Ad
Sports

Montezuma-Cortez falls in district play

Panthers boys and girls drop games to familiar foes

DATE: Feb 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Dove Creek girls cruise to district basketball title

Bulldog boys fall in District 1 final

DATE: Feb 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Eli Tomac crashes out of the lead in Texas Supercross

In a wild finish, Webb passes Anderson and Sexton for the overall victory

DATE: Feb 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Ignacio girls, Bayfield boys reach IML finals

IHS boys beat M-CHS to finish third

DATE: Feb 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Bayfield, Cortez girls thrill crowd during play-in

Panthers survive Wolverines 43-32

DATE: Feb 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Best bets: Key events in Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec

Featured events in the Tri-City area of Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec

DATE: Feb 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Montezuma-Cortez boys nip Ignacio on Senior Night, 34-32

Frost, Leonard boost Panthers off bench

DATE: Feb 19, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Ignacio runs away from Montezuma-Cortez girls

Brunson-fueled second half yields road win

DATE: Feb 19, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Cole Dainty-Guilfoyle of Mancos wins Colorado state wrestling title

Six Bluejays finish on podium; team finishes third in state meet

DATE: Feb 19, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Eli Tomac wins fourth Supercross of 2023, extends series lead

Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton are right behind, 7 points back

DATE: Feb 18, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

In NBA All-Star spotlight, Utah looks to change perceptions

SALT LAKE CITY – In the 1990s, Dallas Mavericks point guard Derek Harper famously shot down an offer to be traded to the Jazz, quipping to ESPN: “You go live in Utah.” Two decades later, mem...

DATE: Feb 18, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Panthers nip Bobcats on Senior Night, 34-32

Frost, Leonard boost M-CHS off bench

DATE: Feb 18, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Videos & Photos

Fire and ice: Mitigation and burn piles help fortify against wildfiresThe urban-wildland interface is changing – so is the approach to wildfire preparedness30002138Kevin Lindner, fire prevention officer with the San Juan National Forest, uses a drip-torch to set a slash pile on fire Friday in western La Plata County. Fire agencies took advantage of recent snowfall to burn slash piles that were created during forest mitigation efforts. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) Sometimes the job of a fire department is to start a blaze rather than put one out. Counterintuitive? Not according to Durango Fire Protection District Wildfire Battalion Chief Scott Nielsen.On Friday, Nielsen and six DFPD firefighters gathered in a snowy, forested glade next to the Durango West I subdivision to set several hundred slash piles and downed timber on fire. They sparked up their drip torches – metal cans with a nozzle in one end containing a mixture of gasoline and diesel – then went to work, igniting one pile after another, each one gradually springing into a 10-foot-high bonfire. The mood was relaxed – casual, daresay – because the situation was well under control. 30002681Slash piles are set on fire Friday in an area of the forest that had been thinned earlier this year in western La Plata County. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) The winter’s first low-elevation snowstorm a few days before meant the piles could be burned safely without fear of a forest fire breaking out, which was good because the nearest house was just a stone’s throw from the first pile. During the morning safety meeting, one of the main concerns was smoke inhalation, which firefighters could remedy by simply moving to a smokeless area for a while.Nielsen and his fellow firefighters walked among the burning piles, emerging and disappearing from thick columns as smoke. Each new fire was a beacon, signaling forest mitigation work that would make the community a little safer.0VideoYouTube480360Burn piles go up in smokeIn effect, prescribed burns are meant to thin forests and clear flammable material from the forest floor while fire danger is low. Nielsen said there are two main methods: pile burns and broadcast burns. Pile burns are constituted by forestry workers or firefighters heaping logs, slash and twigs into a large pile that they later light. Broadcast burns are when wildland firefighters or other officials light a fire that they allow to spread over the forest floor and manage from growing too large. Often, the two go hand in hand.30001980Joe Wayne, with Durango Fire Protection District, uses a drip-torch to set a slash pile on fire Friday in western La Plata County. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) “Pile burns are very controllable,” he said. “What really works well in a place like this is to burn the piles now and then. In a couple years, you could broadcast burn because you reduce so much brush and ladder fuels.”Prescribed burns are becoming a common tool in wildfire mitigation, especially in the urban-wildland interface, where houses butt up against and into forestland. Friday’s burn was one of several mitigation projects within DFPD’s district, with more being completed on federal land across Southwest Colorado. Lorena Williams, a National Forest Service spokesperson, said the federal agency has burns planned for ranger districts across the San Juan National Forest. In the Columbine Ranger District specifically, hundreds of piles spread over nearly 120 acres will be burned throughout the winter. The burns were supposed to begin in November but were delayed when the federal government shut down. But, with federal employees back at work, the burns are proceeding as planned.“Columbine fire and fuels crews are expecting to implement pile burns as weather allows, but the goal will be to be (completed) by the end of this winter,” she said. Williams said prescribed burns are meticulously planned to ensure there is no impact to human health and are done without risking a larger forest fire. “Favorable weather conditions must exist including, but not limited to, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, smoke dispersal, as well as fuel moisture,” she said. “All elements must be within an acceptable range of prescription parameters described within a written burn plan.”30002043Nate Christiansen, fire management officer with the San Juan National Forest, uses a drip-torch to set a slash pile on fire Friday in western La Plata County. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) Both DFPD and the Forest Service must adhere to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s air quality standards. Burns are also typically done only after a measurable amount of snowfall and when weather conditions will allow smoke to blow away instead of settling over a residential area. In the business of saving money (with fire mitigation)Terry Hunt, who owns Wildfire Defense LLC, a Durango-based fire mitigation service, has been busy for the past two years. The low-snow winter of 2024-25 meant his four-person crew could work clearing brush away from homes and retrofitting houses with fire-resistant materials all winter, compared to most years when snow prevented them from doing so. 29211267From left, Ryan Hunt, Terry Hunt, Shelby Smith and Bryce Klinikowski. The crew of Wildfire Defense LLC work with homeowners and insurance underwriters to make houses less likely to burn down in a wildfire. (Courtesy of Terry Hunt) “We’re busy this season,” Hunt said. “It folded into last season, since last winter was basically more like a cold summer.”Hunt is a certified wildfire mitigation specialist by both the National Fire Protection Association and the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. He and his crew work alongside homeowners who want to defend their houses from wildfires and providers who insure those houses. 40272079In addition to clearing forests of flammable material around a house, Wildfire Defense LLC retrofits homes to be more fire resistant with nonflammable materials. Here, 2 feet of rock cobble surround the house, with metal skirting, stone and concrete boards designed to look like wood sheathing the house. That recipe reduces the risk of a house catching fire. (Courtesy of Terry Hunt)With wildfires becoming more of a threat to communities across the West – the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles in January being a key example – insurance rates have risen. A study from Colorado State University found rates increased by 58% in Colorado between 2018 and 2023 with fire being a main driver. Hunt himself lives in Forest Lakes north of Bayfield, ground zero for the Blue Ridge Fire in August, and has dealt with insurance providers unwilling to take on the risk of insuring his house. But the mitigation work he has done on his own property convinced a provider to insure him.30001913Kevin Lindner, fire prevention officer with the San Juan National Forest, uses a drip-torch to set a slash pile on fire Friday in western La Plata County. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) “I’m a homeowner and I can understand what a nightmare it would be if you lost your affordable homeowners insurance,” Hunt said. “So yeah, so it’s kind of a priority for me. I mean, I’ll even move projects up in the schedule if it’s an insurance issue.” Hunt focuses on making sure homeowners can keep their insurance rates affordable by removing wildfire risk from their properties, sometimes with insurance referrals and sometimes just at the request of a homeowner.1138340A diagram on Wildfire Defense LLC’s website breaks down the “defensible space” around a house into three zones. A good rule of thumb, owner/operator Terry Hunt said, is that the closer to the house, the more flammable material is removed. That creates a buffer that is hard for a wildfire to get through. (Courtesy of Terry Hunt) “This last season, we were just slammed, and it wasn't just with insurance referrals,” Hunt said. “They've heard about us and what we do, and there were a lot of homeowners were just really, really concerned this season, and for good reason.”Hunt and his approach mitigation by cutting down trees and using a machine called a forest masticator to turn brush into mulch. The nearer they get to a house, the thinner they clear so that there is no flammable material around it while still preserving the forest’s natural beauty. They also replace flammable materials on a house with fire-resistant alternatives, he said.Nielsen said fire departments rely heavily on contractors like Hunt for mitigation work. They try not to compete with professionals who make a living doing mitigation, he said, because fire departments are tax-funded. In that ethos, DFPD’s prescribed burns and mitigation work is done in the most economic way possible, he said.“This is the most cost-effective way to get rid of brushing a lot of places,” Nielsen said. “We could chip it or we could haul it out. But what will burn in a few minutes would take an hour to chip.”Nielsen said DFPD does not like competing with contractors, because they are part of the community and their tax dollars fund the department. Additionally, the more mitigation work done theoretically correlates to less time fighting wildfires – another way to save taxpayers money and put cash in community members’ pockets. “When we’re out here, we can build against our payroll,” Nielsen said.Balancing ecosystems by bringing fire back30002000Slash piles are set ablaze Friday in an area that had been thinned earlier this year west of the Durango West I subdivision in La Plata County. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) Wildfires in the past century have become larger, more destructive and harder to control. The reason is twofold: dryer, hotter summers caused by climate change, and a century of hard-line fire suppression management strategy that allowed fuels to build up to unnatural levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the National Forest Foundation, respectively. “The forests in Southwest Colorado are part of a fire-adapted ecosystem, which historically experienced frequent, low-intensity fires on a large scale,” Williams said. “Prescribed fire replicates that natural fire regime and increases the area on our landscape that has been burned at low and moderate conditions.” The benefits of these low-intensity prescribed burns do more than reduce wildfire risk by clearing out flammable fuels. The National Forest Foundation found that “low to moderate-intensity fires can play a key role in keeping those same ecosystems healthy by reducing understory density and returning nutrients to the soil.”Nielsen said that with less plant life, there is less competition for nutrients and sunlight, meaning more trees can grow to be healthy. That in turn allows them to grow to be healthier and more resilient to disease and insect infestation. Additionally, wildlife have more room to forage and can more easily see predators in open forests.“We want a diversity of native species in here,” he said. “We cut a mix of tree age and size and class, so even if a drought comes or bug infestation comes, this place should survive with good seed stock and good genetics.”This method of forest management, Nielsen said, can make a forest a renewable resource. On Friday’s burn, a pile of large logs were stacked alongside an access road. It would be a waste to burn them, which is why DFPD donates them as firewood to nonprofits that distribute it through the community. Hunt’s crew also turns whatever trees it cuts down into firewood, which is given to either the property owner or left on the side of the road for someone else to take. But instead of burning slash, the crew donates it to Table to Farm to be composted, he said.“We’re not burning down the forest, we’re not clear cutting,” Nielsen said. “You can still see all the squirrels and deer and critters out here. Good mitigation should look good.”30001976Slash piles are set ablaze Friday in an area that had been thinned earlier this year near the Durango West I subdivision in La Plata County. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) sedmondson@durangoherald.com
Fire and ice: Mitigation and burn piles help fortify against wildfires
The urban-wildland interface is changing – so is the approach to wildfire preparedness
30002000Ute Mountain Ute Head Start's float in the Parade of Lights.Photos: The Four Corners Board of Realtors Parade of LightsThe Parade of Lights began it’s dazzling march down Cortez’s Main Street Saturday night, featuring the theme “Blessings of a Community” in honor of this year’s host, the Elks Lodge.Despite the cold, spectators were ready for the lights to warm their hearts. The community showed up in a dense crowd of observers along Cortez’s main thoroughfare as a caravan of floats brimming with holiday delight inched along. 2000300020003000The 2025 Parade of Lights was led by a variety of first responders from all over the county.200030002000300020003000The 2025 Parade of Lights was led by a variety of first responders from all over the county.2000300020003000The Pinon Project's float during the Parade of Lights.20003000Ute Mountain Ute Head Start's float in the Parade of Lights.2000300020003000The 2025 Parade of Lights was led by a variety of first responders from all over the county.2000300020003000The Elks Lodge float during the Parade of Lights.20003000The Montezuma-Cortez marching band performing during the Parade of Lights.20003000The 2025 Parade of Lights was led by a variety of first responders from all over the county.20003000Montezuma County Search and Rescue dishing out high fives to spectators.2000300020003000Kustom Diesel Towing won first place in the Commercial category. Matthew Tangeman/Special to The Journal20003000Students from Battle Rock Charter School wave at the parade judges.20003000Maxwell Development & Construction's float brought it's own blizzard to Main St.2000300020003000Maxwell Development & Construction's float brought it's own blizzard to Main St.2000300020003000The High Desert DEVO team popped a few wheelies during the parade.20003000Ace's Auto & Trailers entry in the parade.200030002000300020003000Lewis-Arriola Elementary's float in the parade.20003000Spectators wave as the Cortez Church of the Nazarene float passes by, complete with it's own puppet show.200030002000300020003000The Montezuma County 4H float placed second in the Other category and won the People’s Choice Award. (Matthew Tangeman/Special to The Journal)200030002000300020003000Kids look on as the parade gets underway.2000300020003000A Montezuma County Sheriff's Deputy high fives some spectators during the Parade of Lights.20003000The Four Corners Dancers square dancing group wave from their own dancefloor during the Parade of Lights.200030002000300020003000200030002000300020003000Shiprock's marching band during the Parade of Lights.20003000A student handing out candy alongside the Montezuma-Cortez School District bus.200030002000300020003000The Montezuma-Cortez middle school band performing during the Parade of Lights.2000300020003000The Montezuma-Cortez marching band performing during the Parade of Lights.20003000The 2025 Parade of Lights kicks off down Main Street.20003000
Photos: The Four Corners Board of Realtors Parade of Lights
The Parade of Lights began it’s dazzling march down Cortez’s Main Street Saturday night, featuring t...
Hissing gas well near Hesperus finally gets Colorado’s attentionDepartment of Natural Resources expected to visit site this month30002055Randy Kennedy looks over the leaking gas well on his property near Breen on Nov. 5. After months of trying to get the state of Colorado’s attention, a tentative plugging date has been set for early this month. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) BREEN – After several months of trying to get the state of Colorado’s attention about a leaking natural gas well on his property near Hesperus, landowner Randy Kennedy has finally succeeded.The well – an old, plugged gas well that has been venting methane into the air and soil – is scheduled to be re-plugged early this month. Getting to this point was anything but easy, Kennedy said.When he purchased the 80-acre parcel that had been in his family for generations, he planned to revive the farm his father and grandfather once worked. But he noticed a patch of ground where nothing would grow. Aerial imagery from Google Maps and the La Plata County GIS system shows a circular barren spot on the property.At the center of that circle sits a gas well originally plugged in 1969. The well’s last state inspection was in the 1980s, according to state records. Earlier this year, Kennedy visited the site and noticed something was off.“I went down there one day and I noticed that I could hear something,” he said. “It had just had some moisture, and I thought I could see something bubbling. I thought, ‘That doesn’t look right.’”Kennedy first contacted the state in February 2025, without success. Months passed before anyone acknowledged his messages, he said.29951923Records show the historic gas well on Randy Kennedy’s property was originally plugged in 1969 and passed a state inspection in the 1980s. Kennedy believes the circle of dirt where vegetation no longer grows indicates the plug stopped working several years ago. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) “When I first called, they told me the records showed it had been plugged, so their hands were tied,” Kennedy said. “I’ve called the state starting in February probably over half a dozen times. They never pick up. So I’ve left messages. They will not call me back. I don’t know what the deal is. I even called the federal site that has to do with hazards and hazardous material and pipelines.”He eventually took matters into his own hands and dug into the well, which had been covered by dirt. Kennedy found a large leak, as the well made an obvious hissing sound indicating gas exiting into the atmosphere. The soil surrounding the well was black. The Durango Herald reached out to the state with questions on Oct. 21, a day before La Plata County Commissioner Elizabeth Philbrick also contacted state officials. On Oct. 22, someone from the state finally called Kennedy back. Since then, he said, progress has moved quickly.0VideoYouTube480360“That was not an acceptable experience for him, and we should have done better in responding to his concerns. Hard stop,” said Kristin Kemp, spokeswoman for the Energy and Carbon Management Commission.Kemp said the agency looked into why Kennedy’s messages went unanswered. The lapse appeared to stem from two factors, she said: front office protocols for returning calls were not consistently followed, and the voicemail system may have malfunctioned intermittently.She said that once ECMC staff became aware of Kennedy’s attempts to report the leak, they responded promptly based on the severity of the issue.Kennedy agreed the state’s recent actions have been appropriate.“I’m happy with the response I’ve been seeing so far,” he said. “If a rig actually shows up here the first week of December, then I’ll know what they’re saying is actually what they’re going to do. I understand it takes time. You can’t just up and do stuff right away. But my biggest frustration is that no one would return a phone call.”20101582The cause of the plug’s failure on the gas well on Randy Kennedy’s property is still under investigation according to state officials with the Energy and Carbon Management Commission. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) To ensure a faster response, Kemp recommended that residents use the complaint tool on the agency’s website if they need to request a site investigation. The complaint line is typically answered within 48 hours, she said.“A release from a plugged well is exceedingly uncommon,” she said.Colorado has more than 54,000 plugged wells, and only five have failed in the past five years. The cause of the failure on Kennedy’s property remains under investigation.30001910“A release from a plugged well is exceedingly uncommon,” said Kristin Kemp, spokeswoman for the Energy and Carbon Management Commission. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald) “We are first focused on getting it plugged, and then secondarily we’ll investigate why it happened,” Kemp said. “But the more pressing matter is getting it plugged, regardless of the why.”Because the well was previously plugged, it does not qualify as an orphan well under state rules. Whether the state will also conduct soil remediation – which it typically performs during orphan-well projects – remains undecided, Kemp said.jbowman@durangoherald.com
Hissing gas well near Hesperus finally gets Colorado’s attention
Department of Natural Resources expected to visit site this month
20001434Kentee Pasek walks her dog Dexter in 2022 north of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file)Ouray’s Dexter the Stand Up Dog tells his storyCanine who walks on hind legs stars in new children’s bookDexter, the dog from Ouray who walks on his hind legs, can now add starring in a children’s book to his resume.The 10-year-old Brittany spaniel’s life is the subject of “Dexter: The Stand Up Dog,” which was released Sept. 16. The book, written by Dexter’s mom, Kentee Pasek and Bonnie Kelso (who also illustrated it), is available in both English and Spanish.But, Pasek said, instead of being able to enjoy the book’s release, Dexter has had a fairly difficult autumn.0VideoYouTube480360If you missed him at this year’s Durango Cowboy Gathering, it was because he was in Italy having surgery on the elbow of his remaining front leg, she said.“Dexter ruined the two adult pins that were fusing that elbow together in the front, and we had to instantly take care of that,” she said. “The vet here tried to get a lot of the different orthopedic surgeons in the U.S. to take him, and nobody would, because it’s so complicated.”Fortunately, a surgeon in Milan was able to take him, and they were there for almost two weeks.“He’s doing really well. He still has the cone of shame on,” she said. “He’s walking around still learning how that new elbow works. He’s not so sure yet. He’s a trooper.”1440997 Dexter’s new book was released in September. (Courtesy)Dexter began walking upright after an accident when he was just turning a year old. He escaped from his yard while sniffing a deer trail scent and his front legs were run over by a car. Pasek and her husband brought him to a vet in Montrose where, while everything was fine with him internally, his legs were in pretty rough shape. One was amputated, and the other was a little trickier, ultimately having pins put into the elbow. The Paseks had a custom wheelchair made for him, but he wasn’t having it, and so he began walking upright. And to watch him get around is pretty amazing: He walks for a bit upright and then goes back down on his two (and a half) legs for a rest and then pops back up.The world came to know about him when a woman traveling through Ouray happened to catch Pasek’s mother walking Dexter in his way. She posted a video of the two to her TikTok account and it blew up. Pasek ended up making an account of her own for Dexter to tell his story, and the rest is history – he’s been in dog food commercials, on talk shows and now in his book.Dexter's story resonates with people because not only is it fascinating to watch him walk, there’s a deeper message to be taken away from him, Pasek said.“It’s relatable because you’re like, ‘Oh, he is resilient. He is persevering, he keeps going,’” she said. “No matter what, Dexter has that little positive walk and is happy to be there in life. And I think sometimes, because as an animal, he just bounced back so fast and so hard, it resonates for us to be like, ‘I maybe shouldn’t have a bad attitude about this. Or maybe this isn’t as bad. Or if Dexter can do it, I can too.’”At one point, Pasek said, a retired Navy officer knocked on their door in Ouray. He told them he had had hip surgery but wasn’t doing his physical therapy – until he saw Dexter.For more“Dexter: The Stand Up Dog,” by Kentee Pasek and Bonnie Kelso (who also illustrated), is available at Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/4pbuhynj.For more information about Dexter, visit https://www.dexterdogouray.com.“I think Dexter touches on the very human side of us to the point that we’re like, maybe it’s just so deep ... you don’t know what’s going on in other people’s lives. You don’t know emotionally, physically what they’re going through,” she said. “And Dexter’s like, ‘OK, yes, acknowledge that you’re going through this, but keep going.’”And that’s what she hopes people take away from the book.“I think that’s Dexter’s message, period. So the book itself tells about his story, about being injured and then going through all this but still shining, still pushing through it,” Pasek said. “Keep going one step at a time. Don’t take life so complicated, take it one step at a time. That’s really his theme, and it’s been his theme all the way through.”katie@durangoherald.com
Ouray’s Dexter the Stand Up Dog tells his story
Canine who walks on hind legs stars in new children’s book
Former Fort Lewis College professor confronts Turning Point USA supporters after chapter voteRetired employee uses profanity, gestures in video after board decision1046727Retired Fort Lewis College Professor Emeritus David Kozak was recorded on video using profanity and gestures around Turning Point USA supporters after a student government’s decision to grant Turning Point club status on campus. (Via safe.campus on Instagram)A retired Fort Lewis College professor was caught on camera using strong language – and the middle finger – around students and community members after the student government approved a Turning Point USA chapter on campus.David Kozak, who formerly taught in the anthropology department, appears to call chapter supporters “fascists” and “Nazis” in a video circulating on social media.Discourse has abounded in the Fort Lewis College community after former professor David Kozak seemingly called FLC Turning Point USA supporters “fascists” and “Nazis” in a video circulating on social media. Kozak retired in 2022 and retains the honorary professor emeritus status at the college. The video was recorded immediately after a Nov. 7 student government meeting that reversed its earlier denial of the Turning Point chapter. Turning Point USA is a nonprofit that promotes conservative politics on high school and college campuses. It was founded in 2012 by political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed Sept. 10 on the Utah Valley University campus.1032664Retired Fort Lewis College Professor Emeritus David Kozak was recorded on video using profanity and gestures around Turning Point USA supporters after a student government’s decision to grant Turning Point club status on campus. (Via safe.campus on Instagram)The minute-long video begins with Kozak saying, “You’re (expletive) Nazis. Come on, Nazis. Come on, Nazis,” while apparently addressing a group of Turning Point USA supporters in the Student Union lobby. Someone off screen begins to object, and a woman onscreen interjects, “No, kindness – kill ’em with kindness. Don’t take his bait.” Several people, including some off camera, urge Kozak to “be calm.” “I’m totally calm. I’m totally calm,” he responds. He then puts his middle finger in front of a camera and repeats, “(Expletive) the Nazis. (Expletive) the Nazis.”Someone off screen can be heard saying, “Jesus loves you,” to which Kozak responds, “Oh he does, huh? He loves Nazis, too.”A woman onscreen responds, “Jesus loves everybody,” to which Kozak says, “He loves fascists, he loves Nazis, he loves haters.”“You have a very blessed day, sir,” the woman says. The video ends with Kozak responding, “I’m glad you fascist lovers – Nazi lovers – are having (unintelligible). Have a great night.”Kozak did not respond to a request for comment. 0VideoYouTube480360FLC spokesperson Nardy Bickel declined to comment on the former professor’s behavior. She noted that Kozak has not been employed by the college since his retirement in 2022. Bickel said the broader TPUSA discourse on campus has prompted thoughtful dialogue among students about civil discourse, free speech and free expression.“College is a place for learning, and these discussions – while sometimes challenging – are part of that educational experience,” Bickel told The Durango Herald. “Fort Lewis College remains committed to fostering an environment where complex issues can be explored with respect, curiosity and care.”Lively debate has sprung up across campus in response to Turning Point’s presence on campus.Strong discourse has arisen overall in response to the group’s presence on campus. 55683712Fort Lewis College senior Jonah Flynn advocated for instating a Turning Point USA chapter as an official student group during a packed Associated Students of Fort Lewis College board meeting on campus Oct. 29. (Elizabeth Pond/Durango Herald)More than 30 students spoke against granting club status to Turning Point at an Oct. 29 student government meeting, where the board voted 5 to 2 to deny the application. Amid backlash, an emergency meeting was held Nov. 7, and the decision was reversed. where the chapter was initially denied official student status in a 5 to 2 vote. Fifteen additional students who hoped to speak against the chapter being instated at the Oct. 29 meeting were unable to due to time constraints. Four people spoke in support at the original meeting – TPUSA Fort Lewis College chapter President Jonah Flynn, Co-Vice President Zen Moreno, and two community members. Following pushback from hopeful TPUSA Fort Lewis College chapter members and some conservative community members, the emergency Nov. 7 student government meeting – where Kovak’s strong reaction was recorded – was held. At the emergency meeting, board senators voted unanimously to reverse the original decision. Due to time and room capacity constraints, only a handful of individuals were able to speak. Two FLC students spoke in opposition to Turning Point USA becoming a registered student organization.Four people, excluding Flynn, spoke in support – two students and two community members.One student offered a more neutral perspective, alluding to disagreements with the group, but welcoming them to campus as an official group. The student board did not explain its change of heart at the Nov. 7 meeting. Kozak’s confrontation with students and community members occurred just outside that meeting.Some board members received threats and harassment after a video showing their nameplates was posted on social media by a supporter of the Turning Point chapter after the Oct. 29 meeting. Flynn offered an apology to the board at the Nov. 7 meeting for members “catching heat” in the wake of the decision. Much of the arguments against the chapter being instated at the school have revolved around safety concerns for students in marginalized communities. Flynn told the room at the Nov. 7 meeting that those concerned about their safety in relation to Turning Point programming are “talking about some kind of fictional mental safety, or something like that.” Bickel reiterated that the conversation surrounding Turning Point’s status has offered valuable lessons for students in freedom of speech, civil discourse and free expression.“The fact that students are very engaged in that conversation is a good thing,” she said. epond@durangoherald.com55683712Fort Lewis College senior Jonah Flynn spoke before the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College emergency board meeting Nov. 7 to reconsider the Turning Point USA chapter at the school. (Elizabeth Pond/Durango Herald)
Former Fort Lewis College professor confronts Turning Point USA supporters after chapter vote
Retired employee uses profanity, gestures in video after board decision
‘Serve and protect’: Durango residents turn on police over supposed complicity with ICEDPD chief says protest became a riot with agitators on both sides57603840A crowd of more than 100 people condemned Durango Police Department on Thursday after the police chief blamed protesters, in part, for violence that unfolded earlier this week outside a federal immigration field office. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)A crowd of more than 100 people condemned the Durango Police Department on Thursday when the police chief blamed protesters, in part, for violence that unfolded outside a federal immigration field office earlier this week.“The event Monday was not a peaceful protest,” Brice Current said, addressing Durango City Council at a special meeting on Thursday. “It was an unlawful protest that turned into a riot.”Residents said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents escalated the protest into a scene of violence while city and state law enforcement stood by and watched.The evening reached a crescendo on East Second Avenue between City Hall and the police department when a crowd confronted officers over not intervening with ICE’s arrest of two children and their father or when federal agents assaulted protesters days earlier.“You guys lost our trust. You guys didn’t do (expletive) for children. Go (expletive) yourselves,” Enrique Orozco-Perez, executive director of Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, said to officers after the special meeting.Residents chanted “serve and protect” at officers. Some had written phrases criticizing ICE and demeaning the police chief in chalk outside City Hall.0VideoYouTube480360Police chief recounts eventsCurrent said DPD’s role at the protest – which was driven by the arrests of two children ages 12 and a 15 and their father by ICE agents for supposedly being unlawfully present in the country – was to observe and be present on the scene in case things got out of hand.DPD also investigated a report of abuse of one of the children detained at the ICE field office in Bodo Industrial Park and attempted a welfare check, but was denied entry into the facility, he said.He said the report of abuse was “found to be invalid,” although he was never allowed to check on the children before they were taken on Tuesday to a Texas immigrant detention center.DPD has received many requests to confront ICE agents, he said, but police can’t take action against federal agents because federal law overrides state and local law when they conflict. He expressed frustration in communicating with ICE officials over the course of the incident.When attempting the welfare check, for example, DPD ordered food for the children and tried to deliver it at the field office, he said. But an ICE supervisor asked him to remove chains that had been placed on the entrance gates by protesters, and despite Current saying he would work on that, he was denied entry into the facility.45812820Well over 100 people attended a special City Council meeting Thursday for a debrief about Duarngo Police Department’s role in a protest and conflict with federal agents earlier this week. With council chambers at full capacity, more than 60 residents packed into the City Hall foyer, and dozens more waited outside, listening to the meeting on loudspeakers. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald file)Current said DPD officers asked protesters to remove the chains on Tuesday to no avail. After federal agents moved on protesters around noon that day, officers stationed at the fire department down the street headed toward the field office to provide medical aid to protesters. But about 10 protesters converged on them and they retreated, realizing their presence was escalating the situation.He said around 10 agitators were throwing milk cartons and water bottles at state troopers and federal agents when conflict erupted outside the field office.“At this point, we continued to gather information, take reports, collect videos and speak with state and federal partners, representatives, senators, city leaders, community members,” he said.He said residents asked DPD for previous police interactions with Fernando Jaramillo Solano, the father and asylum-seeker arrested by ICE.“He has no criminal history,” Current said.Two “No Kings Day” protests held earlier this year featured a combined 5,500 peaceful protesters, Current said, and that is more representative of Durango’s spirit than the protest outside the field office.He said he supports the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances, and free speech is a cornerstone of democracy – particularly in uncertain times – but breaking the law is not the way to practice it.Chaining and blocking a federal entrance gate is against the law, he said.“While we recognize that emotions were high, we are disappointed by the behaviors and the display by agents and several protesters alike,” he said. “Such actions from either side distract from the important message of peaceful advocacy and make our shared goal of safety harder to achieve.”Tom Sluis, city spokesman, said the city has received angry letters and calls from residents accusing Durango police of assaulting protesters on Tuesday. But some federal agents who engaged protesters wore uniforms with “POLICE” written in large white lettering.Some residents have called the city back to apologize after realizing their error, he said.Current said in a written statement to The Durango Herald that identifiers such as “POLICE” are intended to communicate lawful authority and ensure officer safety, but they also create community confusion.“Local police departments have a unique and ongoing relationship with the people we serve,” he said. “Trust is essential – when someone is a victim of a crime, witnesses suspicious activity, or simply needs help, they must feel comfortable calling their local police without hesitation or fear. When federal agents use the same ‘police’ identifier, members of the public may mistakenly believe that local police are involved in unrelated federal operations, which can strain that trust and make our job of community protection more difficult.”“POLICE” is still among the most recognized symbols of law enforcement, and it represents legitimate law enforcement authority when worn by a federal agent, he said.43613163Federal agents cut cable locks put there by protesters in an attempt to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility on Tuesday. On Thursday, Durango Police Chief Brice Current said DPD’s role at the protest was to observe and be present on the scene in case things got out of hand. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald file)City Councilor Jessika Buell said DPD had an impossible job during the protest. But, she said, the federal response to protesters was disproportionately violent.Representatives for U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper condemned the violence by federal officers and committed to investigating how to return Solano and his children to their home in Durango.19201240After a Durango City Council special meeting attended by more than 100 people Thursday evening, residents left messages criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Police Chief Brice Current scrawled in chalk outside City Hall. Residents condemned DPD’s inaction during a federal assault on protesters outside an ICE field office on Tuesday. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)Residents recount abuse by fedsProtesters who coalesced outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango’s Bodo Industrial Park on Monday and Tuesday were drawn together by a sense of right and wrong – the federal government arresting children on false charges and holding them for over 24 hours was wrong, they said. It was right to do something about it.Residents of Durango, Mancos and elsewhere from the region said in interviews on the scene with The Durango Herald they felt obligated to stick up for children and families who otherwise didn’t have anyone to turn to.Some of those protesters took it the extra mile. They sat side-by-side, arms linked, in front of the gates of the ICE field office gates, knowing at some point they’d likely be confronted by federal agents with pepper spray or worse.“These community members are willing to put their bodies and their criminal records on the line, and the human chain is the hardest thing for them to get through because in order to get through us, they have to escalate to violence,” Jay Conlan, an organizer, said on Monday. “We don’t want to do that, and we will sit here and let them escalate if that’s what they choose to do.”Someone placed chains on the field office gates to make it harder for agents to leave with the children. When the feds showed up later Tuesday, they came with chain saws, pepper spray and ammunition.Agents would go on to drag, beat, pepper spray and shoot protesters who blocked their way with less-lethal rounds.On Thursday, residents who attended the protest recounted how they were assaulted by officers and were left to fend for themselves in the aftermath. They criticized law enforcement and first responders for not intervening during the conflict with federal agents and after the fact when people might have needed medical care.Well over 100 people attended the special meeting. With Smith Council Chambers at full capacity, more than 60 residents packed into the City Hall foyer, and dozens more waited outside, listening to the meeting on loudspeakers.Residents – particularly in the foyer and outside – had dynamic reactions to comments from Current. Boos and shouts – and sometimes applause – often erupted from the crowd.Residents cringed when Current evoked Martin Luther King Jr. when he said “it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends.”Makenna Bard, 16, said she “witnessed and experienced horrors and atrocities that truly go against what our beautiful country and city stand for” at the protest on Tuesday.She said she is appalled at DPD for sitting by while federal agents brutalized residents.“I called 911 and dispatch five times begging for ambulances and medical assistance. We were told that help was on the way but it never came,” Bard said. “Dozens of untrained citizens and two first aid-certified high schoolers, including myself, were the only people providing first aid at the site for over two hours.”She said residents feel “betrayed, lied to and disgusted.”38772250A crowd of more 100 people condemned Durango Police Department on Thursday when the police chief blamed protesters for violence that unfolded outside a federal immigration field office earlier this week. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)She said she condemns every agency and person who assisted ICE’s “illegal abduction” of Solano and his children.Resident Riese Rose said protesters peacefully demonstrated, and federal agents brutally assaulted them. Protesters defended themselves.“I don’t consider human’s innate response to stay alive ‘violent,’” they said. “What was violent, though, was ICE agents dragging someone forcefully across the pavement and pepper spraying them within 2 inches of their eyes repeatedly.”They said they could see the agents’ disdain in their eyes through the small openings of their face masks.Durango fire says protest too dangerous to enterDurango Fire Protection District said in a news release on Friday that it monitored the situation at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Bodo Industrial Park on Tuesday, but it did not respond to people who had been pepper sprayed because it was not safe to do so.Standard EMS training and protocol requires personnel to ensure a scene is safe before entering to provide medical care, DFPD said. That applies to “shootings, stabbings, riots, and other potentially volatile situations.”DFPD said people had been exposed to pepper spray, but that is not typically life-threatening. Protesters were better equipped to aid people who fell victim to pepper spray than DFPD was with its standard supplies in its ambulances.Four ambulances were staged and ready to respond to any life-threatening medical emergencies, the release said.Rose carried a person to medical support before moving to another victim of pepper spray who was shouting that they couldn’t breathe. They carried that person to medical support as well. As they laid the person in the grass to rest, an agent shot the person again in the back with a pepper spray bullet.“I can’t describe to you what it was like to hear them yell out in pain while their body was contorting,” they said. “A wounded person being shot again – for what?”Rose said DPD officers and Colorado State Patrol troopers stood by and watched as protesters were assaulted. They stepped in only to protect ICE vehicles as agents drove away.Resident Lia Young said she attended the protest to defend the children arrested by ICE.She said she remembers what her little sister was like at 11 years old, and she would not want her to go through what the 12-year-old girl arrested by ICE is going through.Young was sitting in front of the south field office gate arm-in-arm with other protesters when federal agents arrived. An agent ripped her glasses off and sprayed pepper spray straight into her eyes, she said.She was pepper sprayed several times in her face and at least once in her crotch.“I’m on my period. I’m 21. It felt disgusting and extremely, extremely dehumanizing,” she said. “I felt very violated. It was extremely, intensely painful for the rest of that day.”But that was nothing compared to what the children arrested by ICE are going through after being dragged away from their family, she said.She said she wants ICE out of the community, and if DPD doesn’t develop a plan for dealing with ICE next time, the same situation that occurred on Tuesday will unfold again and again.40002252A crowd of more than 100 people chanted “serve and protect” at Durango Police Department officers Thursday after a special City Council meeting where Police Chief Brice Current debriefed councilors and the public about DPD’s response to protests and federal agents on Tuesday. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)Resident Teal Lehto, who is also the La Plata County Democratic Party chair, said Colorado statute imposes a duty to intervene on officers using excessive force, including in riot and crowd-control situations.“I categorically reject the statement that Durango Police Department did everything they could,” she said. “They had a duty to intervene as things turned violent.”She referenced a statement Sgt. Padraic Ingle made to The Durango Herald on Monday that officers would be there to help protesters if violence occurred.“It is incredibly important for our law enforcement officials to mean what they say so they maintain trust with our community,” she said.She said DPD must do a better job at intervening when violence occurs in the community.Many protesters were under the age of 25, and the violence that unfolded at the protest does not occur often in Durango. She said City Council should require the police department to create open training to educate young people about their rights so they know when their rights are being violated.Rev. Jamie Boyce of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango contrasted the “warmth, generosity and kindness” she was met with from fellow protesters on Tuesday with the horror of federal agents stomping over protesters as DPD idly watched.“The excessive and brutal and cruel use of force by ICE and the complicity of local law enforcement as people screamed ‘Why won't you protect us?’ speaks to the moral crisis at hand,” she said. “The normalization and celebration of cruelty and brutality to suppress, terrorize, imprison and break our community; abducting people without due process; breaking families apart; militarizing our cities and using excessive force to suppress our right to assemble and right to speak.”cburney@durangoherald.comA previous version of this story misgendered Riese Rose, who goes by they/them pronouns.
‘Serve and protect’: Durango residents turn on police over supposed complicity with ICE
DPD chief says protest became a riot with agitators on both sides
CBI to investigate federal agent who slammed Durango protester to groundElected leaders from local, state and federal levels react to ICE’s response43662679Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office on Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald file)The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said Thursday it will investigate an incident involving a federal agent accused of throwing a protester to the ground Tuesday in Durango.“The CBI will investigate whether there were state criminal law violations during the incident,” according to a news release from the agency. “CBI will provide the investigation to the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office upon its completion.”Any decision to file criminal charges hinges on the discretion of 6th Judicial District Attorney Sean Murray, CBI said.The agency said it will not provide further comment until its investigation is concluded.60004000Franci Stagi was recorded being thrown to the ground by a federal agent after the agent took her phone shortly before daybreak Tuesday morning outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango’s Bodo Industrial Park. Now, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)Durango Police Chief Brice Current asked CBI to investigate a situation in which a federal agent grabbed Franci Stagi’s phone from her hand and threw her to the ground outside the ICE field office Tuesday morning.Stagi was among dozens of people protesting the arrest of a father and two children who were on their way to school Monday morning in Durango. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the family members are not lawful residents of the U.S.The incident was captured on video and went viral on social media.0VideoYouTube480360Rob Lowe with CBI told The Durango Herald the agency’s investigation concerns only the use of force against Stagi. It is not related to separate reports of abuse of a child and his father under ICE’s custody in the field office.City Council held a special meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday at City Hall where Durango Police Chief Brice Current planned to deliver a presentation about the protest and conflict at the ICE field office in Bodo Industrial Park.The La Plata County Board of County Commissioners said in a joint statement Wednesday that the board is “deeply concerned” about the events that occurred outside the ICE field office and it supports an independent investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.Yazzie said she will wait until after a special meeting to comment further. She hopes to hear ideas from the public at the meeting about how the city should respond to the violence that occurred this week.Mayor Gilda Yazzie said federal agents’ use of force against peaceful demonstrators was “just terrible.”She said she is “disturbed,” yet proud of the way Durango Police Department conducted itself with limited options at its disposal.Durango police attempted a welfare check after receiving a report of abuse of a child who had been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents Monday morning. DPD was unsuccessful, having been turned away at the door to the ICE field office in Durango by federal agents.Police also issued parking tickets when protesters parked their cars along both sides of a narrow road near the field office after Durango Fire Protection District asked for assistance in ensuring fire trucks and ambulances had a clear path in the event of an emergency.“The police department has handled themselves (to) the letter of the law and done the best they could with trying to do welfare checks on the children and trying to keep safety at the top of their agenda,” she said.Durango police’s actionable options are restricted by federal authority, Yazzie said, limiting their ability to respond to certain situations at the protestYazzie said hoped to hear ideas from the public about how the city should respond to the violence that occurred this week.Councilor Shirley Gonzales, who went to the protest Tuesday morning and remained well after the protest ended in the afternoon, joined a lawyer and immigrant advocates in attempting a welfare check on the family, only to be turned away by federal agents.Gonzales told the Herald she wants the immediate release of the children and their father and to be allowed to resume the legal asylum process they have already undertaken.“Being the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, it wasn’t always – at different times in our country – so violent,” she said. “Let’s start, at a minimum, with allowing people that are in the process to complete the path that they’re on.”9751556Yazzie975959GonzalesElected officials react to ICE arrests, protest and violenceElected officials from the local, state and federal levels reacted this week to the federal arrests of asylum-seekers, the resulting protests and the way in which federal agents responded.Elected officials voiced concerns and consternation, finger-wagging federal agents. But some officials offered more call to action in the interest of accountability than others this week.Local elected officials went the furthest in calling for action.County commissioners said La Plata County had no operational involvement in the incident and urged state and federal elected officials to review their employees’ actions and move to correct them.“The images, videos and accounts from this week have affected many people in our community,” Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton said. “We share the community’s desire for transparency, accountability and respectful and legal exercise of residents’ First Amendment rights. Federal actions must honor the human, civil and legal rights of people and the rule of law.”498615Porter-Norton359502Philbrick387387SalkaCommissioner Elizabeth Philbrick said the violent treatment of peaceful protesters is not good for democracy and not how the community should be treated.“Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it is moral,” she said. “Our foremost concern is the well-being of all who call La Plata County home.”Commissioner Matt Salka said moments like those experienced Monday and Tuesday test the community’s shared values.“We remain committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for every resident,” he said.Colorado State Patrol assisted in crowd control at the request of local law enforcement, according to the agency. But troopers did not participate in any immigration enforcement actions, according to a CSP news release. “The Patrol’s role was to aid in de-escalation and protection of all parties present, maintain the peace, and address any identified unlawful behavior,” the release said. “Members of the Colorado State Patrol did not use any weapons or chemical munitions.”Still, protesters questioned the State Patrol’s presence and level of involvement.The Herald requested interviews with U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd and state Rep. Katie Stewart.The offices of Bennet and Hickenlooper referred the Herald to the senators’ comments on social media about the violence directed toward protesters and ICE’s arrest of Solano and his children.Hickenlooper called the family’s arrest “another overreach from an agency pulling people off the streets.”50213347Bennet1024683Hickenlooper“Instead of going after dangerous criminals, they detained a father and handcuffed his 12 and 15 year old kids on their way to school. No due process, no probable cause. It’s indefensible. ICE’s inhumane treatment needs to stop,” he said.Bennet said the Trump administration is picking up in the president’s second term where it left off in his first with “cruel immigration policies that separate families and traumatize minors.”“I have always said that separating families is inhumane. These immigration efforts undermine our most sacred values as Americans, do nothing to keep the country safe, and result in trauma for the children and families targeted. The Administration must grow a conscience and reverse course now,” he said.Sophie Ulin, press secretary for Bennet’s office, said in an email that Bennet introduced legislation in August that would prohibit law enforcement officers from obscuring their faces and require them to display their agency, name and a unique identifier while conducting immigration enforcement functions.“Situations like this should never happen, and the Senator’s legislation would increase transparency, accountability, and safety,” she said.Hickenlooper joined Bennet and Democratic U.S. Sens. Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Angus King to introduce the Immigration Enforcement Identification Safety Act.Hickenlooper’s office did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about what actions are being taken to identify and document federal agents.Hurd did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment about the ICE-related activity.He did not appear to make any references to the conflict unfolding in Durango this week. Instead, posts were about a tour of his district, the ongoing government shutdown and a number of other issues.Stewart posted a video to her Katie for Colorado Facebook page on Monday – the day the two children and their father were arrested – in which she said, “This is not going unnoticed.”She said she visited the ICE field office where she checked on the children.She asked ICE agents if the children were being fed and cared for and had proper access to an attorney.“While the conversation was fine, I don’t think I was given the truth. I do believe the kids are being fed. I don’t believe that they’ve had access to their attorney,” she said. “In fact, I’m almost sure their attorney was turned away.”At that point, she said, it was in the hands of the community to stand up for the children.“I’ll continue to work at the state level to see what answers I can get, but in the meantime, just know that we do care. We care and we’re fighting,” she said.ICE did not respond to questions earlier this week about its policies guaranteeing children access to an attorney while in its custody.cburney@durangoherald.com
CBI to investigate federal agent who slammed Durango protester to ground
Elected leaders from local, state and federal levels react to ICE’s response
Mother of children taken by ICE feels like she is ‘drowning,’ ‘choking’ after arrestsImmigrant rights group demands release of Durango family44283301Protesters link arms as they face off with federal agents trying to remove them from the entrance to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)A 15-year-old boy and his father were “beaten, handcuffed and forced to sign documents” after being arrested Monday in Durango by federal immigration officers, the boy’s mother told an immigrant services nonprofit.Estela Patiño said she spoke with her son, Kewin Daniel Patiño Bustamante, in a phone call shortly after 10 p.m. Monday – the last time she has heard from him as of Wednesday morning, according to Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center. She said she has not spoken with her 12-year-old daughter, Jana Michel Jaramillo Patiño, since the arrest.In an open letter to Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Compañeros identified the father as Fernando Jaramillo Solano.Durango Police Department officers attempted a welfare check on Kewin after receiving a report of possible abuse by federal agents but were denied entry to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office on Tuesday, the city said in a news release.Compañeros expressed concern that Jana was being held in the custody of only men, calling it “not just terrible” but “inhumane” and a violation of “every prevailing human right for children.”“​These children are just children; they bear NO responsibility of any kind,” Compañeros said in a Facebook post.The group described Solano as an “honest and hardworking individual” who works more than 80 hours a week at two cleaning companies and a hotel.Solano has no criminal record, nor do his wife or children, and the family is seeking asylum in the United States, according to Compañeros.The family, originally from Colombia, has lived and worked in Colorado for more than 18 months, and their asylum case remains open and active, according to Compañeros.‘It’s destroyed her life’60004000Immigration advocates were turned away from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office Tuesday in Durango after two children arrested Monday morning had been held there for more than 24 hours. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)In an interview Wednesday with The Durango Herald, Patiño said she feels like she is “drowning” and “choking.” She said the arrests by immigration agents felt like an attack on her entire experience in the United States.She spoke in Spanish, with Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team providing English translation.“It’s destroyed her life,” Tregillus said of the arrests.Patiño said her family came to the U.S. seeking protection. In Colombia, she said, they lived under threat of being killed. Now, she feels the same persecution – this time with her children as targets.Patiño began to cry.“It’s reminding me of the worst year I spent in Colombia,” she said. “I feel attacked. Complete loss of safety.”She said the arrests of her partner and children triggered memories of relatives who were attacked in Colombia.“To be in a place where she thought she could be helped and have safety and asylum, instead she is experiencing the same feelings all over again,” Tregillus said.Protesters converge on ICE field office to defend detained family60004000A protester leads others in a chant during outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)Kewin, Jana and Solano were arrested Monday morning on their way to school and taken to the ICE field office in Durango’s Bodo Industrial Park. Their arrest sparked a protest lasting more than 24 hours. By noon Tuesday, more than 200 people had gathered outside the field office’s barbed-wire fence.Protest signs read “Resist fascism,” “You’re the bad guys, go away ICE,” and “Let them out!”Protesters chanted “Free the kids – and the dad,” strummed guitars, pounded drums and sang.0VideoYouTube480360Protesters – ranging from teens to white-haired adults – formed a human chain at two entrances to the field office Monday night at 32 Sheppard Drive. Volunteers donated food, coffee and blankets as protesters hunkered down for a cold night.Many protesters wore masks. Some blew whistles just before daybreak Tuesday as a vehicle arrived to deliver food to the family. ICE agents exited the building, and a confrontation ensued.Tensions escalated around noon Tuesday, when federal agents used pepper spray and rubber bullets to clear protesters from the gates.Once the gates were cleared, several black vans – thought to be carrying Kewin and Jana – left the facility. Protesters flung milk cartons and loose trash. What comes next54583786Protesters link arms as agents pull them from the road as black vans leave a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)Protesters’ singular goal was to prevent ICE from removing children and separating the family. Once the vans left, the crowd dispersed, believing the children had been taken away.But Tregillus said a Colorado Rapid Response Network confirmer saw a white van enter the facility and later leave with all three family members after the protesters had gone.Beatriz Garcia Waddell, Western Slope organizer for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, confirmed the same story.On Monday, Compañeros said the children believed they would be separated from their father – sent to Texas while he would go elsewhere.But Tregillus said she and Patiño called the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, on Wednesday morning and learned all three were being taken there together.“That is a huge relief,” Tregillus said, adding that it remains unfair.She said ICE agents falsely claimed that if Patiño had a legal representative and an active asylum case, her partner and children would be released. But that didn’t happen.Patiño attended the protest and watched from the sidelines, hoping demonstrators could stop agents from taking her children, Tregillus said. As the vans passed, she collapsed and wailed in despair.“It’s destroyed her life,” Tregillus said. “I have never been present with such awful grief in my life as when she saw them.”Apoyo is providing Patiño with safe places to stay while an attorney, funded by the group, assesses the family’s case, Tregillus said. But Tregillus said Patiño feels unsafe despite having a strong asylum case.Patiño is now requesting her husband and children to be allowed to self-deport to Colombia. But in all likelihood, they will be stuck in detention for months given a backlog of cases.“Bad news: Once you’re detained, even if you want to self-deport, it can be weeks or even months,” Tregillus said. “Sometimes the family must go back to court and ask for a removal order.” Bonds are not being issued for detainees awaiting court dates, she said.“Many get sent back anyway,” she said. “But having to wait in a detention center is not a choice this family wants to accept.”She said more than 25 local children have lost a parent to ICE removals.“It is completely, just beyond ...” Tregillus said, at a loss for words. “To call this a solution to any immigration problem ... We are punishing people who did not design the system, that does not help them get an answer as to whether they can legally be here or not.”Drawing on her experience as a play therapist, she said removing a child’s parents is one of the most damaging things someone can do to a young child’s mental health.ICE responds43613163Agents cut cable locks put there by protesters who wanted to prevent vehicles from leaving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)In response to Tuesday’s protest, ICE questioned demonstrators’ motives, touted the arrests of three “criminal aliens” unrelated to the Patiño-Solano family, and repeated a disputed claim from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that assaults on ICE agents have risen by 1,000%.ICE detains three with criminal backgrounds in Durango areaA U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson named three people with criminal backgrounds it arrested in the Durango area, as follows:Juan Lorenzana-Ruvalcaba, 41, of Mexico. He was arrested for criminal penetration of a child and aggravated battery, and prosecution is pending for felony manufacturing, distributing or dispersing of a controlled substance.Anderson Tovar-Perez, 29, of Venezuela. Tovar-Perez was convicted of child abuse and driving while intoxicated.Daniel Rivera-Munoz, 36, of Mexico. He was convicted of “illegal alien possession of a firearm” and has been arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony possession of a controlled substance.“What these protestors (sic) hope to achieve by chaining the gates of a federally leased property is unclear,” the spokesperson said. “Their actions do nothing to serve the detainees they claim to support or the community, instead delaying lawful processes and creating unnecessary risks for everyone involved.”ICE said in a statement that it respects First Amendment rights to peaceful protest but added that extreme protesters often misrepresent the agency’s mission. “Calls to abolish ICE or obstruct its operations inadvertently support the release of dangerous individuals with no legal right to remain in the U.S., including those convicted of violent crimes, drug trafficking, child exploitation, and other serious offenses,” the spokesperson said.ICE described Solano as “an illegal alien from Colombia” who entered the U.S. on Dec. 22, 2024, near San Diego.Asked why Solano and his children – who have an open asylum case and no criminal records – were arrested, the spokesperson said ICE “cannot comment on an individual’s asylum claims” and noted that a pending asylum claim does not prevent arrest or removal.The spokesperson did not answer questions about its policies for interacting with protesters and instead referred the Herald to another ICE media contact. That media contact did not respond to inquiries about policies for engaging protesters or standards of care for minors in its custody.“ICE takes any allegations regarding professional misconduct seriously,” the spokesperson said when asked about alleged abuse of Solano and his son.The ICE Office of Professional Responsibility investigates and takes action where warranted, the spokesperson said.Tregillus said ICE is targeting people with asylum cases less than two years old, even if they have no criminal history. She said active asylum cases should not make someone eligible for deportation – and didn’t under President Joe Biden. But she said the Trump administration is changing the rules, putting current asylees at risk of removal.She suspects President Donald Trump is under pressure to fill detention center beds to justify their existence.“There was no court order signed by a judge to detain him (Solano). So that’s illegal,” Tregillus said. “To detain the children as well is over-the-top. None of their civil rights were respected.”cburney@durangoherald.com57603840Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed Tuesday outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)
Mother of children taken by ICE feels like she is ‘drowning,’ ‘choking’ after arrests
Immigrant rights group demands release of Durango family
Federal agents use pepper spray, rubber bullets on Durango protestersImmigration arrests of parent, two children spark demonstrations43403172Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)More than 24 hours of peaceful protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango culminated Tuesday with pepper spray and rubber bullets being used against protesters.Protesters gathered at the site Monday morning after a man and his two middle school children were arrested that morning on their way to school. Protesters formed a human chain in front of the field office gates Monday night to block federal agents from removing the family from the facility.The chain held through midday Tuesday until masked ICE agents in military-style desert camouflage attacked protesters after ordering them to disperse. The agents flanked protesters from east Sheppard Drive and broke through the ranks to reach the facility gates, deploying mace, firing rubber bullets and dragging away protesters who were seated on the pavement in front of field office entrance.44283301Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)60004000Melody Kiltz-Dawson leads others in a chant during a protest outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)After protesters were cleared from one entrance gate, a black van – reportedly transporting the family – appeared from beyond the barbed wire surrounding the field office and left the facility.Protesters, soaked in pepper spray, wailed as others rushed to their aid with milk, water and saline solutions.“They beat the (expletive) out of us,” said Autumn, a protester who declined to share her last name. “They came here and in under three minutes they’re spraying us. They’re hitting us point-blank in the back of the head with rubber bullets, which is a human rights violation.”She said ICE agents are “illegally doing the bidding of the state” and are complicit in disappearing people and “atrocities against American citizens.”43662679Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)Facilitated release ‘no longer an option’ICE agents told the Durango Police Department that they attempted to release the children to another parent but were unsuccessful, according to a city news release on Tuesday. Durango officers then offered on multiple occasions to help facilitate the release back to the children, “but were informed that it was no longer an option,” according to the city.“On multiple occasions, Durango Police requested to facilitate the release of the children to their mother, but were unsuccessful,” the release said. On Tuesday, police received a report that one of the children may have been in distress and potentially experiencing abuse, the city said. Officers attempted to conduct a welfare check and to bring food to the family.“Unfortunately, federal agents denied officers entry to the facility,” the city wrote in its release.At the request of Durango Fire Protection District, Durango police helped ensure emergency vehicles could safely come and go from Station No. 1 in Bodo Industrial Park, according to the city. Protesters were double-parked on both sides of the road near the ICE field office.Early morning flash pointOrganizers said they planned to remain peaceful while delaying ICE efforts to separate the family. Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, Durango police officers arrived to monitor the situation but left a few hours later.54583786Protesters link arms as agents pull them from the road as vehicles leave an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)Just before 6 a.m. Tuesday, a vehicle without license plates arrived to deliver food to the family, according to the vehicle’s driver. Federal agents then emerged from the building, and a confrontation ensured. Agents threw protesters’ belongings across the road.Protester Francy Stagi said an agent took the phone out of her hand as she recorded, then grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground in a choke hold. She was afraid the agent would kick her to death.57603840Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)Other agents attempted to restrain the officer before they all retreated back into the building. Demonstrators called 911, but Stagi said she was uninjured.Stagi, laughing lightly, said she received a parking ticket from DPD. When she reported her assault by ICE agents to local police, officers told her there was nothing they could do about it.“This is (expletive) Nazi Germany. This is Pinochet in Chile,” she said.She said protesters outside the ICE field office had no way of knowing how the children arrested Monday morning were being treated by agents inside.“Maybe they’re yelling at her. Maybe they're pulling her fingernails out one by one. We don’t know,” she said.0VideoYouTube480360Gov. Polis: Lack of transparency ‘extremely maddening’The city said a video taken about 6 a.m. Tuesday showed “an elderly” woman being shoved to the ground by a federal agent. The city said it asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for assistance investigating the incident, but as of 5:15 p.m. CBI had not formally decided to investigate the case. “Because the event occurred on federal property, the FBI is also looking into the incident,” the city said.Durango City Councilor Shirley Gonzales attended the protest Tuesday morning. Trembling, she said she had never witnessed anything like the confrontation that unfolded that afternoon.She said the family whose arrest sparked the protest was going through the legal channels to seek asylum, and she’s disappointed to see them being targeted.The city said it is committed to transparency, compassion and the safety of all residents.“We support every individual’s right to peacefully protest and assemble,” Mayor Gilda Yazzie said in a release. “This is a deeply challenging moment for our community.”An ICE spokesman in Denver declined to respond to questions by phone Tuesday afternoon. He said he would only respond to questions by email, but he provided no response to emailed questions as of 8 p.m. Tuesday.In a statement to The Denver Post, Gov. Jared Polis said he was “deeply concerned” about the family’s detention.“The federal government’s lack of transparency about its immigration actions in Durango and the free state of Colorado remains extremely maddening,” he wrote. “The federal government should prioritize apprehending and prosecuting dangerous criminals, no matter where they come from, and keep our communities safe instead of snatching up children and breaking up families.”All night protest40323024Demonstrators form a human chain by interlocking their arms and legs outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Durango early Tuesday. (Scout Edmondson/Durango Herald) Throughout the evening Monday, demonstrators vowed to practice nonviolent resistance against the federal agents. “These community members are willing to put their bodies and their criminal records on the line, and the human chain is the hardest thing for them to get through because in order to get through us, they have to escalate to violence,” said Jay, an organizer who declined to give his last name. “We don’t want to do that, and we will sit here and let them escalate if that’s what they choose to do.” Federal agents were attempting to separate a father and two children despite a pending asylum case, according to an employee with Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, who declined to be identified.60004000Unable to see after being pepper sprayed, a protester dragged from her friends by law enforcement agents is helped to her feet by another protester outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)“The official stated they will proceed with processing the family, despite having an open and pending asylum case,” the Compañeros employee said. “I also spoke with the mother, who received a call from one of her children. The children were told they are being moved to Texas, and it appears they will be separated from their father.”The employee also said the family had no pending criminal charges or violations. Demonstrators brought food, coffee, blankets and cardboard signs. They set up a tear gas station stocked with milk, bottled water and saline solution. 45812820Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)“We’re saying we stand with our community members, and we’re willing to risk whatever it is that we have to in order to get them back,” Jay said.By 10:30 p.m., some 70 people remained, seated in front of the two entrances to the facility with linked arms. That number dwindled to roughly 50 through the night, but the protesters wrapped themselves in blankets and waited for a sign from either the agents or the family.At 12:47 a.m., several Durango Police Department vehicles arrived on scene to monitor the situation. According to Sgt. Padraic Ingle, they were there to ensure the rights of all parties involved were upheld and that violence did not break out. “We’re just here to make sure that everybody’s safe,” Ingle said. “We love that they are here to exercise their First Amendment right, and so that’s why we’re here. We uphold the Constitution and we uphold the ordinances of our community. So that’s ultimately what we’re doing.”Because tensions were running high, Ingle said, emotions can get carried away and lead to conflict. 30244032A sign made by protesters. (Scout Edmondson/Durango Herald) “We want to make sure that if that does happen, people are still doing it in a way that benefits society, versus tears it down totally,” Ingle said. He said DPD is not involved with ICE operations, and that the department has made no plans with the agency. If violence did break out on either side, he said officers would step in to stop it. City spokesman Tom Sluis said DPD was asked by the Durango Fire Protection District to help ensure emergency vehicles had access to the fire station. At that time, a smaller number of protesters were receptive to the requests of a code enforcement officer, he said.43613163Agents cut cable locks put there by protesters in an attempt to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)By 5:30 a.m., DPD officers had left the scene. And by 5:50 a.m., an unmarked police vehicle without license plates arrived. ICE agents emerged from the facility and began trying to clear a way for the vehicle to enter. Demonstrators in the human chain remained seated and did not obey the agents’ demands.One agent was throwing chairs and signs across the road and tipped over a propane fire pit demonstrators had set up to keep warm. He also shoved a teenage demonstrator. As he was doing so, demonstrator Anne Stagi began taking video of the agent with her phone. “What would Jesus do?” she repeatedly asked. The agent then took her phone out of her hands and threw it across the road. “I was asking him, ‘what would Jesus do?’ Because they say they're all good Christian nationalists,” Stagi said. Through tears, Stagi said her grandparents lived in Nazi Germany and that the behavior of the Trump administration and ICE reminded her of some of their stories.Brian Rogers, a protester blocking the gate Tuesday, was shot with rubber bullets – once in the neck and again in the back. He lifted his shirt and showed a large welt on his back.He said he was overwhelmed and angry, and ICE didn’t need to take the children in their custody anywhere.“Children being abducted in our community is something I can’t stand,” he said. “I want to try to do what I can to prevent that.”Jay said protesters remained peaceful, despite ICE’s actions. “ICE rolled out of their facility and immediately escalated,” Jay said. “We were sitting here peacefully, blocking their way, and they came out swinging, pushing people around. (They) attacked a person who was exercising their right to film in a public space.”cburney@durangoherald.comsedmondson@durangoherald.com57603840A protester that was pepper sprayed calls her mother outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)40323024Demonstrators form a human chain by interlocking their arms and legs outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Durango early Tuesday. (Scout Edmondson/Durango Herald) 40323024Demonstrators gather outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango early Tuesday where a father and his two young children were reportedly being held. (Scout Edmondson/Durango Herald) 40323024A masked and badgeless U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent threatens demonstrators with pepper spray Monday evening. (Scout Edmondson/Durango Herald) 40323024Anne Stagi, center, speaks with a police officer after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent grabbed her by the hair and threw her down a hill after she videoed him. (Scout Edmondson/Durango Herald) Newsletter signupTo sign up for free daily and breaking news newsletters, visit www.durangoherald.com/newsletter-signup/
Federal agents use pepper spray, rubber bullets on Durango protesters
Immigration arrests of parent, two children spark demonstrations
Residents celebrate solidarity, warn of authoritarianism at No Kings protests in Durango and BayfieldPeaceful gatherings for protection of democracy, immigrants, public lands and institutions30002183Inflatable characters lead a dance party of around 3,000 people on Saturday during a No Kings Day rally in Rotary Park. Protesters were largely cheerful, although they focused on a serious message about threats to democracy coming from the Trump administration. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)After the Trump administration painted peaceful protesters and Democrats as enemies of the U.S., protesters in La Plata County responded by throwing a dance party in Durango and jamming out to upbeat tunes in Bayfield.0VideoYouTube480360Despite welcoming and sometimes jovial vibes, a government shutdown, threats of selling off public lands and the erosion of democracy were on the minds of Durango and Bayfield residents on Saturday for No Kings Day of Peaceful Protests against the Trump administration.Nearly 7 million Americans had marched and protested in defiance of the Trump administration at more than 2,700 peaceful rallies around the country on Saturday, according to NoKings.org.54623492After the No Kings rally in Rotary Park, participants on Saturday lined Main Avenue from 15th Street to almost 32nd Street holding signs and chanting slogans. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)The national day of protest is the second nationwide No Kings event, organized by activist groups such as 50501 and Indivisible. The first No Kings Day was held on June 14, President Donald Trump’s birthday.Saturday morning in Bayfield, 200 or more people congregated along both sides of Bayfield Parkway outside Town Hall. That afternoon in Durango, thousands danced in Rotary Park and denounced the Trump administration before marching on north Main Avenue to 32nd Street and back.At least 3,000 people turned out to Rotary Park in Durango, with more in the wings on the Animas River Trail and along north Main Avenue. They carried signs with phrases such as, “Speak truth to power,” “Stop the reign of error” and “When tyranny becomes law rebellion becomes duty.”Many protesters appeared cheery and in good spirits. In Durango, Dan King rallied the crowd and invited the people to dance to music such as Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace a Chance.” Vivian SmothermanSome people wore inflatable costumes of pandas, unicorns, velociraptors, Rex from “Toy Story,” and a frog wearing a bandanna.The frog costume may have been a reference to recent protests in Portland where protesters wore vibrant costumes and danced tauntingly in front of immigration officials, presenting a different picture than the White House’s description of Portland as a “war zone.”30001982More than 200 people participated in the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Some protesters carried red and black anarchism flags, and two people activated smoke bombs that sprayed thick red clouds into the air as the crowd dispersed, some toward downtown and others to march on north Main Avenue.Bayfield residents speak their mindsIn Bayfield, resident Laurie Robinson played her bagpipes as she walked up and down the sidewalk outside Town Hall. A man standing across the road dipped two long sticks linked by rope into a soapy bucket, lifted the sticks above his head and spread them apart to let the wind blow large, glossy bubbles into the air.Another woman wearing a different frog costume carried portable speakers playing upbeat music, including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Los Del Río’s “Macarena” and Sublime’s “What I Got.”She carried a sign that read, “United we ribbit, divided we croak.”The woman declined to provide her name, saying she is an employee of the U.S. Forest Service.“They have been waiting to do this,” she said, referring to proposed sales of public lands to private buyers. “They, as the billionaires, can make more and more money off this, and that’s what they’ve been waiting (for). But this is our land. I’m a public landowner. You are a public landowner.”She said letting private industries take unchecked control will lead to public lands being degraded and destroyed. Or, she added, public lands will become an amenity for the wealthy and unaffordable for working Americans.15001783Judy Blaisdell “whips” a king, her husband, Bob Blaisdell, during a No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of Bayfield Town Hall. She said Pine River Rising, an activist group, has protested the Trump administration outside Town Hall since March, and she hopes to start productive community conversations to heal division between Americans. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Public lands contain resources like timber and minerals the country can use – as long as they are extracted wisely, she said.“Our country is falling into authoritarianism,” she said, adding America’s degradation of democracy mirrors what happened to Germany with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.Influence over the free press, control of free speech and educational institutions, and deploying the military into cities over domestic issues are all similarities she drew between the contemporary U.S. and Nazi Germany.20102028Jenny Winegardner participates in the No Kings Day rally in Bayfield on Saturday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)She said the Holocaust – the state-sponsored and systematic murder of 6 million Jews and millions of other people – was awful and she does not mean to take away from its significance – but she fears the U.S. is heading down a similar path.30001846More than 200 people participated in the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)She said she recently visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the similarities were “shocking.”The Holocaust and mass murder did not materialize from nowhere, she said. It started with persecution.15001806Laurie Robinson plays her bagpipes during the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“We’re sending people with no due process to foreign countries and foreign prisons, just like Germany did,” she said. “They started in Poland with their concentration camps, and they didn’t start with camps. They started with these laws to slowly degrade democracy.”Bayfield resident Judy Blaisdell, a member of the Pine River Rising activist group, said she’s been protesting outside Town Hall since March.She is saddened and fearful for the country, she said, because it’s fraught with division.3000748More than 200 people participated in the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“People identifying our groups as terrorists, that is very frightening to me,” she said. “Watching our friends and neighbors be dragged away. There have been a lot of people arrested in this area.”She was referencing continued arrests of people suspected to be undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as well as statements made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday ahead of the countrywide No Kings demonstrations.30002408Todd Anderson rings the bell in front of the Bayfield Town at the start of the No Kings Day rally in Bayfield on Saturday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals,” Leavitt said in an interview on Fox News.Leavitt is wrong, Blaisdell said.Blaisdell said Pine River Rising is nonpartisan and aims to build community.“We’re just a group of people that care about what’s going on in the world, and we care about each other, particularly our neighbors,” she said. “ … We’d like to start a conversation with anyone that wants to talk to us.”30001663La Plata County Commissioner Elizabeth Philbrick speaks to about 3,000 people on Saturday during the No Kings rally in Rotary Park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Elected officials warn of authoritarianism, encourage ‘community over contempt’In Durango, elected officials and former officials spoke to a crowd in Rotary Park that spilled onto the Animas River Trail and onto the sidewalk along north Main Avenue.Rick Petersen, a Durango School Board member who is seeking reelection, spoke about the importance of preserving education and protecting students. He decried attempts to smear DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).David “It’s not an acronym, it’s not a buzz word, it’s not a dirty word,” he said. “Diversity of community benefits from a diverse population with many experiences. Every human being wants to feel included, wants to feel safe. That’s what this school district is about. Equity for every single person.”School board members Erika Brown and Andrea Parmenter, who are also seeking reelection, stood by Petersen.La Plata County Commissioner Elizabeth Philbrick spoke about the fall of democracy. Without explicitly mentioning the president, she said the Trump administration is following an authoritarian playbook to divide communities, override constitutional protections and take power.She said authoritarian regimes across the world and throughout history have attacked free press and spread disinformation, degraded independent institutions by installing loyalists, scapegoated people to turn them against their neighbors, and expanded their powers while dismantling free and fair elections.30002198Around 3,000 people attended the No Kings rally on Saturday in Rotary Park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Protesters on the gazebo at Rotary Park held signs with white text against black backdrops that read “Signs of fascism” in underlined text and messages beneath such as “Voter suppression,” Controlling the media“ and “Persecuting minorities.”“You will find a scapegoat, whether it is a minority, an immigrant or a political rival, they are the problem,” Philbrick said, delivering a civics crash course on authoritarianism. “There is no owning any of the mistakes, the leader will not do that. They become the self-proclaimed savior, defending the real people against imagined enemies.”cburney@durangoherald.comA previous version of this article gave an incorrect name for Dan King, who led chants at Rotary Park in Durango, and Rick Peterson, a speaker and Durango School Board member.
Residents celebrate solidarity, warn of authoritarianism at No Kings protests in Durango and Bayfield
Peaceful gatherings for protection of democracy, immigrants, public lands and institutions
Directory Plus

Search Directory Plus

Find:
Where:

  • Most Popular

  • Most Recent

Nikola Jokic's 12th triple-double of the season leads Nuggets to 128-125 OT win over Rockets
Australia's leaders promise to tighten gun laws after Bondi Beach massacre on Hanukkah
Cortez to host City Council candidate information session
Nikola Jokic's 12th triple-double of the season leads Nuggets to 128-125 OT win over Rockets
Australia's leaders promise to tighten gun laws after Bondi Beach massacre on Hanukkah
Cortez to host City Council candidate information session

  • Most Popular

  • Most Recent

Nikola Jokic's 12th triple-double of the season leads Nuggets to 128-125 OT win over Rockets
Australia's leaders promise to tighten gun laws after Bondi Beach massacre on Hanukkah
Cortez to host City Council candidate information session
Nikola Jokic's 12th triple-double of the season leads Nuggets to 128-125 OT win over Rockets
Australia's leaders promise to tighten gun laws after Bondi Beach massacre on Hanukkah
Cortez to host City Council candidate information session
Ballantine Communications, Inc.
The Journal Durango Herald Tri City Record
DGO Directory Plus BCI Media Services
Events Four Corners Expos Browse Local Jobs Careers With Us
Contact Us
News tip/feedback Letter to the Editor FAQs
Report a paper delivery issue/suspend delivery Advertise with Us Staff/Contact
Find Us
E-Edition
RSS Alexa
Subscribe

Sign up for email headline alerts:

Choose from several print and digital subscription packages

Get The Journal

© 2025 The Journal | Ballantine Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy