Days after federal agents fatally shot Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti amid an increasingly violent surge in immigration enforcement that sparked national outrage, a small group of Fort Collins activists took to the streets to oppose President Donald Trump’s escalating immigration policies. The protest came on the eve of a nationwide strike organized around the same issue.

The dozens of individuals gathered in Old Town Square Friday night at 8 p.m. to march down College Avenue and pause near Aggie Theatre, drawing additional participants along the way. Nearby onlookers attending local events like Ram Band periodically joined in on the chants and cheered as the group passed.

“It seems to me that people are being murdered for just trying to help their neighbors as they see (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents do things like tear gas people on the streets,” said Michael Gormley, attendee and founder of the local music nonprofit Blast N Scrap. “The only thing that I really wholeheartedly believe in these situations is to not shut down conversation between neighbors.”

Unlike most demonstrations in Fort Collins, the protest was not organized by any single individual or group. Instead, it emerged as a decentralized effort, with participants mobilized through sparse social media posts that appeared only hours before the event.

“Go out and do something. Even if it’s just four people in your own circle, you can do something. That is the power of decentralized movement. Really, whatever you want to happen, you can put your mind to and accomplish. There’s no excuse for apathy, zero excuse for inaction.”-Baden Gray, Fort Collins resident

Attendee Baden Gray said the City of Fort Collins was notified 24 hours in advance, meeting the city’s requirement for prior notice of free speech activities.

“Everything here — every single person here — did some level of networking,” Gray said. “We were organized almost on a distributed level, a noncentralized movement. We’re with no organization, no political party — it’s just the people.”

Organizing movements within personal networks, Gray argued, is a critical step that anyone can take to strengthen communities and sustain grassroots activism.

“Go out and do something,” Gray said.”Even if it’s just four people in your own circle, you can do something. That is the power of decentralized movement. Really, whatever you want to happen, you can put your mind to and accomplish. There’s no excuse for apathy, zero excuse for inaction.”

Sisters Sara Choe and Julianna Choe said the anti-immigrant rhetoric pushed by the Trump administration is both false and harmful to the United States’ cultural identity.

“Most immigrants are not criminals, and they’re just here to make an honest living and start over and have better opportunities,” Sara Choe said. “I feel like that’s what really makes the U.S. what it is: a blend of cultures. … But I feel like lately that’s been taken away, and it’s always been challenged and an issue.”

Attendee Ivan Ness Lehman more broadly warned that recent violence by federal agencies signals a dangerous political shift that requires immediate action.

“The message is simple: Fuck ICE,” Ness Lehman said. “We want them out of our streets, and we want Trump impeached. … If we don’t do anything to stop or speak up, there’s a chance that we could end up becoming this very fascist organization; something that America has spent years destroying instead of building.”

Even so, Ness Lehman and others emphasized peaceful resistance over violent confrontation. By the protest’s conclusion at approximately 10:30 p.m., no violence or threats of violence had occurred and police presence was limited to occasional drive-by checkups.

“If we approach a violent organization, they will only answer with violence instead of words,” Ness Lehman said. “We don’t want to cause harm to anybody. I don’t think violence is the answer ever. We can solve more with words than anything else.”

Michelle Landwehr, an attendee who identified as Catholic, concurred with the group’s peaceful intentions and added that engaging in community activism is an important act of love.

“I really do stand by ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself” because it truly is so heartbreaking that all these people are being pushed out (and) kidnapped against their right,” Landwehr said. “They deserve to be here. They deserve to make a new life that is safe and where they can provide for their family.”