by The Rev
ICE’s Evolving Tactics in Colorado
On April 27, an underground night club in Colorado Springs was raided by Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriffs, DEA, ICE and DHS. Hundreds were detained, 114 arrested including multiple active-duty service members, 105 people are still in custody. Earlier that same week ICE, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), were conducting welfare checks in a trailer park in New Castle, CO. The whole encounter was caught on a ring camera and published on Spanish language radio host Samuel Bernal’s on Facebook page.
Idaho Police Kill Non-Verbal Autistic Child
On April 5, Victor Perez was shot nine times by Boise police. The non-verbal autistic teen was engaged by officers, and then fourteen seconds later they opened fire. Ana Vazquez, Perez’s aunt, told NBC News, “The police didn’t even ask what the situation was when they arrived. They didn’t listen; they didn’t even hesitate to shoot,” Vazquez said. “They just shoot to kill.”
Colorado Bureau of Investigations Seeks Outside Labs to Clear Rape Kit Backlog
CBI has sent off roughly a third of the Bureau’s backlog of over 1400 rape test kits to outside labs. Tests have been taking about eighteen months to process, leaving victims in limbo. CBI’s problems are only further complicated by the recent arrest of career CBI forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods. Woods has been charged with over 100 felonies for manipulating DNA results. Woods had been employed with CBI since 1994, and at least 803 samples will have to be retested at an estimated cost taxpayers over $7.5 million dollars.
Deputy Sentenced for Killing Christian Glass
Clear Creek deputy Andrew Burns was sentenced to the maximum three years for the 2022 killing of Christian Glass. Glass was suffering a mental health crisis and had called 911 for help. Burns’s first trial resulted in a hung jury. He was recharged with the lesser crime of criminally negligent homicide.
Mass Mobilizations Across Western Colorado
Western Colorado came out in force for the national “Hands-Off” protests held on April 5. Some 2500 people rallied in Grand Junction. Around the region: 1200 people in Montrose, 200 in Paonia, 200 in Eagle, 200 in Alamosa, 300 in Pagosa Springs, 200 in Frisco, 100 in Bayfield, 1000 in Steamboat Springs, 600 in Cortez, 1800 in Glenwood Springs, 200 in Telluride, 1000 in Durango, and 300 in Gunnison. An estimated five million people around the county took to the streets. Actions on April 19 and May 1st were also well attended.
Denver Activists Demand City Stop Funding Salvation Army’s Failed Efforts
On April 8, activists and a number of different organizations held a protest outside of the Salvation Army headquarters in Denver. The Salvation Army has been one of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s key partners in the city’s attempts at reducing homelessness. TSA has been awarded $27 million dollars in contracts since 2022. Allegations of substandard conditions, discrimination, and abuse were highlighted by protesters. Recently, TSA employee Billy Johnson, a man with a long history of sexual assaults, was arrested for sexually assaulting a homeless woman while employed by TSA and working in a City of Denver-owned facility. The protest was organized by the Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND).
Bodies Spotted at El Salvadorian Prison
Trump has deported 238 migrants, many with legal status, without due process to El Salvador’s super Max CECOT prison where people “never leave.” Even the pro-Trump supreme court has ordered the government to stop the deportations and to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father, a sheet metal apprentice and a member of a union. The MAGA regime is now openly talking about sending Americans to this “concentration camp.” Google Earth satellite images seemed to show a pile of bodies and bloodstains on the ground at CECOT, (13° 32’ 1” N, 88° 48’ 18” W). After the disturbing images made their way around social media, both Google Earth and Apple Maps changed their imagery of CECOT in what appears to many to be an attempt at censorship. We should be asking how they keep putting people into a prison that they say, “one ever leaves?”
Argentina Gen. Strike: Model for Resistance
Argentinians are eighteen months into a far right crypto-scam posing as a legitimate government. Their resistance has a lesson to teach us. On April 9 and 10, the working masses held a one-day general strike with three of the largest Peronist unions. Flights were cancelled, businesses and government offices were closed and the banks were closed as workers took to the streets. The government imposed new laws against protesting and authorized police to use increased violence and tear gas (formerly prohibited) against workers who struck and they marched in mass regardless of the threats of repression.
GJ SS Office To Stay Open
Landlord confirms that the Grand Junction Social Security Office originally listed for closure by DOGE has reversed the cancellation of the lease. So it seems the GJ office will remain open—a relief to many.
TRUMP: Federalizes Local Law Enforcement, Arrests a Judge, and Deports Citizens
April 28 Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens.” The EO indemnifies law enforcement, unleashes Homeland security task forces to enforce domestic laws, and seeks ways for the military to become directly involved in local law enforcement. It is by all standards a delaration of martial law, by other means. Additionally on April 25, the FBI arrested a sitting Milwaukee judge, Hannah Dugan, for allegedly obstructing an arrest by ICE. That same week three young children were deported with their mothers to Honduras. All the children are American citizens, and one is currently battling cancer. They have crossed the Rubicon.
Citizens Take Action, Push 9th Judicial District Court to Push Back Against ICE
Recently, Chief Judge John F. Neiley of Colorado’s 9th Judicial District which covers Pitkin, Garfield, and Rio Blanco counties issued an administrative order reasserting the state law that prohibits ICE, Department of Homeland Security, or Enforcement and Removal Operations from enacting civil arrests at courthouses in the District. Neiley’s order threatened officers with ICE, DHS and ERO contempt of court charges and/or lawsuits if they violated the order. Questionable activities by ICE at the Glenwood Springs courthouse caught on camera prompted the issuance of the administrative order.
Numerous calls to the Colorado Rapid Response Network (CORRN) hotline put the community on notice and led to an arrest being filmed by a responder.
The video captures the moment a man leaves Glenwood Springs Courthouse property and is swarmed by three federal agents wearing ERO and HSI on their vests. The responder can be heard asking for the agents to identify their agency affiliation and show a valid judicial warrant, but these requests are all but ignored. The individual who was just moments before attending a court proceeding was bundled into one of the three unmarked vehicles and driven away.
This scene shows the scenario that many people fear and can have a chilling effect on court proceedings and trust. This scene underlines the importance of the state law and ultimately compelled the Chief Judge in the 9th Judicial District to take the step to issue an Administrative Order restating the law and reaffirming the courts commitment to protect the ability of every individual to safely and freely access the protections and duties of the courts.
The order appears to have been effective as the hotline and local advocates have not seen any ICE activity at the courthouse since it was issued.
Montrose Methodist Rack-up Another Win
Montrose District court has refused to take-up the case between the Methodist Church and the City of Montrose. The city has sought to shut down an encampment of unhoused people that the church is allowing to camp on their land. The decision sends the case back to the municipal court.
Hot and Dry
While the regime is firing climate scientist, Colorado has one the lowest snow-packs in living memory. Millions from Denver to LA depend on that water. Snowpack is just 57% of median.
The Revolutionist 