An estimated 340 people marched Saturday on Main Street Cortez to protest the direction of the Trump administration on tariffs, public lands, immigration and other issues.
The rally, coming two weeks after 600 people marched as part of a nationwide Hands Off march, was organized by the League of Women Voters of Montezuma County as part of 50501 – “50 Protests, 50 States, One Movement.”
As temperatures dropped to nearly freezing at 11 a.m., participants gathered at the Welcome Center in Cortez, bringing donations of food and warm clothing for unhoused residents.
Patty Coen of Mancos helped start the rally by leading marchers from the Cultural Center down Main Street, in a county where President Donald Trump received 59.3% of the vote and in a state where 87% of GOP voters had a favorable opinion of Trump in March.
They were also asked to bring signs expressing whatever was “most concerning to them, whether it be public land or what’s happening to our Medicaid,” according to a statement last week by Karen Sheek, the president of the local League of Women Voters.
This week’s march was meant to have a local flavor. Mary Dodd, chairperson of the Montezuma County Democrats, told The Journal last week that the rally would take a more “individualized” approach than the Hands Off protest on April 5.
“It shows solidarity in a way that fits towns best,” Dodd said. “Each one has its own take on it.”
On Saturday, marchers ran with that theme.
Kathe Hayes of Mancos enlisted her puppy, Hazel, for the rally, and wore a pin labeled “Dogs against Trump. Bite me!” Others carried signs reading “Lock the felon up,” “Stop the madness,” and “Hands off public lands.”
At least one marcher made a reference to the deported Kilmar Ábrego García, who was sent to a Salvadoran jail with more than 250 people last month. His sign read “Deport the dictator.” Another read, “Democracy dies with no due process.”
David Mallin of Mancos crashed cymbals together as he marched along with protesters who lamented the state of health care. Behind him, a woman with tongue in cheek and hand on a sign, carried the message “Fight truth decay.”
Jim Law of Mancos walked the route with the sign, “Save your farms. Dump Trump.”
Some places used the protest as an extension of “Hands Off!,” while others called it a “Tesla Takedown” or a “Day of Action.”
In Durango, about 850 area residents converged at Buckley Park, where speakers railed against the Trump administration and its forced removal of immigrants. About 700 participants marched to 835 E. Second Ave., the Durango office of U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, to continue demonstrating.
The protest, which Indivisible Durango member Karen Pontius described as a joint Hands Off! and 50501 rally, resonated with thousands like it across the country.
Earlier in the afternoon, approximately 100 people, including residents of Ignacio and Farmington, demonstrated in Bayfield in a grassroots effort called Pine River Rising.
Organizers and attendees at the protests said they were motivated to action because of the Trump administration’s lack of due process in deporting immigrants and the president’s suggestion U.S. citizens could suffer the same punishment.
“Trump takes a (expletive) on our Constitution every day,” resident Amy McClintock said. “His executive orders are largely illegal. ... He’s a criminal and he’s continuing his criminal behavior in the White House, using our tax dollars for his personal pleasure and gain. His entire regime is fascist and they all need to be kicked out.”
Cameryn Cass and Trent Stephens of The Journal and Christian Burney of The Durango Herald contributed to this article.
