Violent unrest has taken hold in yet another US city after the huge protests that have rocked Los Angeles for five days have spread to Denver, where demonstrators have faced volleys of tear gas from police as tensions continue to escalate over President Trump’s mass deportations.
Trump’s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants has seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials going into places of work, courtrooms, hospitals and homes to find people and deport them.
In LA, protests broke out on Friday after it emerged that ICE agents were targeting the Latino community, including a surprise raid at a Home Depot. However, tensions broke into a full riot on Sunday, prompting the president to federalise and send in the National Guard.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of people took to the streets of Denver, Colorado, to march in solidarity with undocumented migrants and the protesters facing violence and arrest in California. Those gathered peacefully waved signs that read “your racism isn’t patriotic” and “Colorado stands with immmigrants! ICE out of our communities.”
After gathering at the State Capitol, the group then began moving down a central street, obstructing the highway.
SWAT teams, riot police, and military Humvees converted for police use were deployed to shutdown the protest and clear the highway. Reflecting the similarly militant response from federal authorities in LA, where National Guard and US Marines are now being used against US citizens angered by the mass deportations.
Denver Police gave the anti-ICE crowds seven minutes to clear Lincoln Street, which had been entirely blocked by the group. When they failed to move, they opened fire with volleys of tear gas canisters, scattering the protesters.
Unrest following Trump’s immigration crackdown has also seen large protests in Dallas, Texas, and San Francisco, with tensions not likely to let up after the White House directed ICE to step up daily arrests and take 3,000 suspected undocumented people into custody per day.
One Denver protestor shared with CBS: “My dad was deported a couple years back and I know how it feels to have family separated and struggle with that. And I don’t want anybody else to go through that. Because I know my mom suffered. I suffered, and it’s really traumatic and I don’t want anyone to feel that way.”