They paraded through downtown Greeley. They chanted. They held signs.
Two different groups of local residents, some part of a national movement called “Hands Off!,” came together at the Weld County Courthouse on Saturday to peacefully protest against the status of the United States since Donald Trump took office for a second term in January.
The people, who at most numbered about 375 in late morning, are unhappy with the at times dizzying number of edicts and executive orders from Trump targeting a wide range of groups, departments and agencies throughout the country — with staffing cuts and threats of loss of funding: education, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, veterans, LGBTQ and Social Security, to name a few.
“To speak against the injustices of the ‘Trusk’ administration,” Greeley resident Bob Stack said, deliberately combining the names of Trump and Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire businessman who is an advisor to the president.
“I’m frustrated with our nation,” Stack continued. “People aren’t pushing back. We don’t feel the heat yet. It’s getting hotter and it’s destroying more. We’re not paying attention.”
Whitney Morgan, with Greeley Weld Indivisible, addresses a large crowd Saturday, April 5, 2025 at the Weld County Courthouse on 9th Avenue in Greeley during a “Hands Off” protest against the Trump administration. (Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)Stack, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and retired Greeley-Evans District 6 teacher, started to protest Trump since the president’s first administration in February 2017. On the first Saturday of every month during Trump’s first term, Stack’s Courthouse Steps group spent a few hours in front of the county building to “stand up, speak up and take action.” The protestors then numbered from one, Stack himself, to about 250, he said.
They were out again Saturday morning and were later joined by others in the “Hands Off!” effort. “Hands Off!” is a national day of action against Trump and Musk, according to the website, handsoff2025.com, which is a national mobilization “to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history.”
Trump wasn’t the only target of one “Hands Off!” speaker. Greeley resident Mary Monahan spoke against the proposed Cascadia project from Windsor developer Martin Lind. The project would build a sports arena, hotel and water park in west Greeley and relocate Lind’s American Hockey League organization, the Colorado Eagles, to the site.
Monahan called Lind “Weld County’s Elon Musk,” and she encouraged those gathered to attend the Greeley City Council meeting April 15 to speak out against the project.
Stack said those who participated in the Courthouse Steps rally walked around downtown Greeley on Saturday morning. Later in the day, the “Hands Off” protestors also walked around carrying their handmade signs.
One sign said, “Elect a Felon, Expect Abuses.” Another said: “Respect Veterans Don’t Fire Them.” A young woman held another, reading: “This Sign Isn’t Big Enough To List All The Reasons I’m Here.”
Another woman’s sign compared Trump to a Scandinavian company. It read: “IKEA has better cabinets.”
Johnstown resident Sean Black, a teacher in Denver Public Schools, held a sign in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. Black’s sign said these are American values.
A small sign on the replica of the Statue of Liberty on the Weld County Courthouse property notes the French asked the U.S. to return the real statue in New York Harbor and thanks President Donal Trump for the reaction. The signs appeared on the replica as part of a protest Saturday, April 5, 2025 held at the courthouse in downtown Greeley in reaction to Trump policies and orders. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter).“Ultimately, this is because I believe in DEI, and the guy in the White House wants to outlaw them,” Black said. “I’m not going to be silent. I’m a teacher and I believe in diversity of thought and including everyone.”
Karen Jarman of Greeley Weld Indivisible is one of the leaders behind the “Hands Off” effort at the courthouse. She said the group started in 2016, was inactive for a while and restarted late last year. Jarman said the group now numbers about 1,000 Weld County residents.
The “Hands Off” effort wants Trump and Musk to stay out of Medicare, Medicaid, free elections, libraries, schools, free speech, public lands and scientific research. Jarman added the administration should keep its hands off women’s health decisions, budgets, U.S. allies and immigration.
“Canada, our allies, are so angry,” Jarman said. “The Venezuelan gang did not commit a crime.”
National news reports indicated not all members of the Tren de Aragua organization had criminal records in the U.S. Trump used the Alien Enemies Act from 1798 to send members to a prison in El Salvador.
A federal judge blocked the order while flights were in the air last month, and is considering contempt charges because the administration did not return the planes to the U.S.
Greeley resident Jaime Jack, a 38-year-old mother of two children, ages 7 and 5, came out with a sign that said: “We the People are Pissed.”
“Because it’s horrible what’s happening,” Jack said of the origin of the anger. “It’s pure hate.”
Jack said she’s voted for conservative candidates in the past, but she did not vote for Trump.
“I had to explain to a 5-year-old why ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) might take their friends,” Jack said. “I have to teach them about hate. They’re nervous.”
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