{"id":226717,"date":"2026-03-30T08:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T08:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226717\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T08:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T08:42:18","slug":"no-kings-3-draws-large-crowds-throughout-el-paso-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226717\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No Kings 3’ draws large crowds throughout El Paso County"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eric Young and Mary Shinn <\/p>\n

The Gazette<\/p>\n

Large crowds gathered throughout Colorado on Saturday to oppose the Trump administration, with separate demonstrations occurring in Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and Monument in El Paso County.<\/p>\n

As with previous \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests, thousands of people from a variety of ages and backgrounds assembled \u2014 with some donning elaborate costumes, some toting personalized signs and many doing both \u2014 to express their growing frustrations with actions by the Trump administration and a lack of justice resulting from the files of human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

New areas of focus on Saturday afternoon included the death of two American citizens by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis in January and the U.S.-Israel war with Iran that began last month.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, an estimated 8 million people gathered across 3,300 events, with the largest turnout occurring in Minneapolis at over 200,000.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in El Paso County, Manitou Springs and Monument held demonstrations earlier in the day, each drawing hundreds of people. It marked the first time Monument held a No Kings protest.<\/p>\n

In Colorado Springs, thousands of protesters gathered downtown in front of City Hall, along with over 30 information booths, speakers and musical performers filling the sidewalks of Nevada Avenue from Uintah Street to Pikes Peak Avenue.<\/p>\n

On the street, a frequent chorus of honking vehicles passing in approval, and sometimes disapproval, of the protesters\u2019 messages could be heard.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Trump supporter drives by the No Kings rally on Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (The Gazette, Michael G. Seamans)<\/p>\n

Rowan Mayfair, a U.S. Army veteran and member of the nonprofit \u201cAbout Face: Veterans Against the War,\u201d said the decision to go to war with Iran was the latest example of starting \u201canother forever war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen this before. We were told (that) invading Iraq would make us safer. It didn\u2019t. We were told it was necessary. It wasn\u2019t. What it did do was destroy lives,\u201d she said. \u201cIn the past month \u2026 13 U.S. service members have been killed, one of them right here in Fort Carson.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Some veterans said they came out to protest, in part, because of the war in Iran and its potential to escalate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The conflict in Iran that started in late February is illegal, ruining the economy and holding the world hostage, said Molly Hail, who served in the Navy from 2015-2021. The conflict has closed the Straight of Hormuz, a shipping lane for about 20% of the world\u2019s oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She would like to see the world transition to renewable energy to help end reliance on oil and reduce conflict globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can get on renewable energy, we wouldn\u2019t be beholden to all these oil wars,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Colorado Springs resident said she recently got involved in activism against the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been getting so bad for so long, it was time to do something,\u201d Hail said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal during his first term in 2018 led, in part, to our current problems, said Perry Luckett, who helped found El Paso County Colorado Progressive Veterans. The deal allowed international inspectors to ensure Iran wasn\u2019t enriching uranium for nuclear arms.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing that Trump does is destroy what is without a clue how to repair it or replace it,\u201d said Luckett, an Air Force veteran and former Air Force Academy instructor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the deal ended, the U.S. has been \u201cfloundering\u201d with its Iran policy, he said. But he doesn\u2019t believe the conflict will achieve anything, and it has gotten off to a poor start.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was launched without the will of the American people or the Congress,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He expects America will have to restart negotiations.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to do it if you want a peaceful Middle East,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those who have cheered the war include U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction, who said the U.S. was standing up to the world\u2019s largest state-sponsor of terrorism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI support President Trump\u2019s decision to take decisive action to hold the Iranian regime accountable and to degrade its ability to threaten Americans and our allies,\u201d he said on social media in the immediate aftermath of the start of the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite arguments and profane exchanges between Colorado Springs protesters and some passersby, the protest accomplished its goal and remained nonviolent.<\/p>\n

Josh, a counter-protester who declined to give his last name, said he is a former Democrat who attended the previous protest at America the Beautiful Park and that he decided to \u201csee all of these people come out here and act like a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a little back-and-forth, word-wise, (over) there, but so far, everybody\u2019s been pretty cool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A woman confronts young people smoking the tires on their bikes as people gather for the No Kings rally on Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (The Gazette, Michael G. Seamans)<\/p>\n

He voiced his approval of expanding the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to deport people living in the country illegally and beginning the Iran war.<\/p>\n

He added that he agreed with the protesters that the federal government should reveal and hold to account all of the people in positions of power found in the collected Epstein files.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see all the files come out. You know, I think that\u2019s something that they (the protesters) just assume that all of us people that are on the other side don\u2019t want to see too. But that\u2019s just not the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if it comes out that Trump was in it, (expletive) lock that (expletive) up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the others to speak was Sky Roberts, a Colorado Springs resident and relative to the late sex-trafficking victim of Epstein, Virginia Giuffre, who echoed this point of greater accountability regarding the files.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not talking about politics. We are talking about the abuse of children,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are talking about survivors who have waited years to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Thousands of people gather for the No Kings rally on Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (The Gazette, Michael G. Seamans)<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n <\/p>\n