• Thousands of Arizonans protested President Trump in Phoenix on June 14, criticizing his behavior and policies.
• Protesters expressed concerns about Trump’s actions, including his handling of immigration and threats to social programs.
• Organizers aimed to build community and encourage local activism.

While military tanks prepared to roll down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump’s parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th Anniversary, a different army was building at the Arizona Capitol.

Thousands of Arizonans flooded the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza and braved triple-degree heat on June 14. They gathered to protest Trump and draw attention to what they called his authoritarian and king-like behavior.

“He wants to be a pretend king, but he’s following all the rules of a dictator! And he’s slowing picking out people he wants us to villainize,” Randy Hamilton, 78, said.

Parents pushing their children in strollers and seniors with walkers chanted against the president and watched drag queens perform as music blasted in the background. They held signs that said things like, “Unpaid protester but I hate Trump for free,” and “No Crown for the Clown.”

At the same time, musicians and live entertainment took the stage in D.C. for the inaugural military parade.

The “No Kings Day of Defiance” in Phoenix was one of more than 2,000 planned events across the United States. The event was meant to poke fun at Trump as he kicked off an expensive parade on his 79th birthday.

Erica Connell, a liaison for the 50501 movement that helped organize the event, said it was meant to build community before the summer heat would make it too difficult.

“We’ll have more policy-driven events in the future, but right now, it’s just so broad that it’s about building the resistance. It’s about making sure that we have the numbers,” Connell said.

Elected officials like Phoenix Councilwoman Anna Hernandez spoke to the crowd from onstage, telling attendees “revolution” was the “acceptable response to fascism.”

“It is not for us to take a more moderate approach to policy. It is not to take a moderate approach to politics,” Hernandez yelled to an uproar of applause. “It is revolution, and it is to invest in our communities!”

‘I don’t want to lose our democracy’

Attendees almost uniformly gave the same response when asked what brought them out: opposition to Trump. He’s acting like he’s king, protesters told The Arizona Republic. Congress isn’t standing up against him. The courts aren’t doing enough to rein him in.

Swanson, 88 and from Ahwatukee, attended against the wishes of her adult children, who feared for her safety. Swanson said she felt like she had to go.

“I don’t want to lose our democracy. Something dramatic has to be done,” she said. Swanson’s neighbor, 66-year old Stephanie Drobatschewsky, felt the same. Drobatschewsky said both her parents were Holocaust survivors, and that Trump’s immigration round-ups reminded her of World War II Germany.

Robert Lang, 64, said he hoped the number of protests taking place across the country showed elected leaders that change was wanted.

Attendees repeatedly echoed each other in the changes they wanted to see: for Donald Trump to resign or be impeached; to stop threatening Social Security and Medicare; for more humane treatment of immigrants; to reject attacks against the U.S. Department of Education, PBS and National Public Radio.

Connell, a main planner of the Phoenix protest, said the overarching demand was to “uphold the constitution.”

Up next: resistance at the neighborhood level

Connell said organizers conceived of a carnival-themed event partially to “have fun making fun of (Trump) on his birthday” and also partially to attract families.

“We’ve had very specific goals in mind and growing the movement in our state by hitting those various demographics in what we’re doing,” Connell said.

Organizers planned educational events and wanted attendees to identify causes they cared about, then connect with groups working on those issues. They focused on “inspiring and teaching people how to become activists on their own corner,” Connell said, “because that’s how we’re trying to grow the movement.“

Hernandez, the Phoenix councilwoman known for fiery rhetoric, was added to the speaker list to give more of a rally feel. Her speech amplified the crowd as she spoke about Trump “hunting” the public.

“Let me be clear: He is hunting us,” Hernandez said. “From Palestinian protesters to students to immigrant communities, we are under attack. His ICE minions are in our neighborhoods, our stores, our workplaces and our homes.”

Parents: Protest can be positive and powerful at any age

South of the stage, kids played in bounce houses while grown men dressed in chicken costumes. They held signs saying “TACO,” a nod to the joke about tariffs that, “Trump always chickens out.”

Jules and Audra Nelson stayed near the stage with their three children, who were 10, 8 and 3. The Nelsons brought their two sons and daughter to show them that protest could be a positive and powerful force for change.

The kids had seen the protests in L.A. and Audra said she wanted them to understand “when people come together, it’s really positive.”

She said she wanted her kids to know they weren’t “bound by their age,” and that young people had been “key catalysts of the civil rights movement.”

“Resistance is little pieces at a time. It doesn’t have to be big. It can just be you saying, ‘I’m not OK with this,’” Audra said. “Sometimes we think we’re so small, but we are so big.”

Taylor Seely is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Do you have a story about the government infringing on your First Amendment rights? Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.

Seely’s role is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.

Happy Colorado Sunday, fam.

Sometime back in the middle ‘90s, I had followed entrepreneurial friends to Fort Collins to participate in a full-fledged war among three upstart business publications and was building sources by saying yes to anyone who wanted to share a word about the town, the economy, the community. Accountants. Retailers. Doctors. Realtors. Gary Wockner.

I don’t think Wockner made a business case for protecting the Poudre River that day, but I left our unplanned chat at a coffee shop with clear feelings about how important the ribbon of water running through town was and an invitation to appreciate it, too.

This was before Wockner dug in to fight the massive Glade Reservoir project and rebranded as a river warrior. Before he distributed posters of other defenders standing naked in the river, holding hand-lettered cards over their heads reading “Save the Poudre.”

I changed jobs many times, but wherever I’ve been, Gary Wockner has been a constant character on the environment beat, his defense of the Poudre fiercening over time. This week’s cover story by Jerd Smith gave me a bit more insight into the man who just won’t quit — and the way his work has influenced how we use and regard our rivers.

Meet the water warrior we love to hate

Water agitator Gary Wockner, founder of Save The Poudre and Save the Colorado, is having a bang-up 2025, winning a $100 million settlement from Northern Water in March, and persuading a federal judge in April to stop construction of the partially complete Gross Reservoir Dam project, at least temporarily. Now critical appeals in the case could ultimately lower the amount of water Denver Water, the dam’s owner, will be allowed to divert from the Upper Colorado River system in Grand County.

Wockner is a controversial figure in the water world. He has filed nine major lawsuits against Colorado water projects during his 25-year run as an activist. With this year’s wins, we decided to tell readers a bit more about the man who is loved by fierce river protectors, and who draws few, if any, kind words from the water establishment.

READ THIS WEEK’S COLORADO SUNDAY FEATURE

No need to wait for the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival July 11-20, the viewing season is already in full swing in the Gunnison Valley. Photojournalist Dean Krakel went on a few hikes and returned with some beautiful images and tips for where to find hillsides awash in brilliant pre-peak colors. Drifts of lupine and balsamroot are already blanketing the hillsides of the lower valleys, he said. Red columbine can be found in the shady recesses along the banks of streams and creeks along with wild iris and stands of golden banner. Paintbrush, blue flax and white and lavender phlox carpet the ground alongside many of the lower trails.

Thinking of climbing Longs Peak? Think again.

It was the fall of 2020, and I had survived COVID, so I went looking for the next most dangerous thing I could think of: Climb Longs Peak!

I had been haunted by that prospect since I moved to Colorado and took my car to the emissions testing facility in Fort Collins. I pulled into the bay and there it was, perfectly framed in the doorway: Longs freaking Peak!

It took me a full three years to summon the nerve, the skills, the gear, and oh yeah, the nerve, to tackle Longs. I made it up, and back, so now I’m an expert.

Here’s my step-by-step guide to climbing Longs Peak. Or not.

CHECK OUT PETER MOORE’S TIPS FOR TACKLING COLORADO’S 15TH TALLEST PEAK

“Sonata in Wax” plays haunting piano backdrop to protagonist’s struggles

EXCERPT: A protagonist captivated by a century-old recording drives this debut novel by Edward Hamlin, which explores dual narrative timelines and a theme that hinges on a lie of omission and the consequences of confession. Hamlin, an accomplished musician and composer himself, melded his passion for music with strains of family history to produce this Colorado Book Award finalist for Novel. Remember Chase and Sanborn coffee? Hamlin is the last living descendant from the Sanborn side, Boston social elites who figure into the portion of the story that’s historical fiction.

READ THE SUNLIT EXCERPT

THE SUNLIT INTERVIEW: Hamlin explains how much he enjoyed writing this particular excerpt, which conjures the “ecstatic experience of hearing breathtaking music just when you needed it.” He also tells how the complex plot required some management skills. Here’s a slice of this week’s Q&A:

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?

Hamlin: Managing the sequence of reveals was challenging, as they crossed a wide cast of characters and a hundred years of plot events. Keeping track of who knew what when literally required a spreadsheet. It was also a challenge to make decisions, both micro and macro, about how to treat the historical figures, especially when they were my own ancestors. It would have been so much easier if I could have just shared a meal with them.

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD HAMLIN

LISTEN TO A DAILY SUN-UP PODCAST WITH THE AUTHOR

A curated list of what you may have missed from The Colorado Sun this week.

🌞 Is selling millions of acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land in 11 Western states the solution to the housing crisis in the region? Details are scant, Jason Blevins, reports, but that’s the concept outlined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who described the properties to be sold as “barren land next to highways with existing billboards that have no recreational value.”

🌞 Young adults just entering the job market face fierce headwinds. Tamara Chung reports on a program aiming to arm new workers with a powerful tool to open doors: social capital.

🌞 Costs to build the controversial 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway have more than doubled since 2020 and backers are looking for $2.4 billion in tax-exempt bonds to cover part of the $3.4 billion tab, Jason Blevins reports. Environmental groups fear that the increased cost of construction will drive more drilling and send more oil tankers rolling on tracks across Colorado.

🌞 U.S. Health and Human Services boss Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used a Wall Street Journal opinion column to fire all 17 members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, including a Denver doctor. John Ingold landed an interview with Dr. Edwin Asturias, an infectious disease specialist, who worries the mass dismissals will undermine the public trust in decisions that come out of the group in the future. Meanwhile, more cases of measles were reported in Colorado last week.

🌞 In other RFK Jr. news, remarks he made about people with autism have stirred up trouble within a nonprofit organization for people with autism that was started by his cousin Anthony Shriver. Jennifer Brown reports on the way Best Buddies board members in Colorado have responded to the refusal of the national organization to call out how damaging the remarks were.

🌞 There are a dozen new gun laws on the books — officially — in Colorado. Jesse Paul explains a bit about each of them.

🌞 Former U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo was on stage last week for a Back From Broken Event hosted by Vic Vela. Taylor Dolven was there when Caraveo compared her suicidal thoughts during her unsuccessful campaign to keep her seat to drowning, saying she pulled under those who came to rescue. She also advocated for better understanding of depression and anxiety and more awareness to recognize when someone is struggling. And she said she’s well and ready to take on a large group of challengers in the 8th Congressional District Democratic primary next year.

🌞 This week in gray wolf news, Colorado Parks and Wildlife was pretty mum when a Pitkin County rancher told Tracy Ross there is a den with pups uncomfortably close to his cattle. The day after her story published, the agency announced there are indeed pups in at least one of the four den sites biologists are watching, but would not say where.

🌞 While Coloradans continue to debate the wisdom of wolf reintroduction five years after a public authorization vote, bison that reintroduce themselves to the state by walking across the border from Utah just got the backing of Colorado law that makes it illegal to kill them without a hunting license, Michael Booth explains.

When we meet again next week, it will officially be summer and The Sun store has your back, restocked with gear to help keep you wrinkle-free and well hydrated all season long. Check it all out at store.coloradosun.com

— Dana & the whole staff of The Sun

Corrections & Clarifications

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