while President Trump signed in to law an act which will reallocate $900,000,000,000 to other federal efforts, mainly punitive immigration enforcement. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

Roberta Caulkins-Mendoza, a local licensed insurance agent and community leader – she directed the water fight many had just come from – was there to answer any questions anyone had about their healthcare. She tables locally regularly, working to ensure her neighbors have access to important information about their federally provided Medicaid. This year, she was fielding an uptick in questions about the possibility of losing coverage.

That they wouldn’t be feeling the impact for a few years was the assurance many offered, when asked.

Cylus smiles and watches the sparks from a handheld firework pour over his head as he awaited the night sky to get dark enough for the fire department to begin the large 4th of July firework show with his mom in Rocky Ford, Colorado. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The day would end with an incredible fireworks show in neighboring Rocky Ford, where first responders coordinate to produce an event which draws the county community together to culminate their celebration. As the sun sets, families play with the sparklers, smoke bombs, and firecrackers they brought from home.

A little after nine, the music in the speakers is paused, vendors’ generators are silenced, and the national anthem is sung. At “rockets’ red glare” the audience is rewarded with the first large firework of the evening and for the next thirty minutes the oohs and aahs of the crowd were just audible above the incendiaries exploding above.

In Trump Country, Colorado, on the Fourth of July community was celebrated with uncertainty about what would come next as pungent as the sulfur in the ashes.

—

______________________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Fourth of July in Trump Country, CO appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Rapid Response Action: Denver Protests Trump’s War

Vincent Chandler — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 14:01:32 +0000

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.

The post Rapid Response Action: Denver Protests Trump’s War appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

No Kings Day: Thousands Rally in Denver, Boulder, Longmont, and Erie

redtornado — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 02:48:38 +0000

photo credit: George Hudetz, Erie CO, No Kings Day

Erie

Erie used to have 500 houses, 1,200 people, and dirt roads—not in 1890 but as recently as 1990. However, like so many Colorado Front Range towns, it’s seen rapid, relentless growth since then. Today, it’s home to 40,000 people and projected to hit 70,000. (Let’s just hope they don’t choose sprawl in the years ahead.)

Back in 2000, Erie was the fastest-growing municipality in the state, posting a wild 300% growth rate. In just ten years, it jumped from a forgotten mining town to 8,500 people and 4,000 homes. That was nothing compared to where it stands now or where it’s headed. Once again, it has ranked as the fastest-growing community in the Front Range and number 15 in the country.

It also used to be a much redder town. After all, it was a quiet, rural place, mostly off the radar. And red 35 years ago wasn’t synonymous with the cult-of-personality nationalism and strongman-style populism we see today. Aside from Bush, being Republican back then tended to mean a focus on land, taxes, law and order, and a hands-off approach to your neighbor’s business. But with all the new homes and new neighbors, Erie now votes about 65% blue, including both the Boulder and Weld County sides. And no, realtors aren’t asking how people are registered to vote when they’re selling homes. The same demographic shifts are happening in Longmont, too.

photo credit: George Hudetz

Erie residents don’t need to drive to Denver anymore to have its voice heard. Whether it’s the result of shifting demographics or the shock and disgust at witnessing this administration’s open corruption, authoritarianism, and outright contempt for the Constitution, Erie came to be counted.

An estimated 1,200 people turned out for No Kings Day at County Line Road and Erie Parkway. All four corners were packed. The crowd stretched out for nearly a mile, with people lining the streets, waving signs, and cheering as a steady stream of mostly supportive honking cars passed by.

A few drivers made their dissent clear, and two men appeared briefly with a Trump sign, but from what we observed, everyone remained respectful and let them be. Erie Police were a friendly but frequent presence.

Amid the steady hum of car horns and community energy, local leaders took the mic to address the crowd. District Attorney Michael Dougherty came out and spoke, challenging the administration to uphold the rule of law. Erie Councilperson Emily Baer emphasized compassion and community. She called on the crowd to act in love—for one another, and for the world—reminding us that only love can conquer hate.

Local resident and No Kings Day organizer Bob Braudes put it simply:

“It’s time to put Erie on the political map. We’re 40,000 people now.”

photo credit: Shavonne Blades

Photo credit: Jordan Neumeyer

Longmont

Photo Credit: Kenneth Wajda

Photo credit: Rowan Ellis

At 12:45 p.m. on a warm Saturday afternoon, hundreds had already gathered along Longmont’s 6th Street. Within the hour, that crowd swelled to an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder on sidewalks, median strips, and restaurant patios—holding signs, chanting, and waving to honking cars passing by. The mood was both electric and resolute which displayed a sense of community strength and political defiance.

This protest, part of the national “No Kings Day” movement organized by 50501, Indivisible and co-sponsored locally by the Colorado Forward Party. The Protest was timed in response to reports of a planned military-style parade coinciding with former President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. Organizers framed the demonstration as a rebuke of authoritarianism and an act of solidarity with communities impacted by ICE raids and federal crackdowns.

Photo credit: Rowan Ellis

Unlike the large-scale marches in metropolitan areas, the Longmont protest was stationary—concentrated at 6th & Main for just about an hour. But the energy was anything but still. Protesters waved American flags with altered slogans, wore “No Kings” t-shirts handed out by volunteers, and kept chants alive through megaphones: “This is what democracy looks like” echoed across the street in rhythmic unison.

Despite the crowd size, the police presence was minimal. Only one or two officers were visible throughout the event, and they remained mostly on the periphery.

One striking observation was the age composition of the crowd. An estimated 60–65% of attendees were older adults—many of them seniors. The rest of the crowd represented a wide range of identities: young activists, families with children, BIPOC individuals, and people who had traveled from nearby Boulder and Denver.

The atmosphere held contradictions. There was hope in the collective unity, yet an undercurrent of frustration—perhaps even despair—over the necessity of still having to protest such basic democratic ideals. As one attendee put it,

“There’s something deeply human about standing side by side with people who feel what you feel. It’s really comforting and heartbreaking.”

Many participants were reluctant to go on record—understandably cautious about press exposure. Still, a few candid conversations offered deep insight into the stakes at play.

Photo Credit: Kenneth Wajda

Photo credit: Rowan Ellis

Two older women, both white and longtime residents of Longmont, spoke passionately about why they felt this was not just a coastal or federal issue:

“He’s trying to be a dictator. Even if it doesn’t feel like it’s hitting our daily lives yet—it will. He’s got the Supreme Court in his pocket. We have to speak up because this is our government, and our silence makes it someone else’s problem. We cannot allow that.”

Another group—two middle-aged men and two women from Denver—shared that they intentionally avoided the Denver protest out of safety concerns following increased tensions in major cities. Longmont, they said, felt safer but no less meaningful.

“My family’s scared to go to work. That’s not what this country should be. I don’t want to wake up one day and never see them again because someone decided their existence was illegal. What Trump’s doing goes beyond politics—it’s anti-human.”

These sentiments were echoed in various forms throughout the crowd: fears of ICE enforcement, erosion of democratic values, and the broader question of what kind of country the United States is becoming.

Because in the end the fight for democracy doesn’t always start in Washington. Sometimes, it begins on a street corner, in the heart of a town, with people who believe their voices can turn the tide.

Photo credit: Rowan Ellis

Photo Credit: Kenneth Wajda

Boulder

Photo credit Steven Nasada, Social Media, Boulder CO, No Kings Day

On June 14th, over 5 million people mobilized in lieu of Trump’s display of military power. The “No Kings Day” protest this last Saturday, organized by the ACLU, 50501, American Oppositions and Indivisible, brought over 5,000 Boulder residents to the streets.

The day was filled with camaraderie as local officials and activists expressed their frustrations with the current administration. Speakers included Mayor Aaron Brockett, District Attorney Michael Dougherty, Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Councilmember Nicole Speer.

Photo credit Steven Nasada, Social Media

While protestors suffered over 90-degree weather; there were no counterprotestors, and police presence did not lead to any violence. Many residents carried their signs to the local farmer’s market, while others sat outside local brunch spots with their sign in one hand and a mimosa in the other. The demographics of the demonstrators was overwhelmingly White and over 50.

However, for the people working the brunch tables and sweeping the street, solidarity was found. There are two types of people in Boulder; those who eat the food, and those who serve the food. While many people subordinated under Trump’s administration cannot demonstrate safely; such as undocumented immigrants, there are others who are willing to stand in their stead. That’s what the community saw this past Saturday in Boulder, a massive group of people willing to stand up to authoritarianism despite how they are affected.

Not to say that White people over 50 are not affected by Trump’s policies. Cuts to medicaid, lack of veteran resources, and attacks on reproductive justice hurt this group especially. Critics will explain how protests should ‘look;’ hip-looking punks spraying anarchy signs on a cop car, a Ford on fire, the fireworks of tear gas and AR-15s are all necessary to simulate a ‘revolution.’

Photo credit Steven Nasada, Social Media

While protestors were mobilizing in every major city except D.C., Trump was celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Army with a display of military strength. Footage shows an Army failing to march in a set rhythm and outdated tanks squeaking past a lackluster crowd. This display projected disorganization and insecurity.

There is revolution in joy and non-violent protests. Revolution starts with talking with neighbors and organizing. Last Saturday showed that those who value democracy are not alone, and that they are the majority. Authoritarianism cowers in the face of progressive happiness and the displacement of fear.

So while the only casualties in Boulder may be empty sunscreen and champagne bottles, there was a message and it was heard. No Kings.

Photo credit Linda O’Neill, Social Media

Photo credit: Steven Nasada, Social Media

Photo credit: Linda O’Neill, Social Media

Photo credit Linda O’Neill, Social Media

Denver

Photo credit: Vince Chandler, Denver CPO, No Kings Day

Up to 20,000 protesters converged on downtown Denver Saturday afternoon for the “No Kings” protest—an anti-authoritarian demonstration that transformed Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park into an open-air hub of resistance. Demonstrators started at the state capitol, and marched throughout the city at one point reaching a mile long.

Photo credit: Vince Chandler

The event was one of many held nationwide on June 14 in response to President Trump’s immigration crackdown as well as the simultaneous military parade in Washington, D.C. But in Denver, what started as a peaceful rally ended with 36 arrests and reports of police once again using smoke and pepper balls to clear the streets.

Organized by local activist coalition Colorado 50501, a portion of the protest was framed as an “activist fair” meant to bring together a broad spectrum of resistance movements—from anti-ICE efforts and Indigenous sovereignty to queer and trans rights. Music performances, teach-ins, and tabling sessions filled the afternoon, with organizers urging attendees to think beyond a single-day march and build out sustained resistance networks.

“People don’t know where to put their energy after the protest,” said Steffan Becker, one of the event’s lead organizers. “The point of this festival is to show people they can plug in, show up.”

Colorado 50501 joined the Party for Socialism and Liberation at 4 pm for a peaceful march through downtown. Alternatively, Block-by-Block had ambitious plans to line protesters on the sidewalks of Broadway beginning at the capitol in Denver and ending in Highlands Ranch.

After these events had ended, a contingent of demonstrators remained downtown into the evening, shifting focus to the local ICE field office on 30th and Peoria. It was during this second wave of protest that the tone changed, a recurring theme in Denver.

According to Denver police, officers arrested 36 individuals after issuing several dispersal orders. Those arrested faced charges ranging from failure to obey lawful orders to obstruction of roadways. Officers used smoke canisters and pepper balls but did not deploy tear gas.

Photo credit: Vince Chandler

In a statement, DPD said it had preemptively closed portions of Lincoln Street and used rolling closures throughout the day. Leading up to the event, the department had also warned residents to report “suspicious or unlawful behavior,” a move that drew criticism from civil liberties groups who saw it as an attempt to pre-frame the protest as criminal.

While DPD had made promises during the 2020 BLM protests not to harm peaceful protesters, this seems to go by the wayside once the sun goes down and organizers head home. Leaving people with a clear message that their First Amendment right to peaceful assembly will only be protected if it’s done when and how local law enforcement approves of.

Despite the evening escalation, Denver protesters remained focused on their message: rejecting authoritarianism and standing in solidarity with the communities most impacted by Trump-era policies.

Organizers estimate that over 8,000 people attended throughout the day, making it one of the largest public demonstrations in Denver since the Women’s March in 2017. The “No Kings” campaign spanned over 2,000 cities nationwide and drew what organizers claim to be 4–6 million participants, though those numbers have not yet been independently verified.

Photo credit: Vince Chandler

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Don’t Let Grief Become A Weapon

Destiny Hale — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 00:44:30 +0000

A few days ago, the Boulder community experienced an act of horror that will take a long time to heal from. Mohamed Sabry Soliman threw a makeshift Molotov cocktail, setting people on fire, as bystanders watched in shock and disbelief. I was stunned when I first heard what had happened. While many in the city are grieving and searching for answers, others are responding in a more cynical manner. As national attention converges on Boulder County, some are wasting no time in using it to their advantage.

I’m not here to make sweeping claims about what should happen next, or how this could have been predicted or prevented. I’m not here to make assumptions about the suspect, his motives, or the victims. But I will say this: we must not let this tragedy, or the opportunists exploiting it, drag us away from our values and into hatred.

Firstly, Yellow Scene Magazine has been consistently clear in our stance: we condemn the genocide in Gaza. Our criticism of Israel does not make it difficult for us also to condemn lighting people on fire or to recognize this for what it is: a tragedy. Many victims remain hospitalized, some may not survive, and many more are traumatized and forever affected. The grief people are feeling is legitimate. What isn’t legitimate is the attempt to paint this act of violence as representative of broader political movements or ideologies.

This was not the work of a radicalized twenty-something college student. Nor was it the act of a leftist radical fighting in the name of Marx. The alleged attacker is an Egyptian man in his 40s, who had reportedly been planning this act for over a year; his relationship to the war and its trauma likely looks nothing like that of the average American protester. Attempts to use this incident to demonize the left, to vilify those who’ve spoken up for Palestinians, or to tie this act to pro-Gaza advocacy are not just dishonest; They are calculated and opportunistic at best, and dangerously misleading at worst.

We know what pro-Palestinian advocacy in Boulder and Colorado looks like. We’ve covered it: art exhibits with kites carrying the last words of dead Palestinians killed; a peaceful protest against military contractors, press conferences in Denver where Palestinian community members elevated South Africa’s case, accusing Israel of genocide; a fast last week in protest of starvation in Gaza. The connection between this man and those actions is tenuous at best, and often manufactured by people with an agenda. I point to the many forms Palestinian advocacy has taken in Boulder and Colorado, not to claim there’s a single legitimate way to protest, but to reject the attempt to conflate principled dissent with indiscriminate violence.

Yes, this attack follows the embassy firebombing in D.C., and now some are calling it the start of a violent “pattern.” But what exactly is starting? This pattern of violence didn’t begin last week or the week before; it’s been there all along. It just wasn’t politically convenient to name it until now.

Just last month, Joseph Czuba, an Illinois man, was sentenced to 53 years for murdering a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy simply because he believed all Muslims should die. A few months ago, two people were shot in Miami because the perpetrator was “hunting Palestinians.” And that’s not even touching the violence faced by protestors, like the UCLA students who were brutalized by a masked mob and then shot with rubber bullets by police, or the relentless, daily violence in Gaza and the West Bank. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians. On March 18, 2025, the death toll hit 600 in a single 24-hour period. Four hundred of those were children.

This is not whataboutism. The other instances of violence I’ve mentioned don’t erase what happened in Boulder. They don’t minimize the pain, the horror, or the real human suffering. What they do call into question is the idea that violence is unique to the “left” or somehow inherent to those who support Palestinian liberation. They also expose a painful double standard: the violence inflicted on Gaza and those who advocate against the genocide treated very differently than violence committed against the Jewish community or, more precisely, supporters of Zionism

Has antisemitism risen since October 7th and the discourse that followed? Undoubtedly. And we must take that rise seriously. In many ways, we have. Since the Boulder attack, we’ve seen dozens of think pieces, statements from the governor and president, and swift condemnation. There’s also been heightened scrutiny, and in some cases, outright crackdowns, on anyone who dares to say “Free Palestine.”

I find gratitude in the fact that the Jewish community is supported in moments of grief. What troubles me is how quickly that support is weaponized into suspicion, surveillance, and slander, painting the millions of Americans who’ve marched for Palestinian rights as terrorists or enemies of the state. And I think it’s worth asking: where was this urgency, this outrage, this reflex to protect, when it was Palestinians being bombed and brutalized? Where is it now, as Islamophobia quietly surges? This question feels especially sharp in Boulder, where the city council has passed a declaration condemning antisemitism, but not Islamophobia. These disparities make something clear: for many in power, this moment isn’t just about healing. It isn’t even solely about protecting Boulder’s Jewish community. It’s about who gets to be seen as deserving of protection and who doesn’t. It’s about whose grief moves institutions, and whose grief is ignored. In the end, it’s about power.

Trump used the attack to blame immigrants and justify his authoritarian, hateful immigration policies. Never mind that most mass shootings in this country are carried out by white men, many of whom cite Trump in their manifestos. And now, unsurprisingly, the attacker’s family has been detained by ICE. All of this unfolds against the backdrop of an increasingly aggressive effort to suppress free speech on Palestine. The fact is, Trump and the GOP don’t see this as a tragedy, they see it as an opportunity. A way to seize power by stoking fear. A chance to turn grief into hatred, toward immigrants, toward protesters, toward speech, and toward each other.

Hilary Kalisman, an assistant professor of history and the endowed chair of Israel/Palestine Studies in the Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, wrote in the wake of this moment:

“I hope my community will never face an attack like this again. And I hope, too, that we will avoid becoming political pawns, for Israel’s government or for the current administration. The Middle East is still experiencing devastating violence; while it does, Jews and Palestinians here in the U.S. will both face unpredictable and complicated threats.

To help combat them, we must stop making assumptions of one another. Doing so means finding a space to listen — to do the nuanced work that moments like this can endanger, in our classrooms, our communities, and our country.”

Her words say what I’ve tried to throughout this piece: we can hold grief without surrendering to fear. We can demand justice without becoming pawns. We can protect each other without collapsing into hate.

The post Don’t Let Grief Become A Weapon appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Ring Kissers, Peacekeepers and Revolutionaries: Which Colorado Representatives Stand for the People?

Nina Cicero-Soles — Fri, 30 May 2025 22:56:53 +0000

Editors note: YS serves the Boulder County and North Metro market, thus these are the representatives who won in 2024, in our market. We included Aurora’s Iman Jodeh, because of the active work she does to protect the rights of minorities across the spectrum.

Since tensions began building ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Colorado’s political landscape has grown increasingly polarized. As Donald Trump settles into his second term, the state’s representatives have fallen into three distinct camps: revolutionaries fighting for the people, peacekeepers prioritizing compromise, and those who’ve gone radio silent when Coloradans need their voices most.

At Yellow Scene Magazine, we’ve analyzed the post-inauguration records of Colorado’s key politicians using a clear and consistent lens: voting records, public statements, and legislative action. We looked not only at what these officials say but what they actually do. In particular, we’ve paid close attention to legislation: who prime sponsors bold bills versus who merely co-sponsors them. While co-sponsoring signals support, sponsoring a bill reflects initiative, leadership, and willingness to take the political heat. Our approach lets us cut through rhetoric and ask the real question: Are our politicians actions matching their message?

Who’s leading the resistance, who’s playing it safe, and who’s nowhere to be found? Here’s where Colorado’s leaders stand.

Ring Kissers, Peacekeepers and Revolutionaries

THE REVOLUTIONARIES: Leading the Resistance

Iman Jodeh (D – Aurora)

Represents: Colorado State Senate, District 29

Status: Leading the Charge

Overview:

Since assuming office amid Trump’s inauguration chaos, Jodeh has emerged as Colorado’s most outspoken defender of civil rights. Her legislative record since January reads like a resistance playbook.

Key Areas of Focus:

Federal Resistance & Civil Rights

Sponsored SR25-005: Condemns Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to target non-citizens

Sponsored SB25-276: Aims to protect rights of Coloradan Immigrants

Co-founded the MENASA & Muslim Caucus to combat Islamophobia and defend immigrant rights

Healthcare

SB25-129: Protecting abortion privacy by prohibiting the collection of termination data

SB25-195: Maintaining rural addiction treatment programs threatened by federal cuts

Phil Weiser (D)

Office: Attorney General of Colorado

Status: Taking Trump to Court

Overview:

Weiser isn’t as loud as some of the others in this category, but his legal track record speaks volumes. He is quietly leading some of the state’s most aggressive challenges to Trump’s attacks on the rights of Coloradans.

Key Legal Actions:

Co-leading a multi-state lawsuit with the Governor to challenge Trump’s tariffs

Joined 15+ lawsuits and additional legal challenges against the federal administration

His lawsuits have aimed to protect key rights and services including medical funding, gender-affirming care, worker protections, public education, and birthright citizenship

Junie Joseph (D – Boulder)

Represents: Colorado House, District 10

Status: Fighting for Coloradans

Overview:

Rep. Joseph made history as one of Colorado’s first Haitian-American lawmakers and that background fuels her work. Her recent efforts focus on protecting marginalized communities from renewed federal threats.

Key Areas of Focus:

Social Justice

Sponsored HB25-1204: Increases protection for Native American Children in Colorado

Sponsored HB25-1309: Protects access to gender-affirming care

Led a press conference opposing Trump’s anti-immigration policies

Constituent Feedback: “She does a great job with creating laws that help the whole state, not just the narrow interests of the most privileged.” said one resident on social media.

Jena Griswold (D)

Office: Colorado Secretary of State

Status: Expanding Voting Rights Access

Overview:

Griswold has been a vocal and active defender of voting rights and leveraged her office to oppose federal threats to election integrity.

Key Areas of Focus:

Protecting Constitutional Democracy

Oversaw implementation of a groundbreaking Colorado law requiring in-person voting access for eligible individuals in jails and detention centers

Regularly uses her platform to push back against federal interference in election administration

Publicly denounced Trump’s “Integrity of Elections” executive order and vowed Colorado would not comply

Lorena Garcia (D – Westminster)

Represents: Colorado House, District 35

Status: Bold Online, Rising Offline

Overview:

Garcia is a bold advocate and a consistent presence at community events. While she’s outspoken online and active on the ground, we’re still waiting for a legislative record that matches the energy of her rhetoric.

Key Areas of Focus:

Advocacy

Regularly calls out the administration and posts calls to action

Posts regularly in support of trans and disability rights

Frequents community events, and town halls

Legislative Action

So far, has sponsored only two major bills: one on detainee rights and another supporting trans rights.

THE PEACEKEEPERS: Fence Sitters

These Democrats typically toe the party line, but their leadership often feels lackluster when it matters more. They prioritize maintaining good standing within the party and avoid ruffling feathers. But when the moment calls for bold action, they fall short. At other times, their words and actions don’t align, as they try to cater to both sides and end up pleasing no one.

Judy Amabile (D – Boulder)

Represents: Colorado State Senate, District 18

Status: Focusing on Policy and Finance

Overview:

Judy Amabile brings a steady hand to the legislature, using her legal background to advance thoughtful, finance-focused protections. While she avoids overt political confrontation, her legislative record shows a consistent, if quiet, commitment to vulnerable communities.

Moments of Resistance:

Sponsored SB25-308 which pushes back on Medicaid cuts, defending access to care through budget policy

Co-sponsored targeted protections for immigrants and LGBTQIA2+ residents

Moments of Surrender:

Steers clear of naming federal threats or challenging Trump-era policies directly

No major public leadership on controversial national issues

Focuses on consensus-friendly topics like Mental Health Month Awareness

Jared Polis (D)

Office: Governor of Colorado

Status: Doing Nothing Special

Overview:

Governor Polis talks a good game and acts when it’s convenient but too often, he sides with corporations over Coloradans. He’s willing to act but will rarely risk much.

Moments of Resistance:

Led a multi-state lawsuit with AG Weiser to block Trump’s tariffs, citing harm to businesses and Americans. This comes off the back of his vow “to prevent tariffs that are bad for businesses and all Americans”

Issued an executive order to cut Colorado’s greenhouse emissions by up to 50%, countering federal climate inaction

Moments of Surrender:

Governor Polis is on track to break his veto record often rejecting legislation that would expand rights or protections.

Vetoed HB24-1008: Would have combatted wage theft in construction.

Vetoed HB24-1010 : Would have curbed “white bagging” to give patients more pharmacy access.

Vetoed SB25-005: Would have made Union organization easier

Veto criticized as anti-worker.

Vetoed HB25-1291: Would have required new safety features for ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft.

Constituent Feedback: “There’s a lot going on nationally and I think people want to know that their governor is going to protect the things that are currently being threatened” Colorado Elementary School Paraprofessional, Rose Quinlan

Elliott Hood (D)

Office: CU Regent At-Large

Status: Keeping his head down

Overview:

Elliott Hood has positioned himself as a quiet bureaucrat. While he has supported legal challenges and faculty autonomy, his record is marked by a reluctance to confront controversy. Critics say he’s more concerned with preserving institutional calm than amplifying student voices or taking a principled stand in turbulent times.

Moments of Resistance:

Joined 21 universities in suing the federal government over research restrictions

Urged faculty to remain independent and resist external pressure

Issued statement supporting international student rights, but stopped short of committing to concrete action

Moments of Surrender:

Undermining free speech and academic protest at BU

Been asleep at the wheel as racial tensions escalated over a controversy involving Regent Wanda James and a CU anti-marijuana campaign, failing to address concerns from either side or defend a colleague facing what many call a racist smear campaign

Generally silent on the many big issues effect both the nation and higher education

Joe Neguse (D – North Central Region)

Represents: Colorado House, District 29

Status: Talks Progressive, Votes Moderate, Stays Silent When It Counts

Overview:

Neguse is a prolific legislator, ranked the second most effective Democrat in the 118th House but he’s remained silent on many of the issues his constituents care about most. From Palestine to affordable housing, his record shows caution where courage is needed.

Moments of Resistance:

Supported bills to protect air quality, firefighters, and public lands

Co-sponsored the American Teacher Act to raise teacher pay

Supported moderate reforms like the Keep Americans Safe Act

Moments of Surrender:

Co-sponsored a pro-Israel bill and ignored repeated calls from constituents to speak out against the genocide in Gaza and only issuing a vague statement calling for peace.

Has taken a backseat on Reproductive Rights. He co-sponsored basic access bills, but avoided leading on abortion rights or broader protections.

No major bills centered on Housing or Economic Justice

Co-sponsored rural tax perks, but ignored affordability and inequality.

Constituent Feedback: “He ignores people on issues that are difficult. He takes easy wins, like condemning Trump, but avoids the issues that matter most to the people who put him in office.” – Darren O’Connor

Lesley Smith (D – West Boulder)

Represents: Colorado House, District 49

Status: Concerned with E-Bikes, Not Emergencies

Overview:

Smith plays it safe. While she’s taken a few progressive votes, her legislative focus is overwhelmingly local and non-controversial. Her record reflects a reluctance to challenge national right-wing rollbacks or show bold leadership on broader justice issues.

Moments of Resistance:

Voted for bill to expand funding for immigrant services

Co-sponsored protections for transgender individuals

Moments of surrender:

Lesley’s priorities don’t align with meaningful resistance to the current administration.

Her 2025 bills have focused on issues like e-bike sales, landscaping, leak detection, and muffler regulations

Lesley has a hyperlocal agenda that sidesteps urgent national fights

Kyle Brown (D – East Boulder County)

Represents: Colorado House, District 12

Status: Bold on Trans Rights, Quiet Elsewhere

Overview:

Brown has been a leader in legislation to protect trans rights, but beyond that, his record leans bureaucratic not revolutionary. He has avoided direct confrontations with the federal administration and remained silent when it mattered most.

Moments of Resistance:

Prime sponsor for bills protecting access to gender-affirming care and ensuring death certificates reflect preferred pronouns.

Legislative focus on bureaucratic improvements like insurance regulation and health cost transparency.

Moments of Surrender:

Most other bills focus on non-controversial Health & Human Services issues.

No strong public stance against federal overreach

No press releases, no mention of the administration on Instagram since January and little to no Facebook presence.

Jenny Willford (D – Thornton)

Represents: Colorado House, District 34

Status: Staying the Course While the Stakes Rise

Overview:

Willford is quietly shaping strong, forward-looking legislation on public safety, environmental reform, and workers’ rights. But while her policy record is solid, she’s yet to channel that leadership into bold resistance to federal threats or visible advocacy on national crises.

Moments of Resistance:

Sponsored HB25-1291, targeting sexual assault prevention in ride-sharing apps

Sponsored HB25-1300, expanding access to medical care for injured workers

Co-sponsored bills expanding access to gender-affirming care and improving public education

Moments of Surrender:

None of her six prime-sponsored bills directly confront federal overreach

Silent on Trump-era authoritarianism and federal policy threats

No public leadership on resistance efforts or racial justice legislation

Brittany Pettersen (D – Jefferson County)

Represents: Colorado House, District 7

Status: Talking Big, Delivering Small

Moments of Resistance:

Publicly condemned Trump and Elon Musk’s USAID power grab as “unprecedented” and “unhinged.”

Pledged to “do everything I can” to fight back but has only introduced low-impact bills stuck in committee.

Moments of Surrender:

Focused on symbolic resolutions over substantive policy

Has continued to accept donations from AIPAC and resisted discussion of the genocide in Gaza

No major legislative accomplishments to date

THE PEACEKEEPERS: Radio Silent

Missing Action, and staying out of the fray: A different flavor of peacekeeper that tends to be either engaged with smaller easier issues, or not engaged at all.

Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D- Lafayette–Longmont–Erie)

Represents: Colorado House, District 17

Status: Waving the White Flag

Overview:

Resigned Feb. 17, 2025

Lewis’s sudden departure left Longmont-Lafayette without representation during a critical legislative stretch. Her resignation followed an investigation into her treatment of aides, and it dealt a blow to the communities she represented as a member of both the LGBTQ and formerly the Democratic Latino caucuses.

Jason Crow (D – Central Colorado)

Represents: Colorado House, District 6

Status: Playing It Safe with Patriotic Posturing

Overview:

Crow leans on his credibility with veterans and anti-corruption rhetoric but shies away from louder, riskier fights. He talks tough in town halls, yet his public record shows a preference for consensus and silence on divisive issues.

Moments of Resistance:

Strongly condemned Trump’s move to dismantle USAID, asserting it exceeded presidential authority.

At a 2025 town hall, promised to defend the community against any political threat “with every ounce of my being.”

Introduced a bipartisan bill to strengthen VA health benefits for veteran firefighters.

Moments of Surrender:

Prioritizes bipartisan, non-controversial issues.

No press releases addressing Trump since his return to office.

Condemned Hamas, but silent on Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Shannon Bird (D – Broomfield)

Represents: Colorado House, District 29

Status: Steady and Strategic

Overview:

Bird is a Democrat who balances the party line, doing consistent and meaningful legislative work without stepping into controversy. She’s a respected advocate for education, criminal justice reform, and equity but stays out of the national spotlight and avoids direct confrontation with federal overreach.

Moments of Resistance:

Sponsored HB25-1278, which shortens and expands access to state tests, updates accountability rules, and improves education equity.

Sponsored HB25-1146, which ensures sufficient juvenile detention capacity in line with annual projections.

Prime sponsor on a variety of bills advancing social justice and equity

Moments of Surrender:

Minimal direct pushback on federal policies beyond HB25-1321, which opposes federal funding cuts.

No public statements or social media criticism of Trump or federal overreach.

No public opposition to Trump policies or direct call-outs on social

Lindsey Daugherty (D – Westminster)

Represents: Colorado Senate, District 19

Status: Picking her Battles

Overview:

Daugherty has taken a safe and calculated approach—passing broadly supported bills while steering clear of controversy. Despite representing a district with one of the highest Hispanic populations in the state, she has mostly avoided immigration issues, focusing instead on symbolic reforms and tech-friendly legislation.

Moments of Resistance:

Supported tech focused initiatives.

Sponsored SB25-298: removes “homosexuality” from the Colorado Criminal Code, a symbolic but meaningful step.

Moments of Surrender:

Sponsored or co-sponsored 30 bills, but only cosponsored a single bill related to immigration despite representing a district that’s 25% Hispanic.

Moderate, quiet stance on economic justice and structural inequality

Manny Rutinel (D – Adams)

Represents: Colorado House, District 32

Status: All Optics, No Opposition

Overview:

Rutinel stays visible in the district but avoids hard stances. Despite representing a heavily immigrant community, he’s chosen silence over confrontation and symbolism over substance.

Moments of Resistance:

Prioritizes being active in the community through regular office hours and local engagement

Voted yes on a modest pro-trans bill, his lone step into contentious territory

Moments of Surrender:

No pushback on Trump via social media, press releases, or legislation

Sponsored just four bills mostly low-risk and uncontroversial topics

Silent on immigration, despite high-need demographics

William Lindstedt (D – Broomfield/Brighton)

Represents: Colorado House, District 33

Status: Missing in Action

Overview:

Lindstedt has stayed quiet while federal threats mount, offering little in the way of legislation or advocacy.

Moments of Surrender:

No bill sponsorships directly challenging federal overreach or Trump-era priorities.

Rarely engages publicly minimal social media presence or statements.

Legislative focus centers on low-conflict consumer protection and tax incentives, including marijuana licensing reforms and business tax credits

KISSING THE RING: Political Prowess Over The People

Jacque Phillips (D – Thorton)

Represents: Colorado State Senate, District 31

Status: Cracking down on Protestors

Overview:

Jacque Phillips isn’t just absent; she’s actively alienating her base. While she avoids public accountability and stays silent on national threats, her legislative energy has gone toward sponsoring a bill that would increase criminal penalties for refusing to leave property when ordered by police, a move constituents say would chill peaceful protest and protect state power over civil rights

Moments of Surrender:

Sponsored HB25-1142 which would have raised penalties for protest-related trespassing, widely interpreted as a direct threat to First Amendment rights

Has not publicly addressed criticisms. deflects questions to private emails or ignores them in public forums

Constituent Feedback:

“Every time I have seen someone question her about this in a public forum, she tells them to email her privately about it. She’s in a Facebook group called Thornton for Progress and her response there was a nightmare.” – one local wrote on Reddit

“These people know they can’t just straight up outlaw protesting, so they make laws around it to essentially make it illegal.” – another resident commented

John Hickenlooper (D)

Represents: United States House

Status: Compromising with Extremism

Overview:

From backing Trump-era cabinet picks to aligning with GOP foreign policy, Hickenlooper has chosen comfort over confrontation even as Colorado voters push for progressive leadership.

Moments of Resistance:

Called Trump’s tariff policies “reckless,” citing their damage to Colorado’s small businesses.

Co-sponsored bipartisan bills protecting medicated abortion access (e.g., Mifepristone).

Supported legislation to combat climate change and address Western wildfire

Moments of Surrender:

Voted against a resolution condemning U.S. aid to Israel during its assault on Gaza.

Confirmed 8 of Trump’s 21 cabinet picks, second highest among Democrats.

Voted with the Trump agenda on ~25% of roll calls, the highest rate in the Democratic caucus.

This despite the fact he is representing a state that chose Harris by 11% in the 2024 election

Michael Bennet (D)

Represents: United States Senate

Status: Giving Performative Pushback

Overview:

Bennet talks like a bold advocate for change but votes like a centrist in crisis. While he occasionally criticizes the party’s failures, he’s been more useful to Trump than Coloradans might expect, from backing fossil fuel allies to voting in lockstep with cabinet confirmations.

Moments of Resistance:

Publicly expressed being “furious” over Democratic inaction against Trump.

Doesn’t often go beyond party line progressive

Moments of Surrender:

Voted “Nay” on a resolution to halt U.S. aid to Israel during its assault on Gaza.

Confirmed 10 of Trump’s 21 cabinet picks —the highest rate of any Democrat.

Co-endorsed alongside Hickenlooper fracking executive Chris Wright for Energy Secretary, defying environmental priorities of Colorado voters.

Champions bipartisanship, even when it waters down resistance.

Constituent Feedback:

“I don’t feel represented, and it’s frustrating to see them not standing up for their constituents and their communities. I would like to see them take more of a stand against the administration and not bow down.” Northern Colorado Resident, Zara Noonan

Barbara Kirkmeyer (R – Larimer and Weld County)

Represents: Colorado State Senate, District 23

Status: Falling in Line

Overview:

Barbara Kirkmeyer talks bipartisanship but consistently defers to federal GOP priorities. She has actively discouraged resistance to Trump-era overreach, embracing a political strategy of appeasement masked as cooperation.

Moments of Surrender:

Backed Trump’s immigration crackdowns and supported federal budget cuts

Dismissed local resistance, telling Colorado not to “poke the bear”

Opposed welfare expansion and criticized COVID-19 prevention efforts

Frequent bipartisan co-sponsor, but votes in line with federal GOP goals

Dan Woog (R – Boulder and Weld County)

Represents: Colorado House, District 19

Status: Quietly Crusading Against Progress

Overview:

Dan Woog is a reliable voice for GOP orthodoxy, pushing a tough-on-crime, anti-climate agenda while avoiding public scrutiny. He actively blocks progressive policy and leans into right-wing priorities, without ever challenging Trump’s platform or legacy.

Moments of Surrender:

Helped kill a greenhouse gas disclosure bill by voting to “indefinitely postpone” it

Backed legislation defending natural gas usage and resisting decarbonization efforts

No public criticism of Trump, aligning instead with standard GOP talking points

Loud on law enforcement, silent on climate, consistently backing pro-GOP staples like economic growth through deregulation and carceral expansion

Gabe Evans (R – Adams & Weld County)

Represents: Colorado State Senate, District 8

Status: Bootlicking

Overview:

Gabe Evans has made a name for himself as a loyal enforcer of the Trump agenda, backing policies that expand federal control and erode local protections. He avoids constituent engagement while pushing legislation that aligns Colorado more closely with anti-immigrant and authoritarian federal tactics.

Moments of Surrender:

Sponsored the UPLIFT Act, gutting Colorado’s sanctuary policies and forcing local compliance with federal immigration enforcement

Refuses to hold in-person town halls, shutting out constituent voices

Mobilizes federal resources to expand local policing power

Praised Trump’s Justice Department lawsuit against CO in a press release

Publicly endorsed Trump’s tariffs, calling them “fair trade”

Silent on Trump-era rollbacks of climate protections and civil rights

Cast the deciding vote to defund Medicaid in the House budget reconciliation bill

Analysis – The Stakes for Colorado

As Trump’s administration escalates attacks on environmental protections, voting rights, and immigrant communities, Colorado’s political response has been uneven—and at times, underwhelming. While leaders like Sen. Jodeh and Rep. Joseph have set a new standard for bold, unapologetic resistance, others remain stuck in a loop of performative gestures and political caution.

“If you’re a representative under Trump, you need to be bold,” says organizer O’Connor. “Representatives like Neguse are careful and calculating and that does not serve constituents.”

A geographic fault line is clear: Denver-area lawmakers lead the fight, while many suburban and rural Democrats sidestep confrontation. In Boulder, some leverage policy expertise to push back quietly while others fall disturbingly silent, especially on international crises impacting local communities.

Three Distinct Camps Emerge

The Revolutionaries: Driving proactive legislation, showing up in communities, and calling out injustice directly.

The Peacekeepers: Cautious moderates who resist selectively, avoid controversy, and stay inoffensive.

The Ring-Kissers: Deferring to power, hiding behind bipartisanship, and putting career over constituents.

What This Means for Colorado

With the 2026 midterms on the horizon, voters in Colorado face a critical choice: reward bold resistance or settle for political safety. As one Westminster resident put it bluntly at a recent town hall:

“Democracy is under threat. Can we afford representatives who won’t fight for us?”

The answer could define not only Colorado’s political future but the resilience of resistance across the country.

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.

The post Ring Kissers, Peacekeepers and Revolutionaries: Which Colorado Representatives Stand for the People? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

New Senate Bills Aims to Shore Up Immigration Protections Under Mounting Concerns

Ray Manzari — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 18:25:30 +0000

The scope and reach of the Trump administration’s willingness to weaponize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport people who have caused “political dissent” has left many understandably concerned. Senate Bill 25-276, titled “Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status,” aims to strengthen civil rights protections for individuals in Colorado, regardless of their immigration status.

The bill sets restrictions on state and law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agencies and protects the immigration status of individuals looking to access basic services. The bill’s 7 key provisions are broken down below:

Elimination of Immigration Affidavit Requirements
Previously, individuals without lawful immigration status were required to submit affidavits when applying for in-state tuition or driver’s licenses, affirming their intent to seek legal status. This bill removes those affidavit requirements, simplifying access to these services.?
Restrictions on Law Enforcement Collaboration with Federal Immigration Authorities
The bill prohibits law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining individuals solely based on federal immigration detainer requests. It also bars jail officials from delaying the release of individuals who have posted bonds to facilitate immigration enforcement operations.?
Protection of Personal Information
State agencies and their employees are currently restricted in collecting and sharing personal identifying information. This bill extends those restrictions to local government entities and their employees, enhancing privacy protections.?
Access Limitations to Public Facilities
Federal immigration authorities are prohibited from accessing non-public areas in public institutions such as schools, childcare centers, and healthcare facilities without a judicial warrant. This measure aims to protect the privacy and rights of individuals within these facilities.?
Right to Challenge Certain Convictions
The bill expands the ability for individuals to petition courts to vacate guilty pleas for certain misdemeanors and petty offenses if they were not properly informed about the immigration consequences of their pleas.?
Mandatory Institutional Policies
By September 1, 2025, public institutions covered by this bill must establish clear policies regarding interactions with federal immigration authorities. These policies should outline procedures for handling information requests and designate staff responsible for compliance.?
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Institutions that intentionally violate the provisions of this bill may face civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation. Funds collected from these penalties will be directed to the Immigration Legal Defense Fund.

Senate Bill 25-276 expands on the protections established by the 2019 “Protect Colorado Residents From Federal Government Overreach Act” by broadening restrictions on local cooperation with federal immigration authorities and strengthening civil rights protections for all residents, regardless of immigration status. While the earlier law limited law enforcement’s ability to honor federal immigration detainers, SB25-276 extends those restrictions to all law enforcement and adds prohibitions against sharing or collecting personal immigration-related information without legal cause.

It also bars public institutions like schools and hospitals from allowing federal immigration agents access to non-public areas without a judicial warrant, ensures individuals can challenge certain convictions if they weren’t informed of immigration consequences, mandates clear institutional policies on handling federal immigration requests, and imposes penalties up to $50,000 for violations—redirecting those funds to an Immigration Legal Defense Fund.

The introduction of this bill comes after the arrest and detainment of Immigration rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra. A petition for her release has over 13,000 signatures, and several protests have been held outside the ICE facility in Aurora where she is being held.

Earlier this month, Columbia student and organizer of last Spring’s pro-Palestinian student-led protests, Mahmoud Khalil, was arrested despite being a green card holder. His arrest was made when federal agents entrapped him during a phony citizenship test. Department of Homeland Security officials claimed that if Khalil had mentioned his intentions to protest on his citizenship applications, he would have never been allowed into the country in the first place.

In Maryland, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was wrongfully arrested and deported to El Salvador, despite having a court order that specifically specified that he not be sent back to his home country due to the risk of violence at the hands of gang members who had been threatening his family. A federal immigration lawyer later admitted this was done in error, and the SCOTUS ruled to reverse the deportation immediately. Both the admin and El Salvador claim they are powerless to bring Garcia back.

Most recently, Trump has mentioned the idea of sending “homegrown,” ie, American citizens, to the prison camp in El Salvador. The Terrorism Confinement Center (Spanish: Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, abbreviated as CECOT) is a maximum security prison that was built in 2022. A 60-minute report found that of 238 Venezuelan migrants recently sent to CECOT, 75% had no criminal record, and at least 22% of the men had non-violent offenses such as theft, shoplifting, and trespassing.

Sponsors of SB 25-276 declined to comment when asked if the bill was in direct response to recent events at the federal level.

The post New Senate Bills Aims to Shore Up Immigration Protections Under Mounting Concerns appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Trump v. Colorado: AG Phil Weiser Challenges Trump’s Executive Orders

Jason Collins — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 17:24:05 +0000

During the first days of Donald Trump back in the White House, the country has been hit by a wave of executive orders that threaten to dismantle LGBTQ+ protections, especially in states like Colorado, which are known for being one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly states in the country.

But Colorado’s local government is not letting Trump bulldoze over blue-led strongholds. Attorney General Phil Weiser is leading the charge on a legal blitz to block Trump’s actions from hurting the state.

According to Axios Denver, the state already had been in Trump’s line of sight with vows of starting deportation in Aurora. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston made a pledge to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation, drawing more attention to the state. This resulted in the federal government investigating Denver’s policies and threatening Denver’s sanctuary city policies.

State law prohibits local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities to remove illegal immigrants, which currently goes against Trump’s mass deportation orders.

But Johnston doesn’t regret his actions. Axios Denver reports that Johnston issued a warning to lawmakers in Washington that the state will “stand our ground if our residents are under threat,” he said. “We’re not going to be bullied or blackmailed.”

Despite Johnston’s warning, the bullying tactics continue. In January, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights announced it would be investigating Denver Public Schools’ gender-neutral bathrooms. The department claimed this investigation was prompted by alarming reports that the Denver Public Schools District was denying female students a restroom comparable to males.

Chalkbeat Colorado shared the Denver Public Schools District’s statement. The district reiterated that the restroom was added “as the result of a student-led process that reflects our commitment to inclusivity and student voice, leadership, and empowerment, providing a welcoming space for all.” The district added, “This restroom serves all students, including those who may feel uncomfortable in gender-specific facilities, and aligns with our values of supporting every student.”

It should be noted that the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights failed to mention in its announcement that Denver schools do provide designated restrooms for female and male students. Known for having the nation’s first elected gay governor, Colorado has been a leader in supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Gender-neutral restrooms within public schools, which are a testament to that support, are now under threat from Trump.

In response to Trump’s executive orders and inference into Denver’s LGBTQ+ policies, Attorney General Phil Wieser is putting Colorado on the front lines with numerous lawsuits. On behalf of the state, he has joined at least 11 lawsuits from attorney generals across 21 states. Two of the most important lawsuits are about federal challenges the state is currently facing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Colorado Attorney General (@coag_philweiser)

The state filed a lawsuit with three others to void Trump’s order that ended federal spending on hospitals providing gender-affirming care and, in the process, criminalized doctors who assisted in these services.

This lawsuit resulted in a win for Weiser and the state as services resumed, and the Colorado Sun reported that Weiser said if Trump’s order was allowed to stand, it would have caused “irreversible physical and mental health harms for transgender youth” and added, “Gender-affirming care is legally protected health care in Colorado, and with this lawsuit, Colorado hospitals will again be free to provide critical care.”

As a sanctuary city, Trump’s executive order to end citizenship for U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants threatens the city. Weiser’s lawsuit argues that citizenship is protected by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. In a statement, Wesier said, “The executive order cannot be allowed to stand, and I will fight to ensure that all who are born in the United States keep their right to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges.”

This ban will not only strip individuals of their basic rights but also cause states to lose federal funding that provides basic rights.

The legal battles waged by Wesier on behalf of Colorado highlight how blue states are fighting Trump’s efforts to reshape national policies. From protecting sanctuary city policies to fighting for LGBTQ+ rights, Colorado refuses to back down.

The post Trump v. Colorado: AG Phil Weiser Challenges Trump’s Executive Orders appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Bernie Sanders and AOC Take Over Denver Civic Center Park

Associate Editor — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 02:07:53 +0000

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been drawing huge crowds on their recently launched Fight Oligarchy tour. Beginning in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 21st, the tour has since stopped in several states across the Midwest, and plans to visit the rest of the country are underway. On Friday, March 21st, the pair visited both Greely, Colorado and Denver, drawing an estimated 30,000 to the state’s capitol.

Below is a gallery of photos captured by Yellow Scene Magazine’s photographers, Ray Manzari (Assoc. Editor), Duston Doskocil (house photographer), and Vince Chandler (associate extraordinaire).

Photo by Dustin Doskocil

Photo by Ray Manzari

Photo by Dustin Doskocil

Musical act Xiuhtezcatl performs for crowd at Civic Center park on Friday.

Photo by Ray Manzari

Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7, addresses crowd of thousands.

Photo by Ray Manzari

Photo by Dustin Doskocil

Alvaro Bedoya, former FTC Commissioner, who was recently illegally fired by Trump, gave a galvanizing speech on Friday.

Photo by Vince Chandler

Photo by Ray Manzari

Jimmy Williams, President of IUPAT, calls out Democratic leaders for decades of anti-union policies.

Photo by Vince Chandler

Photo by Ray Manzari

Rep. AOC opens for Bernie Sanders.

Photo by Ray Manzari

Photo by Dustin Doskocil

Photo by Vince Chandler

Photo by Ray Manzari

Sen. Sanders joins AOC on stage.

Photo by Dustin Doskocil

Photo by Vince Chandler

Photo by Ray Manzari

Photo by Vince Chandler

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.

The post Bernie Sanders and AOC Take Over Denver Civic Center Park appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

“Is Protesting a Deportable Offense?”

Ray Manzari — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 23:18:02 +0000

DHS Arrests Columbia Student Who Led Pro-Palestinian Protests Last Spring

Palestinian-American Mahmoud Khalil, who played a critical role in the student-led protests at Columbia last Spring, has been arrested and detained by Federal immigration agents for the crime of criticizing Israel.

According to his lawyer, Amy Greer, Khalil was inside his university-owned apartment on Saturday night when ICE agents entered and detained him. Originally, it was believed that Khalil was in the country on a student visa, which ICE agents claimed would be revoked; however, when Greer informed agents that he was an American citizen with a green card, they said they’d be revoking that instead.

This comes as a direct response to Trump’s executive order to combat anti-Semitism. A spokesperson for Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed that the arrest was directly connected to Khalil’s involvement in the protests, alleging he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

Outraged by the blatant violation of Khalil’s constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, the activist group Jewish Voice for Peace occupied the New York Trump Tower earlier today. The group said it was “taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal.”

“We will not stand by as this fascist regime attempts to criminalize Palestinians and all those calling for an end to the Israeli government’s US-funded genocide of the Palestinian people,” the group said in a post on X.

Of the 150 protestors occupying Trump Tower, NYPD arrested 98. Kaz Daughtry, the deputy mayor for public safety, said on Fox News that there were no injuries and all the protesters had been removed from the building.

Perhaps most troubling was the lack of clarification given by the Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar when pressed by NPR journalist Michel Martin to explain exactly what Khalil’s crimes were.

See an excerpt of the interview below:

Martin: Is any criticism of the government a deportable offense?

Edgar: Let me put it this way, Michel, imagine if he came in and filled out the form and said, ‘I want a student visa.’ They asked him, ‘What are you going to do here?’ And he says, ‘I’m going to go and protest.’ We would have never let him into the country.

Martin: Is protesting a deportable offense?

Edgar: You’re focused on protests. I’m focused on the visa process. He went through a legal process …

Political commentator and Twitch Streamer Hasan Piker, a staunch advocate for Palestinian emancipation, felt that Deputy Secretary Edgar purposefully kept his answers vague.

“What makes you think tomorrow they’re not going to do this [to] gay students, trans students, Black students, anything they want,” Piker said on his live stream. “What makes you think they’re not gonna do this because [schools] have too much DEI, for example. That’s also an intentionally vague definition.”

This sentiment echoes another point in history, one best described by the famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

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The post “Is Protesting a Deportable Offense?” appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

SCOTUS Will Hear Case Challenging Colorado’s Conversion Therapy Ban

Ray Manzari — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 22:38:24 +0000

The far-right-packed Supreme Court will hear a case that challenges Colorado’s ban on the practice of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is defined as the practice of attempting to change one’s sexual orientation or gender identity and has been found to cause serious psychological harm to those who are subjected to it.

Bans of the harmful practice began cropping up across the country in 2013 after a U.S. court of appeals ruled that therapy is a form of professional conduct and, therefore, not protected as free speech. Colorado joined 18 other states, four in that year alone, in banning the practice of conversion therapy.

Today, 30 U.S. states have conversation therapy bans in place, but those could be challenged, depending on the ruling from the Supreme Court, expected in 2026. The challenge is being brought by the conservative law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) on behalf of Kaley Chiles. The suit argues that Chiles, who practices therapy in Colorado Springs, is limited in what she can say to clients who want to “affirm their biological gender and sexual orientation.”

ADF has been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and has supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the U.S. and abroad, defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad, stated that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia, and claimed that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society.

Colorado Springs Councilor, Kaley Chiles

In interviews and podcasts, Chiles claims she is fighting a “censorship” law that infringes on her free speech. This line of argument has quickly become a conservative dog whistle for any law or policy that stops them from publically spreading hate speech or discriminating against queer people. Similar suits filed by the ADF utilizing this tactic have been successful in Colorado, such as the Christian graphic artist who refused to create marriage websites for same-sex couples.

Organizations such as the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have condemned the practice of conversion therapy on the basis of negative mental health effects, such as depression and suicide, that often come from attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The United Nations Human Rights Council classifies the practice as tantamount to torture.

The Supreme Court rejected to hear a similar case in 2023, also filed by the ADF, against Washington State’s less strict ban on conversion therapy on persons under the age of 18. The law also contains a carve-out for conversion therapy practices “under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious organization.”

Legal Journalist Mark Joseph Stern suggested that while the 2023 decision was technically a win for LGBTQ+ rights in the movement, it could spell danger for the ban in the future, like what we’re seeing now.

“Why didn’t Roberts, Gorsuch, or Barrett cast the fourth vote to take up the conversion therapy case? Maybe to avoid another controversial dispute, or maybe because Washington State identified a standing problem that makes this case an imperfect vehicle.” Stern wrote on X in 2023.

Does this mean Chiles’ case is a better vehicle for the court’s anti-gay agenda? States with bans on conversion therapy have often argued that free speech is not a valid defense against malpractice. Lawyers, doctors, and even therapists cannot argue that telling clients to commit crimes or engage in abusive practices falls under their right to free speech.

Whether the SCOTUS will keep the ban in place or strike it down as an infringement of free speech will likely come down to language in the 2018 case, NIFLA v. Becerra. NIFLA contains arguments that can be utilized by both sides, such as “speech is not unprotected merely because it is uttered by ‘professionals,’” which will certainly come in handy for the ADF. However, the NIFLA ruling also says, “[s]tates may regulate professional conduct, even though that conduct incidentally involves speech,” and it added that regulations of professional malpractice “fall within the traditional purview of state regulation of professional conduct.”

How will the court rule in hearing this case, and more importantly, how will Democrats protect LGBTQ minors in their states should the ban be lifted?

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The post SCOTUS Will Hear Case Challenging Colorado’s Conversion Therapy Ban appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Tesla Takedown Hits Superior, CO as Nationwide Movement Kicks Off – March 1, 2025

redtornado — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 05:27:46 +0000

You know that feeling when you’ve been in a relationship with a dreamy, charismatic billionaire, only to realize they’re actually an empty shell of a human being—and extremely toxic?

Maybe that’s how Americans felt today. But let’s be real—many saw the toxicity long before the breakup. The relationship with America is over, Elon. You blew it. She doesn’t want you back.

Tesla Takedown, Superior CO, March 1, 2025, photo credit: BlueSky: Jose-Luis Jimenez

Hundreds gathered in Superior, Colorado, at the Tesla dealership today for the national #TeslaTakedown protest, and the message was loud and clear. Instead of backlash, protesters were met with cheers and supportive honks from passersby, proving just how many people are ready to say goodbye.

The protest remained peaceful, even joyful, as demonstrators sent a message to the world’s most infamous narcissist: It’s over.

BlueSky Post

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has initiated mass layoffs, over 200,000 federal employees across various federal agencies. Notably, the Department of the Interior saw 2,300 employees dismissed, including 1,000 from the National Park Service, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, has cut 405 employees, with the majority coming from FEMA, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lost 388 staff members. These abrupt firings have sparked widespread concern about their legality and impact.

Trump orders more layoffs, Musk touts cuts at cabinet meeting – Reuters

We all suffer from federal workforce cuts – Southern Environmental Law Center

As The Hill puts it, Congress needs to put DOGE in a time-out. Marshall Ramsey’s editorial cartoon, “Sorry, Sir,” nails it—Air Force One soars as figures parachute out, with a speech bubble reading, “Sorry, sir, DOGE accidentally fired all the pilots.” It’s a sharp jab at Musk’s reckless mass firings, but the reality isn’t so funny. It’s not just federal workers being tossed out—it’s a gut punch to the entire economy. With key agencies gutted, industries disrupted, and consumer confidence shaken, we’re all in freefall. The question is: Who’s left to land the plane?

Tesla Dealership, March 1, 2025, photo credit: Jose-Luis Jimenez_Blue-Sky

When it feels like there’s nothing left to do, remember—your economic power is great. Get involved.

Tesla Takedown Movement motto:
• Sell Your Tesla
• Dump Your Stock
• Stop Musk Now!

Learn more: www.teslatakedown.com, or on BlueSky, or Facebook. We pretty much quit X, so if you are on X, you know how to find it.

We strongly encourage shopping locally at times like this.

**Find additional resources at yellowscene.com:**

How to Decorporatize Your Groceries

Ethics Are Alive and Well in America’s Small Business Community: 25 Businesses that are 25 Years or Older

Best of the West 2025

Get more Tesla Takedown News here on Blue Sky. You can also find Tesla Takedown coverage by local documentary photographer Chris Goodwin of desrowVISUALS.

photo credit:
ChrisGoodwin/desrowVISUALS

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 25 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four more.

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.

The post Tesla Takedown Hits Superior, CO as Nationwide Movement Kicks Off – March 1, 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Will Trump’s Executive Orders Hold Up in Court?

Julie River — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 02:42:57 +0000

After Donald J. Trump was sworn back into the office of President on Tuesday, he immediately went to work trying to single-handedly rewrite the law by issuing a flurry of very controversial executive orders aimed at everything from transgender rights to the death penalty to birthright citizenship. The problem with Trump’s executive orders is the fact that the government doesn’t work that way. The U.S. government has a series of checks and balances like the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches that ensure that no one person has too much power and, were it possible to simply sign an executive order into instant law, those checks and balances wouldn’t be that effective. Any president would have the power of a monarch or a dictator, which is the exact opposite of what the Presidency of the United States is supposed to be.

What is an Executive Order?

The American Bar Association (ABA) defines an executive order as, “a signed, written, and published directive from the President of the United States that manages operations of the federal government.” While it’s true that Congress can’t overturn an executive order, it’s also true that executive orders aren’t really laws. Rather, they are directions on how the federal government is supposed to interpret and enforce existing laws. As the UMASS Amherst Library points out, executive orders are only applicable to employees of the federal government and they can be challenged in court after the fact.

The Constitution of the United States actually doesn’t have any stipulations that say that presidents have the power to issue executive orders, and yet every president (except William Henry Harrison, who died after a month in office) has issued executive orders, almost as a matter of tradition. George Washington issued the first executive order on June 8, 1789 when Congress had yet to establish executive departments and the old Confederation departments were in place that Washington didn’t have a lot of information on. So his first executive order was a request for information to acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay. It read: “For this purpose I wish to receive in writing such a clear account of the Department at the head of which you have been, as may be sufficient (without overburdening or confusing a mind which has very many objects to claim its attention at the same instant) to impress me with a full, precise & distinct general idea of the United States, so far as they are comprehended in, or connected with that Department.” Washington subsequently sent additional copies of the same letter to the fledgling nation’s acting Secretary of War, Board of Treasury, and acting Postmaster General.

For the most part, that’s what executive orders have been used for: minor things, formalities, instructions on procedure, etc. In 2009, Barack Obama signed an executive order saying that the federal government had to take stronger leadership in preventing texting while driving. He signed another executive order that year establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls. Bill Clinton signed an executive order in 1993 establishing a President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities within the Department of Education. A lot of executive orders are about establishing committees or establishing a priority within the government, and rarely do they make sweeping changes. That being said, it’s not entirely unheard of for an executive order, in rare circumstances, to make a major change like the ones that Trump is proposing. The most famous executive order in history, officially called Proclamation 95, certainly implemented sweeping changes on a grand scale. You might have heard of it under a different name, though: The Emancipation Proclamation.

During his first term, Donald Trump tried to do a lot of governing through executive order, and a lot of them were struck down by the courts. The difference now is that the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court of the United States, is heavily conservative with three justices who were appointed by Trump. It’s possible that Trump thinks that he’ll fare better this time around with a court that’s mostly in his own pocket. But a lot of the executive orders that Trump has issued so far stand on extremely shaky legal ground, such that it’s hard to imagine a court, no matter how biased, ever upholding these orders. The best example is Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship which seems unlikely to be held up by any court.

Can Trump revoke birthright citizenship?

The most flagrantly unconstitutional order that Trump signed on Tuesday is titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The order attempts to deny citizenship to those born in the United States whose parents are not United States citizens. If you feel like there’s something wrong with that idea, then you’re right because it’s a blatant violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The executive order tries to get around the entire 14th Amendment by playing with the ambiguity of the term “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” and trying to make that out to mean that only those born to U.S. citizens meet the qualifications of being born in the United States and being subject to the jurisdiction thereof. The ACLU explains that, under current interpretation of the law, the only people considered not to be “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are foreign diplomats who are protected by diplomatic immunity.

The only thing that can override a constitutional amendment is another constitutional amendment, such as the 21st amendment which was made to nullify the 18th amendment, thus ending prohibition. Executive orders certainly don’t have the power to overturn a constitutional amendment, especially considering how flimsy the power of an executive order truly is.

Can the courts uphold the executive order?

The ACLU has already launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging this order, as have 22 different states. It seems likely that any judge with even the slightest bit of integrity would strike down such an executive order, but with so much of the Supreme Court indebted to Trump, is it possible that the SCOTUS is so corrupt they might uphold a clearly unconstitutional order?

One thing to keep in mind is that, while three of the justices on the SCOTUS are Trump appointees, all three of them have defected from the conservative wing of the court on at least one occasion. In the trio of cases in 2019 which established that someone couldn’t be fired from a job due to sexual orientation or gender identity, Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch voted with the liberal wing in favor of LGBTQ+ rights. Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh voted with the liberal wing of the court in gerrymandering case Moore v. Harper and in the case of Allen v. Milligan about voting discrimination against Black people, leading SCOTUSBlog to label him the court’s “center.” And Trump’s third appointee, Amy Coney Barrett, dealt Trump a major disappointment when she voted with the liberal wing against delaying Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case. Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, has also been known to vote with the liberal wing from time to time. Now, none of that is a guarantee of anything, but it would seem that all of Trump’s appointees have at least some allegiance towards something other than voting along party lines, which means they have at least a shred of integrity. And, while I have no doubt that Justices Alito and Thomas will stay in lock-step with Trump, I don’t see something as preposterous as single-handedly tearing down a constitutional amendment ever being taken seriously in a courtroom.

So where does that leave us?

So, while it’s very likely that Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order will be struck down, his other executive orders have been only slightly less preposterous. Almost all of them are a clear overreach of what the executive order is supposed to be capable of, but I’m a little less certain that a conservative court will see it that way regarding transgender rights, for example. Still, I expect some, if not many, of Trump’s executive orders will not survive judicial scrutiny. At the very least, I think the 14th Amendment is safe.

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.

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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.

The post Will Trump’s Executive Orders Hold Up in Court? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Substance Use Disorder in Colorado Part 1: Theories of Cause and Recovery

Lexi Miller — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 19:35:24 +0000

“The first time I tried alcohol, I was a teenager, and it immediately made everything feel better,” says Brook Jajczyk, a thirty-five-year-old single mother to twins. “A lot contributed to it becoming addicted; I had experienced trauma and a family history of substance use and mental health, and drinking helped me escape,” Jajczyk says that she went from a studious, college-bound student to a daily drinker, which evolved into using other substances.

“Everything got progressively worse,” Jajczyk recounts, “I did not live up to my potential: because of addiction, I did not go to college, I found myself in situations that resulted in more trauma, I ruined relationships and my career. I just kept digging myself into deeper and deeper holes with no clear solution.”

Jajczyk found sobriety when pregnant with her twins. She had suffered miscarriages previously and described her successful pregnancy as her “white picket moment.” She was sober for the eight months she was carrying the children and continued to abstain through breast-feeding the pair. However, motherhood comes with countless stressors, and for extraverted Jajczyk, she found herself struggling with isolation. At six months, dealing with severe postpartum depression, she began to drink once again.

Unfortunately, Jajcyzk’s experience is not unique, with one in seven birth-giving individuals experiencing postpartum depression, and fifteen percent of whom find themselves engaging in binge drinking or elicit substance use to deal with the pain.

Over the next several years, Jajczyk would continue to search for sobriety, only to get knocked down by life events, such as a car accident that left her with a traumatic brain injury. Finally, in 2021, she found solace in treatment through the UC Health Center for Dependency, Addiction, and Recovery (CeDar.) It was not just her grit and determination that led to her lasting sobriety but also a balance of medication, therapy, group work, and community service.

Jajcyzk’s experience: trauma, difficulty finding resources, and a history of mental health and addiction in the family are all unfortunately common in the foundation of those experiencing substance use disorder. Also working against those seeking recovery is the history of drug reform in the United States.

What Causes Substance Use Disorder

There is no cut-and-dry answer to what causes addiction; however, examining a person’s biology, psychology, and social (biopsychosocial) build can provide a better view of the leading theories, which are moral, biological, psychological, and social.

Moral Theory: While this theory is discredited more and more in modern society, it is still frequently used when practitioners are looking at a person with severe or chronic substance use. This theory points to a loss of self-control due to chronic drug use, leading to an increase in relapse or an inability to remain abstinent from substances. While this is still considered a legitimate cause for addiction, many treatment models do not incorporate it into treatment, especially as it places blame or weakness on the individual. This theory is often associated with the “disease” language used around use and treatment and can be seen in the twelve-step model.

Biological Theory: This theory looks at how genetic makeup, or brain chemistry changes, impacts the pleasure and reward receptors. There is some speculation that genes could affect the likelihood of addiction, but there is no hard evidence for this belief. What is understood is that damage to the prefrontal cortex, which can be caused by injury or heavy and chronic substance use, can lead to difficulty with impulse control. The biological perspective is helpful in better understanding Medication-Assisted Treatment.

Psychological Theories: Psychological theories are more of an umbrella perspective than the previous two concepts. This theory looks at how are conditioned to see the world to understand better triggers and cravings that could lead to chronic substance use and addiction.

Social Theories: This perspective examines what occurred to the individual via their history and family that could lead to a dependency on drugs or alcohol. This is the lens used by most researchers and evidence-based specialists today.

Trauma History

Trauma, especially that occurring during childhood, has been shown to correlate, with studies pointing to 59% of young people with post-traumatic stress disorder also experiencing substance use disorder during their life. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scores can help examine the stress that children are under due to their family or environment. ACE scores look at neglect, abuse, violence in the house or outside environment, and substance use in the home. Along with being correlated with higher instances of depression, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, a person with an ACE score over five is four times more likely to struggle with addiction or illicit substance use later on in life.

Gabor Maté is the leading doctor behind the social theory of trauma and how it relates to addiction. In his book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, he dives into how trauma and loss, especially in childhood, can lead to addiction and dependency. Maté points to dopamine deficiencies, poor self-esteem, a lack of coping skills, and behavioral patterns that were maladapted in childhood as some of the potential factors that lead to substance use disorder. While some of these factors come from neurological factors, they are also tied to childhood neglect or trauma.

Though a history of trauma might not be the root cause for every person dealing with addiction, using trauma-focused treatment can be extremely beneficial. Many adults, especially those who identify as male, are reportedly less likely to seek psychological support, meaning that substance use disorder recovery could be the first time they are receiving support for the trauma that has occurred in their lives. Using trauma-informed care or working to help people heal from their trauma, rather than being re-traumatized or discredited, is crucial for people in recovery from substance use disorder. There have been links to the use of trauma-informed care and patients staying in treatment longer and finding success in their recovery.

Mental Illness Co-Occurring with Addiction

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 37.9% of adults with Substance Use Disorder were also diagnosed with a mental health condition, most commonly depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and schizophrenia. It is speculated that often substance use can be a way for a person to self-medicate and deal with a mental health condition that might not be diagnosed or understood. However, there are also theories that brain chemistry could lead to vulnerability in addiction.

Recovery Methodology

Recovery is not easy and often takes more than willpower alone. Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment is most successful when rehabilitation programs are utilized. However, several barriers stand between a person struggling with addiction and recovery.

“The behavior and mental health world behind in their ability to make access easy. If you have a medical emergency, you would know exactly where to go; often, the process for mental health can feel cumbersome for someone struggling,” says Ronnie Vasquez, the Acute Care Director at Mental Health Partners of Colorado. Vasquez goes on to explain that the stigmatization of treatment for addiction can be a significant barrier to a person taking the first steps to finding support.

Colorado also faces the issue of not having enough beds available for those struggling with substance use disorder. While Counties such as Boulder and Denver have more resources, they are also faced with the burden of taking on patients from more rural counties where mental health services are not available.

We should look at what the individual needs to recover rather than the societal pressures to penalize those who are using. Jajczyk recounts, “The best people I have ever met in my life are in recovery or are addicts. It is hard to overcome and find stability in recovery, and the consequences are huge. I have almost died. People I know and love have died. If we live, there is jail, destroying relationships and families.”

Medication Assisted Treatment

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is an effective tool to help a person get through detoxification and the subsequent withdrawals. MAT uses FDA-approved drugs to help a person safely withdraw from a substance, as well as prevent future cravings with continued medicated use. “Data is showing a 90% relapse rate for heroin with the use of any MAT,” says Haddad, “it is really hard to do alone.”

For Opiate Use Disorder (OUD), there are three approved medications: Methadone and Buprenorphine, which prevent withdrawal and minimize cravings, and Naltrexone, which blocks the effects of opiates. Both Buprenorphine and Naltrexone can be prescribed and taken once the individual returns home, while Methadone is administered in clinics. Naltrexone is also used in treating Alcohol Use Disorder, often as an aid in helping a person begin to limit use. Acamprosate and Disulfiram are both used for individuals who have already stopped drinking and need to lessen their cravings.

For Jajczyk, the use of MAT completely changed her ability to stay sober. “I went on Nalprexone and a mood stabilizer. It suddenly made sense why people weren’t addicts; I didn’t wake up craving it every morning.” She adds that it was also beneficial for her to have other resources besides the medication, but the medication has kept her and others alive long enough to seek treatment.

While MAT has a high success rate, Dr. Conner warns, “There can be more doctor visits, and some of the medications have unpleasant side effects.” For this reason, it is helpful to maintain contact with a care team while undergoing MAT.

Abstinence (The twelve-step method)

Twelve-step programs take the perspective that substance abuse disorder should be viewed as a disease that can be maintained but never eliminated. Under this methodology of treatment, a person becomes sober at the start of their journey and avoids using substances again. This method is one of the most well-known and continues to support those seeking a solution.

While this method has seen success, criticism of it points to the need to find a higher power, isolating those who may not prescribe to spiritual beliefs, and the need for the person in recovery to stop use by going “cold turkey.”

The risks of going “Cold Turkey.”

Cutting off substance use immediately, without intervention, is referred to as going “cold turkey.” While it might be an effective way to remove a person from a triggering environment, it comes with risks that can prove uncomfortable at best and deadly at worst. Dr. Haddad warns, “Detoxing from benzos [benzodiazepines] can cause seizures, and alcohol has the risk of Delirium Tremons, which there can be great support around in a detox or treatment center.” A sudden halt in alcohol use causes Delirium Tremons (DTs.) Because alcohol is a depressant, the sudden depletion in the system causes the brain and nervous system to get overstimulated, causing a spike in blood pressure, extreme excitability, and seizures.

While not all substances are deadly during withdrawal, many (such as opiates) have unpleasant symptoms that can make the person in recovery extremely sick. “It is uncomfortable, and it can be extremely tempting to use during that time.” Haddad continues explaining that even when the symptoms of withdrawal are gone, craving can remain, putting the individual at risk of relapse and accidental overdose.

Harm Reduction

The general principle of harm reduction is to minimize the impact of illicit substances, whether it is through abstinence, safer use practices, or management of use. This philosophy accepts that substance use and addiction are a part of the world, and supporting a person who is using is more effective than condemning the behavior.

MAT falls under the umbrella of harm reduction. Still, the practice also expands to preventing overdose and providing safe spaces and tools for individuals who are not ready to undergo it.

Evidence-based practices are the most up-to-date practices that a field of study agrees upon. In regards to SUD treatment, it refers to the medical and mental health treatment required to help a person struggling with addiction stay safe from overdose or lasting repercussions. “There has been a movement away from looking at addiction as if it were a criminal behavior to viewing it as an illness, and more recently, as a chronic illness,” says Dr. Brad Conner, the director of the Masters of Addiction Counseling program at Colorado State University. Conner goes on to explain the importance of not looking at relapse as a fault but rather as a piece of the recovery process, taking away the negative stigmatization of one-directional recovery. He explains that current evidence-based practices have moved away from a twenty-eight-day abstinence model and have started to view treatment as a lifelong process.

Understanding the root causes and treatment methodologies of substance use disorder is crucial in looking at the larger picture of where Colorado and Boulder County stand on their provided resources and criminology perspectives of addiction. In the coming weeks, Yellow Scene will dive more into the legal and government-provided resources available for those struggling with addiction.

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The post Substance Use Disorder in Colorado Part 1: Theories of Cause and Recovery appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Aurora Apartments Make National Headlines: Landlords Blame Migrant Gangs for Public Safety Concerns

Ray Manzari — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 18:20:18 +0000

A group of apartments in Aurora, Colorado have made national headlines recently when a video surfaced of armed men entering an apartment at The Edge at Lowry. The video quickly went viral with social media posters claiming the armed men were undocumented migrants from Venezuela who had formed a gang and taken over the apartment building. Aurora police have not confirmed the identity of the men in the video, and apartment residents reject claims that gangs are the cause for the building’s various states of decay.

NEW VIDEO armed group at troubled #aurora #colorado apartment complex now home to many migrants. Councilmember @DaniJurinsky says gangs have taken over the complex @KDVR @AuroraPD pic.twitter.com/J1uie8Y2M6

— Vicente Arenas (@vicentearenastv) August 28, 2024

The property manager for The Edge at Lowry, CBZ Management was in the news earlier this month when Aurora shut down another building, Fitzsimons Place on Nome Street leaving more than 300 residents with just days to find new housing or face homelessness.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PSL Denver (@denverpsl)

Amid lawsuits and violations of Colorado’s warranty of habitability law, CBZ Management claimed that a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, had taken over its property in Lowry and that residents had begun paying rent to the gang instead. However, renters and Aurora police dispute these claims, saying the buildings have long been derelict and maintenance requests ignored. Black mold, pest infestations, and piling garbage are just some of the complaints that have gone unanswered.

A spokesperson from CBZ Management claimed that gang activity made it impossible for the company to maintain its property.

“Because we care for the safety of our tenants and other members of the community, what we will say is, that the issue of Tren de Aragua taking over properties and communities in Aurora means that we are not able to be present on this property, or any of our other properties in similar situations, also being impacted by gang presence,” the spokesperson said.

CBZ Management does not have a great track record of maintaining their properties. Currently, the company has an F rating on the Better Business Bureau, with all the reviews being negative. Their Google reviews do not fare better with a rating of 1.0/5 stars and 21 negative reviews from various properties in Aurora, and Colorado Springs.

Photo shared by Luna Lenny to Google Reviews in January 2024

“Heat has been out for 4 days now. Windows iced over and no hot water either. Management will not replace the broken backup boiler. If I didn’t cover all windows with bed comforters and sleeping bags it would be below 30 degrees in here. This issue happened every year for 3 years and they refuse to correctly fix anything. DO NOT RENT HERE,” wrote Luna Lenny in a review 7 months ago.

Other reviews complain of stolen security deposits, graffiti and trash pile-ups, and mice infestations in several properties from as far back as three years ago.

CBZ Management would have us believe, per its spokesperson’s statement, that gang members have specifically targeted only their properties, not only in Aurora but in Denver and Colorado Springs as well. Would they also claim that this has been happening since 2019, considering neglect complaints have been reported since at least then?

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A post shared by The Honorable Auon’tai M. Anderson (@auontaianderson)

It does not take much investigation to conclude that migrant gangs are not responsible for the disrepair of CBZ properties. Representatives from the company have used rising tensions in the state from the over 40,000 migrants Denver has taken in as a sanctuary city to push responsibility away from themselves.

Despite right-wing rhetoric, there is no evidence to support that immigrants commit more crimes or are incarcerated at higher rates than naturalized Americans. Undocumented migrants often try to avoid encounters with law enforcement for fear of deportation. Accusations of the opposite are routed solely in racism and white nationalism.

Blaming migrants amidst heightened political tensions surrounding immigration serves to deflect accountability and fuel harmful narratives. It is imperative to critically examine these claims and hold those in power accountable for their actions, rather than perpetuating falsehoods that marginalize vulnerable populations.

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The post Aurora Apartments Make National Headlines: Landlords Blame Migrant Gangs for Public Safety Concerns appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Fact-checking GOP claims on immigrants

Guest Contributor — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 11:39:54 +0000

(Via AP Storyshare)

During last week’s Republican National Convention, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Americans are not safe due to immigrants committing violent crimes.

That’s just one claim being challenged by leading immigration experts.

Nancy Foner, Ph.D., professor of Sociology at City University of New York’s Hunter College, said labeling immigrants as criminals is an old, but persistent, myth.

She pointed to data showing that the vast majority of immigrants are not violent criminals.

“The foreign born, in fact, are much less likely than the native-born to commit violent crimes,” said Foner. “And in fact, cities and neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have much lower crime and violence than comparable non-immigrant neighborhoods.”

Immigrants were also blamed for smuggling fentanyl across the 2,000-mile southern border.

But according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 90% of the drugs linked to overdose deaths are smuggled by U.S. citizens through legal ports of entry.

Cruz also said immigrants were being allowed into the U.S. to vote in the upcoming elections – a conspiracy theory about something that never, or almost never, happens.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, pointed out that non-citizens are not legally allowed to vote in federal elections, and don’t in part because they could be immediately deported if caught.

“To cast one ballot in an election in which 160 million ballots are going to be cast, it happens exceedingly rarely,” said Becker, “largely because the states and federal government already have really good policies in place.”

Others claimed immigrants were “receiving welfare.”

Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said immigrants are not eligible for the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps), Social Security or other benefits – although they do pay payroll and other taxes that fund those programs.

She said immigrants actually strengthen America’s economy, but local governments can feel squeezed if immigrants earn low wages.

“That negative impact, it mostly comes from education,” said Orrenius. “K-12 education is expensive. The spending on education is an investment. Those investments are going to pay back many times what’s invested.”

Eric Galatas, Public News Service

The post Fact-checking GOP claims on immigrants appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Fracking Protesters arrested at State Capitol Jan. 9th, 2020.

redtornado — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 10:36:25 +0000

Mic Check begins at 11:45

Fracking Protesters from Extinction Rebellion and the Sunrise Movement arrested at Colorado State Capitol January 9th, 2020.

Not all heroes wear capes, some carry signs.

In October 2019, millions of people around the world turned out for the Global Climate Strike started by Greta Thunberg. Denver saw thousands turn out as well.

Find Yellow Scene Magazine’s coverage of this event here, as well as a first-hand story from a mother and daughter on why they got involved.

In April 2019 Colorado legislation passed SB-181, which put new regulations on the Oil and Gas industry. Previously, the state was essentially open ground for approving wells with fairly lax regulations in place. Colorado oil and gas activity is regulated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). Until SB-181 was passed the Board of Directors was primarily made up of the Oil and Gas industry.

Twenty years ago, Colorado had approximately 20,000 active “Fracking” wells.

You can find YS’s breakdown of SB-181 and how we got to nearly 70,000 active wells in just 20 years in The Blue Puddle.

The term ‘Fracking’ is commonly used to describe Oil and Gas activity using hydraulic fracturing methods to extract – much to the chagrin of the Industry. Oil and Gas workers, who refer to themselves as “Energy Strong” are known to use aggressive online tactics to discredit organizations, elected officials, media, and individuals who speak out about the negative effects on health, safety and the Climate Crisis that Oil and Gas activity is contributing to. YS has been the target on more than one occasion, with terms like “retarded” used frequently in online posts.

Since the passing of SB-181 under Governor Polis in January 2019, there have been over 2,100 new wells approved. That is approximately 175 new wells approved per month.

To put this into context, in some communities there are 50 or more wells within a mile and a half of homes and schools.

Arrests at the State Capitol during Governor Polis second State of the State.

Aggressive tactics toward protestors are beginning to escalate as well when 38 people were arrested, including 5 minors, September 9 at the State Capitol.

Sergeant Blake White of the Colorado State Patrol is quoted in Westword as saying:

“We support lawful assembly and voicing your freedom of speech and all that,” White says. “But when it crosses the line, and it disrupts the Senate or House or anything going on, then we’re going to take action.”

We have to question statements by officers of the law that refer to the US Constitution’s First Amendment with terms that include “all that”.

Protestors held up signs that stated; “No Wells at Bella Romero. No More Sacrifice Zones.”

From Extinction Rebellion:

//In March of 2017 the COGCC issued Extraction Oil and Gas a permit to begin drilling near the Bella Romero Academy in January of 2018. Originally Extraction O&G had sought to place this operation near Frontier Academy Elementary School. However, Extraction O&G came under pressure from the comparatively affluent parents of the students of Frontier Academy to not drill near that school.//

Mothers Out Front, stated mission “We build our power as mothers to ensure a livable climate for all children,” shares the story of one mom who has a student at Bella Romero. The school was also featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

We were able to speak to some of the participants involved. Activist Devon Reynolds told us:

“In his 2019 State of the State address, Governor Polis made a promise to take bold climate action and to protect Coloradans from all types of discrimination. In allowing continued fracking at Bella Romero Academy, and permitting over 2100 oil and gas wells in the first year of his administration, he has failed us on both counts. The Governor must take quick action to resolve these injustices, both local and global.”

Bernie Sanders, a Democrat presidential candidate, tweeted his support of the activists.

The GoFundMe Page that started to help the activists, states:

//Today, Extinction Rebellion Denver carried out a non-violent direct action to disrupt the annual State of the State address. Rebels took action to call attention to Governor Polis’s failure to act on climate change and to the ongoing toxic nightmare known as FRACKING.

Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) carried out a “mic check” before Polis began speaking. This “mic check” served to remind everyone in the chamber that “in 2019, Governor Polis said he would ‘make sure that all of our communities have clean air’ and said he would boldly address climate change. However, he has failed to take on Colorado’s biggest contribution to climate change: fossil fuel extraction.” The “mic check” ended with a call to “phase out oil, gas and coal extraction for the sake of the planet, and for the sake of our health.”

Two banners were displayed inside the chamber. They read “No wells at Bella Romero. No sacrifice zones!” and “Tell the truth! We will not be silenced”.

Additionally, paper leaflets were thrown from the gallery containing three demands:

Shut down the fracking operations at Bella Romero Academy.

Develop a plan to end fracking and all fossil fuel extraction in Colorado by 2025.

Declare a Climate Emergency and facilitate a just transition to a renewable energy economy.

Several XR supporters allegedly engaging in these actions were immediately arrested by State troopers. Simultaneously, police arrested people who were seated near the disruption. One person was even dragged out of their seat and all the way out of the chamber.

As the police were escorting people out of the capitol building, numerous supporters of the Sunrise Movement, who had been in the hallway, were escorted outside by law enforcement where they were then placed under arrest. They have a separate gofundme to cover their expenses here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/denver-youth-climate-activists039-bail-fund

In total, 38 people were arrested. 33 arrestees were taken to Denver Detention Center to be processed into jail. 5 minors were cited and released.

Extinction Rebellion is not going away. XR is growing, and responding to police suppression with ever creative tactics. As the climate emergency pushes the world into further chaos and exposes the underlying and persistent injustice of an economy based on resource extraction, more and more people are waking up to their own power. Movements are being built to respond to ecological devastation with or without the support of Governor Jared Polis.//

Governor Polis has stated he does not want to ban fracking.

With 70% of what is being extracted out of the ground being shipped out of state, the health and safety costs to communities, the Climate Crisis increasing, and the fact Oil & Gas activity is less than 3% of our state economy, we are unsure how this industry has such a stranglehold on our legislative bodies.

Perhaps it is as our mama always told us; “Follow the Money.”

Find additional coverage here:

Bernie Sanders Responds To Colorado Capitol Protest Arrests: “They Deserve To Be Applauded”

Westword

NPR

Denver Post

Alex Burness on Twitter

Climate protesters just interrupted the Colorado House of Representatives ahead of the governor’s State of the State. I’ve seen several people dragged out of the chamber. pic.twitter.com/kqjllrZssn

— Alex Burness (@alex_burness) January 9, 2020

The post Fracking Protesters arrested at State Capitol Jan. 9th, 2020. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.