Colorado politicians are dealing with an increasingly angry constituency as they navigate tensions at public events, online, and in the halls of public buildings.
In the last few days, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Diana DeGette, both Democrats, were heckled and yelled at, with their critics demanding stronger action against the immigration crackdown and to help Palestinians in Gaza.
As she spoke to Denver City Council members on Monday, DeGette was interrupted by several people in the committee room. “Diana DeGette, can you say 'Abolish ICE?’ Say it, ‘Abolish ICE,’” one person shouted.
A few days earlier, Sen. Michael Bennet attended a rally in Denver in solidarity with Minnesota after federal authorities killed two people there. While he was at the rally, Bennet was heckled on funding for Israel.
“You support genocide. Free Palestine. You support genocide. You help bomb kids. You help starve kids to (expletive) death. You are disgusting. You are a monster. Get the (expletive) out of here,” a man shouted while Bennet tried to speak.
The confrontations come as lawmakers across the political spectrum, and across the country, have faced more anger and, in some cases, outright hostility.
A few have come into physical danger — Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was sprayed with an unknown substance during a town hall — and many have beefed up their security. (Law enforcement later said it was nontoxic.) Others, like DeGette and Bennet, have simply faced up-close criticism. And many are preparing for an intense campaign season that will force them to face the public. Both DeGette and Bennet are running in Democratic primaries this spring.
DeGette, who has represented Denver in Congress for 29 years, said she understands that people are upset and that they have a First Amendment right to protest.
“I think it’s important for everybody to try to take down the tensions and take down the tone,” DeGette explained to CPR News. “I simply told the protesters that they had a right to express themselves, but that we were trying to conduct a meeting and I would meet with them afterwards. And so that settled things down.”
Eric Gross, who attended the council committee meeting, said he saw trauma, tears and anger. Much of the protest focused on congressional support for Israel.
“I saw people who want health care and education, not bombs dropped on tent camps and schools,” Gross told CPR News. “Then I saw Diana DeGette give the same do-nothing responses she's been practicing for those 27 months (since Israel began its military operation in Gaza ). Iron Dome, defense, Israel's right to exist, blah blah blah.”
DeGette said she met with her critics afterward, saying she heard and understood them. DeGette and Bennet have said Israel has a right to defend itself, though they also have criticized Israel’s conduct in the war. Both have announced their opposition to funding for ICE.
Israel launched its war in Gaza in October 2023 in response to a Hamas terror attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel. More than 71,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza.
Attack on Omar strikes fear
But DeGette said there’s a big difference between shouting at a town hall meeting and “somebody rushing the stage and attempting to attack a congressperson, like (Minnesota) Congressperson Ilhan Omar.”
The man who sprayed Omar with a substance during a town hall on Tuesday, briefly interrupting her remarks, was immediately arrested.
Threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years, and the U.S. Capitol Police said it investigated nearly 15,000 “concerning statements, behaviors, and communications directed against Members of Congress, their families, staff and the Capitol Complex” in 2025. That’s up from 9,474 in 2024.
Colorado Democrats in Congress continue to do more in-person town halls than their Republican counterparts, with Rep. Joe Neguse holding the most this year so far.
Neguse thinks part of the reason the political system is dysfunctional “is the refusal by elected officials to directly engage with their constituents, including those with whom they disagree.”
He has held town halls in both red and blue counties. “Despite the threats our office receives, we’ll continue to host them — and to show up in every town and engage with every community, small and large,” he said in a statement to CPR News.
Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen agreed that showing up is important, “even if people are upset, even if they might show up and protest and scream.”
“We need to make sure that we are still present and that we don't let a small group of people hinder our ability to be there to support our constituents,” she said in an interview.
Sen. John Hickenlooper told CPR News that sometimes letting someone yell is the way to deal with an angry constituent.“So many people are so frustrated because they don't feel heard. They don't feel that their identity, their personhood, matters. The chaos is all around them, and they feel insignificant,” Hickenlooper told CPR News. “And nine times out of 10, 98 times out of 100, if you really listen to people and make the effort real that you want to hear why they're so angry, they calm down.”
Lawmakers ramp up security
While mistrust, anger and confrontations have long been part of American political life, fears of political violence are running high since the assassinations of Charlie Kirk and, separately, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband — as well as two attempts to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump last year.
“I have intentionally left spaces like X — Twitter — that are toxic, not productive and are often a source of death threats,” wrote Democratic State Rep. Jenny Willford, who has been a target of online harassment, in a text. She said last legislative session, the gun rights group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners targeted her house with flyers. Following the murder of Hortman, she decided to install a professional security system.
“Given the current heightened and dangerous state of affairs, I am being significantly more cautious and vigilant than I have been in the past,” Willford wrote.
Democratic Rep. Manny Rutinel, who is running for Congress in Colorado’s 8th congressional district, a tossup seat, said he’s also ramped up security.
“I've increased security measures at my home, including with multiple cameras. We're exploring additional security measures,” Rutinel wrote in a text message.
Republicans are worried, too.
“This is the first year I have had to file and get a temporary restraining order against a man. We have Post-it notes on our parking spots saying death to MAGA. This is a scary job to serve in,” said State Rep. Brandi Bradley.
Bradley provided a picture of a Post-it note from an ICE protest at the state capitol in Denver earlier in January. It was placed on two different parking spaces at the Capitol.
Colorado has seen its share of political violence over the years. In 2013, a parolee with ties to a white supremacist prison gang assassinated Colorado’s chief of prisons on the doorstep of his Monument home. Six years earlier, in 2007, state troopers shot and killed an armed man outside the governor’s office. The man, who declared himself to be “the emperor,” appeared to be in a mental health crisis.
State lawmakers have passed legislation to allow members to block people from social media accounts, and increased security measures for certain state officials. The State Patrol also received more money in recent years to increase security at the state capitol and surrounding buildings, recruit more officers and pay for overtime to respond to credible threats.
At the federal level, Congress has increased the amount of money House members and Senators are allowed to use for security.
Democratic Rep. Jason Crow said there’s been an increase in the number of threats against him and his staff, but he’ll “keep doing the work.”
Crow thinks one way to turn down the political temperature is for every American to “demand their elected leaders condemn political violence and lower the temperature of our discourse.”
Republicans have put some of the blame on Democrats, especially after Trump was bloodied by a gunman in July 2024. Some argued that calling Trump a fascist or an authoritarian had led to the violence.
Crow and DeGette said the change needs to start with the president of the United States.
DeGette pointed out that when Trump was asked about the attack on Omar, a frequent target of his, he doubled down. Trump said she “probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
“That’s the kind of thing that we need to stop, and it needs to stop from the top down,” DeGette said.
