Businesses, workers and students of the Fort Collins community participated in a Jan. 30 national shutdown that called for no work, no school and no shopping in protest of nationally increased federal immigration agency presence. Many of those who participated in the strike also attended a demonstration located on the corner of South College Avenue and East Mulberry Street that lasted from noon to around 5 p.m.

The protest brought around 700 people, according to protest organizer and Fort Collins community member Andi Hart. The national shutdown came amid weeks of tension and protests surrounding the federally ordered influx of ICE agents in Minneapolis and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

“We’re basically here to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Minneapolis and Minnesota and across the country,” Hart said. “What we have been witnessing is a tyrannical Trump regime who is committing these violent acts against immigrant communities, Black and Brown people and Indigenous people.”

Local organizations and groups such as ClotheThePeople, NoCo4Palestine, DSA Fort Collins and Rubble Art Collective helped to spread the word of the general strike and protest.

Protest attendees spanned intersections, medians and sidewalks along College Avenue. Many protesters held signs criticizing ICE and expressed support for the two recently killed Minneapolis residents. One sign read, “It’s a Pretti Good day to protest.”

Thirty-year Fort Collins resident Sara Elder said the Jan. 30th protest was the first rally she had ever attended.

“My sign reads: ‘I am a Republican, I am a Christian and I am against Trump’s ICE,’” Elder said. “I have voted Republican in the past. I am not sure I will continue to do so.”

Local resident Beren, who elected to only provide a first name, stood alongside fellow community members on College Avenue during his hourlong lunch break with a homemade sign denouncing ICE.

“The current administration is undermining democracy and the Constitution,” Beren said. “What ICE is doing in Minnesota is unconstitutional.”

Colorado State University Student Jacy, who elected to only provide a first name, said she decided to call out of work that Friday to be a part of the strike and protest.

“This is democracy,” Jacy said. “This is our freedom to fight back to what’s going on, all the atrocities happening in Minneapolis.”

Local businesses including Friendly Nick’s Butcher, Kansas City Kitty, Harbinger Coffee, The Life of the Party and many more closed shop for the day in solidarity with the strike. Some businesses even donated portions of their revenue to volunteer groups and organizations that support immigrants, in addition to paying their staff. The businesses that couldn’t close participated in ways they could, many by donating.

Nonprofit and locally based coffee shop Arboretum Coffee featured a stand at the demonstration that handed out free coffees. Arboretum Coffee is an immigrant-led business that helps sponsor visas. Lauren Davis, Arboretum’s social media coordinator, said the shop would stay open that day to maintain employee pay.

“It’s amazing to watch the nation rise up in protest and resistance. We’ll be open — and that’s our protest,” Davis wrote in an Instagram post.

Odell Brewing Company announced in an Instagram post that although they would remain open, they would donate $2 from every pint sold to Casa de Paz, a small nonprofit that offers a safe, temporary place for those released from the immigrant detention center in Aurora, Colorado.

Nick Chase, owner of Friendly Nick’s Butcher and the man who offered free meat packages to SNAP recipients last year, decided to close and donate the shop’s average Friday revenue to the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. Chase also paid his staff their normal wages for that day.

“Our community is only as strong as the individuals who support it,” Chase said. “But when push comes to shove, or the murdering (of) innocent people in the streets, it will be owners looking to protect their businesses who collaborate with their employees, their friends and their customers to build a network of resistance.”

Brandon McPhail, cofounder and operations manager of Ascent Studio Climbing Gym, said he and his team were hosting a youth competition on Saturday when they heard about Pretti’s death in Minneapolis. McPhail said he observed the adults in the building attempt to process the news while trying to support the children in the competition.

“By closing doors on Friday, we are participating in a national effort to stop the state-sanctioned violence and wholesale disregard of individual rights,” McPhail said. “Collective action works best when others join in.”

McPhail also highlighted that closing shop allowed the employees who wanted to participate in the rallies happening in Fort Collins and Denver to do so.

Mother and son duo Ginger Barrientos and Damien Barrientos said they attended the protest for those who couldn’t on Friday, proudly carrying a Mexican-American flag.

“There are those out there who cannot be here because they are afraid of everything that is going on in our nation right now,” Ginger Barrientos said. “So I am here to be a voice for them. Coming from a Mexican background, I am here to represent them, especially in this town, where I am the minority.”

Ginger Barrientos said there is hope for change. Every time there is an ICE protest the number of attendees grows, she noticed. She also mentioned her son’s future as a source of inspiration to speak out.

“I’m more excited for the future, looking around seeing everybody here,” Damien Barrientos said. “I just know that there are people out there that do care, and I’m proud of that.”