Dozens of are set to take place across Colorado on Saturday, but local police expect them to be peaceful.
Organized by , a U.S.-based political organization founded to protest the policies and actions of the second Trump administration, the No Kings Day of Defiance aims to counter a lavish military parade in Washington, D.C., celebrating the Army鈥檚 250th anniversary and Flag Day, which also happens to be the president鈥檚 79th birthday.
The parade will feature military vehicles, aircraft and thousands of soldiers as well as fireworks, NFL players and concerts. The Army anticipates the event will cost anywhere from $25 to $45 million.
More than 2,000 No Kings Day protests are planned to take place simultaneously nationwide.
鈥淭he flag doesn鈥檛 belong to President Trump. It belongs to us,鈥� the website says. 鈥淥n June 14th, we鈥檙e showing up everywhere he isn鈥檛 鈥� to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.鈥�
Organizers of the Denver protest, which begins at noon, anticipate 10,000 attendees. Smaller protests are planned in at least 30 other locations.
The rationale for these events is different than those earlier in the week, which were targeted at protesting immigration enforcement.
For Saturday, police departments in Denver, Parker and Grand Junction told CPR News they are expecting the protests themselves to be peaceful. Outside agitators, however, can lead to violence.
when an offshoot of Denver鈥檚 Anti-ICE protest, self-described as anarchists, along with others, separated from the main group assembled on the Capitol lawn and spilled onto 14th and Lincoln.
That less organized group then marched south down Lincoln Street and Broadway, eventually meeting a police line near I-25. The assembly was deemed unlawful because the group鈥檚 continued march would have obstructed traffic.
鈥淧eople have the right to protest in public, on public streets and sidewalks in front of government buildings,鈥� said local personal injury and civil rights attorney Shelbi Danner. 鈥淲here the line really is drawn is that you cannot obstruct traffic or pedestrian traffic. So if a police officer is ordering you to get out of the street to let traffic through, you should follow those orders, but you鈥檙e still able to protest on the sidewalks.鈥�
That precondition is often what allows for police engagement with protestors, regardless of whether they are being peaceful. But local attorneys say there is a disconnect between the constitutional limits of police power and the training and policies of local police departments.
鈥淭he U.S. Supreme Court and the 10th Circuit (Court of Appeals) have been exceedingly clear about this particular issue. Police officers cannot use violent force against protestors who are committing nothing more than nonviolent misdemeanors, specifically impeding traffic,鈥� said managing attorney at Denver鈥檚 Baumgartner Law, Birk Baumgartner. 鈥淭his is the very heart of American protests. No protest during the civil rights era did not impede traffic. There must be a price on regular conduct of American life in order for protests to be effective.鈥�
Baumgartner has represented multiple people in excessive use of force cases against the Denver Police Department, including during the 2020 George Floyd protests. The projectiles are filled with a powdered chemical that鈥檚 meant to irritate the eyes and nose and cause people to leave the area.
鈥淭he first thing that I would tell all protestors this weekend is to obey dispersal orders to avoid any violent conduct whatsoever,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is not worth permanent lifelong scarring to engage.鈥�
On June 10, DPD officers gave an order to disperse the crowd that had gathered near I-25 and Broadway, issuing multiple warnings before firing pepper balls and smoke canisters.
Seventeen people were arrested that night for charges including graffiti, interference with police, obstruction of streets, throwing projectiles, and second-degree assault on a police officer.
Danner said police orders to disperse, however, can sometimes be questionable. 鈥淚t really depends on what the circumstances are in the moment. If violence is starting to occur, the police are able to order you to disperse from the area, but if it鈥檚 not violent, you have the right to be there and you have the right to make your voice heard,鈥� she said. Police are also legally allowed to ask a crowd to disperse if they鈥檙e creating an immediate danger to the public.
Denver Police told CPR News in an email that the crowd control tactics used on June 10 were in line with changes made to their rules of engagement . Those include transparent officer identification, better dispersal orders, tracking of less-than-lethal munitions and processes for documenting use of force during a protest.
A spokesperson for the department did confirm that tear gas is authorized in response to 鈥渄efensive resistance鈥�. Plastic and foam rounds are allowed in 鈥渞esponse to active aggression鈥�. The use of rubber ball grenades, however, was removed from DPD operations and crowd control manuals in 2021.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that we are talking about using less lethal munitions. The main problem with the handling of the George Floyd protests is that the Denver Police Department does not understand the difference between crowd management and crowd control. There are almost always options to settle things down without deploying weapons of any kind,鈥� Baumgartner said.
Police, however, insist that they are trying to balance free speech with preventing or stopping criminal acts.
鈥淒PD鈥檚 approach to demonstrations is to allow people to march or gather peacefully, and to conduct traffic control to help ensure everyone鈥檚 safety 鈥� this has been evident in dozens of demonstrations since 2020, including in the early stages of the protest Tuesday. Generally speaking, assaultive, destructive, and/or highly dangerous behaviors prompt police intervention,鈥� the spokesperson wrote.
Other police departments in cities hosting No Kings events declined to share what less-than-lethal munitions they might deploy on crowds that don鈥檛 follow police orders. But several said, as with every public event, they are working with organizers to ensure people can exercise their rights safely and peacefully.