They Ended the Operation

They didn’t end the objective

Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of our 50501 CO newsletter!

In this newsletter, we discuss why the announced drawdown of ICE in Minneapolis isn’t a total victory. 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)

Mark your Calendars (3/8 protest announcement)

Virtual

• 2/25: 6:00 - 7:30pm - After We March, We Organize!

  • VIRTUAL - SIGN UP: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/871643/

• 2/26: 12:00pm - Lunch and Learn: The CRA and Protecting Public Lands

  • REGISTER: https://www.greatoldbroads.org/events/february-26-lunch-and-learn-registration/

• 3/4: 6:00 - 7:30pm - After We March, We Organize!

  • VIRTUAL - SIGN UP: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/871643/

Washington, DC

• 2/28: 9:30am - March 4 Democracy

  • Join the mobilization and sign up for updates at

    https://march4democracy.org/

Arvada

• 2/22: 11:00am - 12:30pm - Weekly Resistance Rally *Weather Permitting*

  • 80th and Wadsworth in Arvada (Safeway)

• 2/24: 4:00 - 5:00pm - Ralston Resistance - ICE Out for Good

  • Intersection of Wadsworth Bypass and Ralston Road

• 3/1: 11:00am - 12:30pm - Weekly Resistance Rally *Weather Permitting*

  • 80th and Wadsworth in Arvada (Safeway)

• 3/3: 4:00 - 5:00pm - Ralston Resistance - ICE Out for Good

  • Intersection of Wadsworth Bypass and Ralston Road

Aurora

• 2/28: 12:00 - 1:30pm - Weekly - Every Corner Action Protest

  • NE Corner of Parker & Havana

• 3/7: 12:00 - 1:30pm - Weekly - Every Corner Action Protest

  • NE Corner of Parker & Havana

Boulder

• 2/23: 3:45 - 5:00pm - Overpass Protest

  • Highway 36 & 88th
    Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQUmi35XfgMHaG5E8

• 2/26: 12:00 - 1:00pm - Visibility Brigade - Overpass Protest

  • Foothills Pkwy & Sioux Pedestrian Overpass (Parking on Sioux Ave off of Thunderbird Dr.)

• 2/28: 2:00 - 3:30pm - BI - Drop Your ICE Contracts

  • 6265 Gunbarrel Avenue, Suites A & B, Boulder, CO 80301

• 3/2: 3:45 - 5:00pm - Overpass Protest

  • Highway 36 & 88th
    Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQUmi35XfgMHaG5E8

• 3/5: 12:00 - 1:00pm - Visibility Brigade - Overpass Protest

  • Foothills Pkwy & Sioux Pedestrian Overpass (Parking on Sioux Ave off of Thunderbird Dr.)

Broomfield

• 2/22: 11:30am - 1:00pm - No Fascists! No Kings!

  • Northwest Corner
    West 120th Avenue & Sheridan Boulevard
    Broomfield, CO 80020

• 3/1: 11:30am - 1:00pm - No Fascists! No Kings!

  • Northwest Corner
    West 120th Avenue & Sheridan Boulevard
    Broomfield, CO 80020

Centennial

• 2/28: 6:00pm - Get Salty & Protest

  • 12445 E. Caley Avenue

Colorado Springs

• 2/25: 3:30 - 5:30pm - Bridge Brigade

  • Monument Valley Pedestrian Bridge (between Uintah and Bijou)

• 2/25: 5:30pm - Broken Heart Candlelight Vigil

  • All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church (ASUUC)
    730 N Tejon Street

• 3/4: 3:30 - 5:30pm - Bridge Brigade

  • Monument Valley Pedestrian Bridge (between Uintah and Bijou)

Denver

• 2/22: 1:00 - 2:00pm - Know Your Rights - Ally of Immigrants Training

  • Location provided after sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/898798/

• 2/22: 1:00 - 3:00pm - Rally to Support Ukraine

  • Denver Capitol Steps
    200 E Colfax Avenue

• 2/28: 9:00am - 6:00pm - (MULTIPLE LOCATIONS/TIMES) WhistleMania - Create ICE-Ready kits

  • 9am-Noon Whittier Cafe, 1710 E 25th Ave
    Noon-6pm Washing St Community Center, 809 S Washington St
    1pm-4pm Center for Health Progress, 1035 Osage St
    2pm-5pm East Colfax Community Collective, 1195 Newport St

• 2/28: 10:00am - 12:00pm - Rally to protest peacefully against ICE Brutality in America

  • King Soopers corner
    3100 S Sheridan Blvd
    Denver, CO 80227

• 2/28: 12:00 - 2:00pm - 2nd and 4th Saturdays - Solidarity Saturdays on Colorado Blvd!

  • 8th Ave & Colorado Blvd

• 2/28: 1:00 - 3:30pm - Bi-Weekly Highlands Bridge Pedestrian Overpass Protest

  • Highlands Bridge
    GPS 1596 - Central St. Denver
    (Spillover to 15th St overpass)

• 2/28: 5:30 - 8:00pm - Care Not Cages: Art Exhibition and Auction

  • St. Thomas Episcopal Church
    2201 Dexter St., Denver 80207

• 3/7: 9:00 - 10:30am - Business KYR Training and Canvass/Signs of Solidarity Event

  • Location provided after signing up: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/901833/

• 3/7: 10:00am - 12:00pm - Rally to protest peacefully against ICE Brutality in America

  • King Soopers corner
    3100 S Sheridan Blvd
    Denver, CO 80227

Firestone

• 3/7: 11:00am - 2:00pm - Stop Flock Colorado

  • Flock Camera - 4094 County Rd. 24

Fort Collins

• 2/24: 3:15 - 5:00pm - WEEKLY Corner Protest Tues/Thu

  • Corner of College & Drake

• 2/26: 3:15 - 5:00pm - WEEKLY Corner Protest Tues/Thu

  • Corner of College & Drake

• 3/3: 3:15 - 5:00pm - WEEKLY Corner Protest Tues/Thu

  • Corner of College & Drake

• 3/5: 3:15 - 5:00pm - WEEKLY Corner Protest Tues/Thu

  • Corner of College & Drake

• 3/7: 11:00am - 2:00pm - Stop Flock Colorado

  • Flock Camera - Mulberry & College

Golden

• 2/26: 2:30 - 4:30pm - Standing For Weekly Protest

  • Near the Buffalo Bill statue, Washington Ave & 10th St, Golden CO

• 3/5: 2:30 - 4:30pm - Standing For Weekly Protest

  • Near the Buffalo Bill statue, Washington Ave & 10th St, Golden CO

• 3/7: 11:00am - 2:00pm - Stop Flock Colorado

  • Flock Camera - 15185 S Golden Rd.

Grand Junction

• 2/24: 5:30 - 7:00pm -

  • Location provided after sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/899922/

Idaho Springs

• 2/28: 11:00am - 12:00pm - ICE Out!

  • Citizens Park
    1545 Miner St

Littleton

• 2/24: 11:30am - 1:00pm - We the People

  • All 4 corners of Littleton and Broadway

  • 5700 S Broadway, Littleton, CO 80121

• 2/24: 3:00 - 4:30pm - WE THE PEOPLE

  • South Broadway & Littleton Blvd

• 2/28: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest Against Tyranny

  • 5700 S Broadway
    Littleton, CO 80121

• 3/3: 11:30am - 1:00pm - Protest Against Tyranny (Tesla Takedown)

  • All 4 corners of Littleton and Broadway

  • 5700 S Broadway, Littleton, CO 80121

• 3/3: 3:00 - 4:30pm - WE THE PEOPLE

  • South Broadway & Littleton Blvd

• 3/7: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest Against Tyranny (Tesla Takedown)

  • All 4 corners of Littleton and Broadway

  • 5700 S Broadway, Littleton, CO 80121

Lone Tree

• 2/22: 1:00 - 2:30pm - Speak Now - “Good” Trouble

  • Park Meadows Dr and S Quebec St
    8660 S Quebec St
    Lone Tree, CO 80124

• 3/1: 1:00 - 2:30pm - Speak Now - “Good” Trouble

  • Park Meadows Dr and S Quebec St
    8660 S Quebec St
    Lone Tree, CO 80124

Longmont

• 2/28: 1:00pm - Vigil and Protest

  • 6th and Main St.

• 3/7: 1:00pm - Vigil and Protest

  • 6th and Main St.

Louisville

• 2/23: 3:45 - 5:00pm - Overpass Protest

  • https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQUmi35XfgMHaG5E8
    (Hwy 36 & 88th)
    88th St Overpass on Hwy 36
    2200 S 88th St
    Louisville, CO 80027

• 3/2: 3:45 - 5:00pm - Overpass Protest

  • https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQUmi35XfgMHaG5E8
    (Hwy 36 & 88th)
    88th St Overpass on Hwy 36
    2200 S 88th St
    Louisville, CO 80027

Loveland

• 2/28: 10:00am - 12:00pm - Stand Up Loveland!

  • 1440 N Lincoln Ave

• 3/7: 10:00am - 12:00pm - Stand Up Loveland!

  • 1440 N Lincoln Ave

Lyons

• 2/28: 12:00 - 1:00pm - Lyons Neighbors for Democracy

  • Lyons Freedom Triangle

• 3/7: 12:00 - 1:00pm - Lyons Neighbors for Democracy

  • Lyons Freedom Triangle

Northglenn

• 2/25: 3:00 - 4:30pm - Gabe Evans Pedestrian Bridge Protest

  • I-25 Pedestrian Bridge
    281 W 104th Ave
    Northglenn, CO 80234
    Map of where we will protest (the pedestrian bridge over I-25 near Cinzetti’s): https://maps.app.goo.gl/cPPfGKSBYpWKwfYG8

• 2/27: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest at Gabe Evans’ Northglenn Office

  • Northglenn District Office
    10701 Melody Dr
    Northglenn, CO 80234

• 3/4: 3:00 - 4:30pm - Gabe Evans Pedestrian Bridge Protest

  • I-25 Pedestrian Bridge
    281 W 104th Ave
    Northglenn, CO 80234
    Map of where we will protest (the pedestrian bridge over I-25 near Cinzetti’s): https://maps.app.goo.gl/cPPfGKSBYpWKwfYG8

• 3/6: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Protest at Gabe Evans’ Northglenn Office

  • Northglenn District Office
    10701 Melody Dr
    Northglenn, CO 80234

Pagosa Springs

• 2/28: 12:00 - 2:00pm - Weekly - Stand Up Saturday

  • The public Parking Lot on Hwy 160 next to the library

• 3/7: 12:00 - 2:00pm - Weekly - Stand Up Saturday

  • The public Parking Lot on Hwy 160 next to the library

Parker

• 2/22: 1:00 - 2:30pm - Speak Now Rally Now - Make it Stop

  • Parker Rd & Lincoln Ave
    19240 E Lincoln Ave Suite 140
    Parker, CO 80138

Pueblo

• 2/28: 11:00am - 12:30pm - DEFUND ICE

  • Corner of Abriendo & 4th st (walgreens)

• 3/7: 11:00am - 12:30pm - DEFUND ICE

  • Corner of Abriendo & 4th st (walgreens)

Superior

• 2/28: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Stand Up! Speak Out!

  • 2 S Marshall Rd
    Superior, CO 80027

• 3/7: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Stand Up! Speak Out!

  • 2 S Marshall Rd
    Superior, CO 80027

Thornton

• 2/27: 3:15 - 5:15pm - FOURTH-FRIDAY FIGHT BACKS

  • Colorado Boulevard & East 112th Avenue
    Thornton, CO 80233

Walsenburg

• 2/27: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Weekly Protest

  • 401 Main Street

• 3/6: 11:00am - 1:00pm - Weekly Protest

  • 401 Main Street

---

They ended the operation. They didn’t end the objective.

In February 1943, in Berlin, the Nazi regime arrested almost 2,000 Jewish men married to non-Jewish women. Their wives and relatives stood in the street for days, demanding their husbands back, even after being threatened. And the regime did something that still messes with my head: it released the men.

Not because it had a conscience. Because it had a project, and it didn’t want a public scene at a moment when control mattered more than spectacle.

That’s what was sitting in my brain when I read that ICE was “ending” its big operation in Minnesota. My first feeling wasn’t relief. It was a warning light. If even the Nazis sometimes backed off visible persecution when the crowd got loud, then “we’re ending this” isn’t evidence the goal changed. It’s evidence they’re listening to the room.

“Ending the operation” is a sentence designed to make people exhale. It’s supposed to lower the temperature and dissolve attention. And I understand the temptation. People are exhausted. Nobody can live forever in red alert.

But the loud version of a crackdown is rarely the final version. Loud is how you launch. Loud is how you test the edges. Loud is how you teach everyone what power is willing to do in daylight. Then, when backlash threatens to turn contagious, you don’t always get a reversal. You often get a redesign.

History is full of tactical pivots like that. The 1933 nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses was staged as a show of force and then ended after a day, in part because many people ignored it and the blowback was inconvenient. Before the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the regime temporarily removed some “Jews not wanted” signage from major streets and made token gestures to look civilized to foreign visitors. The message wasn’t “we’re stopping.” The message was “we’re managing what you can see.”

That’s why “ending” makes me wary. Not because every headline equals 1930s Germany. Because humans are consistent about how power adapts when it meets resistance.

When an operation ends, the question is not “are we safe now?” The question is “what version comes next?” Relief is its own kind of weapon: it buys time, it blurs memory, and it turns urgency into yesterday’s news.

Sometimes the next version is smaller and quieter. Fewer obvious convoys, fewer easy photos, fewer moments that wake the rest of the country up. Sometimes it’s a shift from spectacle to routine: paperwork, coordination, selective enforcement, “standard procedures” that sound neutral until you’re the one trapped inside them. Same objective, just broken into smaller actions that don’t trigger headlines.

And the quiet version normalizes itself. It lives comfortably next to phrases like “public safety,” “efficiency,” and “targeted.” It continues while everyone debates whether the last surge was overblown. It makes solidarity feel risky, because the costs are individualized while the policy stays abstract.

So, I’m trying to train myself out of the comfort of announcements. “Ending” is not a moral event. It’s not repentance. It’s a tactical choice, often made because the current approach was costing more than it was worth.

What do I do with that? Boring things. I pay attention after the cameras leave. I support local reporting and legal aid. I watch whether the infrastructure stays in place: contracts, detention capacity, data, quiet cooperation that makes the next “operation” easy to restart under a different name. I stay in community, because isolation is part of the design.

They ended the operation. Fine.

I’m not taking the exhale they’re offering. I’m treating it as a reminder: pressure can force a pause, but a pause is not a promise. The objective is the objective until it’s abandoned, dismantled, and no longer needs a new euphemism every few weeks.

---

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.Where you can, purchase products from blue states instead of red states (such as replacing Bourbon with another whiskey)

---

Connect with 50501 on Social Media