No Kings Means Numbers
Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of our 50501 CO newsletter!
In this newsletter we discuss the upcoming No Kings 2 protest. In addition, you’ll find information on upcoming activities from the 50501 calendar, actions you can take outside of protesting, and also find out about additional ways to connect with us.
See you on the streets! ✊✊✊
Actions and Activities
(The below list contains details on all actions this week and next week which have been submitted to our 50501 CO calendar; click the link above for more details and the full calendar)
All Cities
10/15: 6:00pm - 7:00pm - Team ENOUGH Welcome Session (For Young People Under 26) (Virtual - Hosted in Denver CO)
10/22: 6:00pm - 7:00pm - Team ENOUGH Welcome Session (For Young People Under 26) (Virtual - Hosted in Denver CO)
10/17: Economic Shutdown (United States of America)
Arvada
10/18: 10:00am - 12 PM - No Kings Arvada, Colorado (Grandview Bridge at Wadsworth Pkwy)
Berthoud
10/18: 12:00pm - 1:30pm - No Kings! (INTERSECTION OF MOUNTAIN AVE & BERTHOUD PARKWAY)
Colorado Springs
10/18: 12:00pm - 3:00pm - No Kings 2 Colorado Springs (America the Beautiful Park, Cimino Dr.)
Denver
10/18: 12:00pm - 4:00pm - No kings! (State Capitol)
10/18: 1:00pm - 2:00pm - CO Fox Takedown (Fox 31 Studio, 100 Speer Blvd, Denver, CO 80203)
10/25: 1:00pm - 2:00pm - CO Fox Takedown (Fox 31 Studio, 100 Speer Blvd, Denver, CO 80203)
Littleton
10/18: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest Against Tyranny (5700 South Broadway)
10/25: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest Against Tyranny (5700 South Broadway)
Loveland
10/18: 12:00pm - 2:00pm - Hands Off (US 287 from US34/Sprouts to Tesla)
10/25: 12:00pm - 2:00pm - Hands Off (US 287 from US34/Sprouts to Tesla)
Northglenn
10/17: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest at Gabe Evans’ Northglenn Office (Northglenn District Office, 10701 Melody Dr, Northglenn, CO 80234)
10/24: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest at Gabe Evans’ Northglenn Office (Northglenn District Office, 10701 Melody Dr, Northglenn, CO 80234)
Pagosa Springs
10/18: 10:30am - No Kings Pagosa Springs (Town Park Hermosa St.)
Pueblo
10/18: 10:30am - NO KINGS DAY (Abriendo & 4th St (walgreens))
Thornton
10/24: 4:00pm - 6:00pm - 4th Friday Intersection protest (112th avenue and Colorado Boulevard)
Winter Park
10/18: 2:00pm - 5:00pm - Fighting Dictators Together (Hideaway Park)
No Kings Means Numbers
There’s no polite way to put this: the pillars of democracy are buckling, one by one. Trump and Pete Hegseth addressed U.S. generals as if announcing a dictatorship, not running a democracy. An ICE raid in Chicago looked like a military operation, with children in zip ties. Federal agents are asking people for papers simply because they aren’t white. Funding is being cut for cities and states not on board with the authoritarian agenda. A government shutdown has begun, with thousands laid off, while Congress spins its wheels and the Supreme Court flinches at the thought of crossing Trump. Lower courts rule against him, but who enforces those rulings? No one. The whole system is being bent to the will of one man and the movement propping him up.
That’s not democracy.
I’ve written before about the stages of autocracy. Discredit the system. Flood the zone. Stack the loyalists. Use the law to break the law. Say the quiet part out loud. At this point, we don’t need to ask if the boxes are being checked—they’re checked. The playbook isn’t speculative anymore. It’s operational. And the danger of believing otherwise is that we sleepwalk into accepting it.
So, what do we do?
We get bigger. Louder. Harder to ignore.
October 18 is the next “No Kings” protest. And it cannot look like the last one. Last time was powerful—thousands across the country made their voices heard. But if we want the world to understand that Americans are not going to roll over for autocracy, this one has to be more than a repeat. It has to be exponential. Double the numbers. Triple them. Fill streets, fill parks, fill city squares until no camera can pan wide enough to crop us out.
Why? Because the usual remedies aren’t working. Congress is sidelined. The courts are compromised. The press is under siege. In a democracy, power is supposed to flow from the people to their representatives. When the chain is broken, the only way to restore legitimacy is for the people themselves to show up. That’s not theater—it’s necessity.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: there may be no “peaceful” way out of this in the sense of politics as usual. Lawsuits alone won’t save us. Waiting politely for 2026 or 2028 won’t save us if elections are rigged before ballots are even printed. Peaceful action, though? That still matters. That still works—but only if it’s massive. Passivity is surrender. Small numbers are easy to dismiss. Big numbers are undeniable.
That’s what October 18 is about. Not another event to feel good about. Not another weekend on the calendar. A test. Can we make ourselves visible enough, numerous enough, undeniable enough that even an authoritarian movement built on lies and fear has to reckon with us?
History says yes. Every expansion of American freedom came from people showing up in ways their rulers didn’t think possible. Abolition. Women’s suffrage. Civil rights. Queer liberation. Every time, the establishment sneered that protest would achieve nothing—until it did. Until it changed the story. Until it shifted the possible.
That’s the lineage of “No Kings.” It’s not just a slogan. It’s the American answer to tyranny. No matter how many troops you deploy, no matter how many raids you launch, no matter how many courts you stack—you cannot erase the people if the people refuse to disappear.
So, mark October 18. Bring your friends. Bring your family. Bring your coworkers and classmates. Make it impossible for your city to go about business as usual. If last time was a spark, this time has to be a blaze.
Because here’s the bottom line: if this government insists on crowning itself, let it try to do so in front of a sea of citizens shouting back the only words that matter.
No kings. Not now. Not ever.
Non-Protest Actions Bingo
The below bingo card contains a list of actions you can take (other than protesting) to help further the cause. If you get a bingo, tag us on social media to let us know!
1. You can sign up for the Colorado Rapid Response Network here. The Rapid Response Network is a group which sends out locals to scenes of reported ICE activity to observe, collect testimony, and ensure all involved parties know their rights.
2. As you have likely heard, the United States budget for fiscal year 2026 must be passed before the end of September to avoid a government shutdown. Both Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have indicated that they are willing to compromise on passing the budget so long as Affordable Care Act subsidies are added back in. This cannot be the only item they fight for. Democrats have the ability to filibuster the budget in the Senate, and should use it to rein in ICE budgets/behavior, the rampant corruption of the Trump administration, and the use of the Department of Justice as a political hit tool. Call our CO senators and demand that they pressure Schumer and their peers to take a stand for what really matters to you!
3. Two Colorado State house representatives have proposed an amendment to the Colorado constitution which would allow the governor to suspend our state’s independent redistricting commission if “substantial evidence exists that one or more states have enacted congressional redistricting plans that result in severe partisan imbalance.” While the initiative wouldn’t be on the ballot until 2026 (and therefore wouldn’t change the congressional map until 2028 at the earliest), this would give our governor more tools in the fight against MAGA attempts to rig our nation’s electoral system.
4. Those who are unable to protest themselves for any reason can still assist by offering to provide transportation, take care of the children of others who will be able to attend, or coordinate bail and legal representation in case of arrests (among other things). If you know of anyone with legitimate reasons to not participate in protests, it may be worth reminding them that there are still other ways to help us get out the voices on the street that we so desperately need.
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