“Rubio has…” yells one member of the protest group.
“A Koch Problem!” responds the rest.
This particular event, putting the issue of big money in politics centerstage, is being run by ProgressNow Colorado, one of the state’s largest progressive online advocacy groups. With two big, carnival-style puppets of Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, the group has been flying banners towed by airplanes with the messages, “Hedge funds have bought the GOP” and “The GOP has a #KochProblem.” While one of the most vocal groups at the designated Free Speech Area, located on the field of the Koelbel School of Business, they certainly are not the only ones.
In addition to big, carnival-style puppets of Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, protesters came with signs, costumes and even an inflatable elephant to make their presence known only a stones-throw from the Coors Events Center, where the debate is being held. While many other areas of campus, such as Farrand Field or Norlin Quad, could have held the free speech area away from the debate, the events on the Business Field have become a big storyline of what is happening in Boulder today.
“I’m pleased that there is a free speech zone and that people to come out and express their thoughts and what they stand for,” said Amy Runyon-Harms, executive director of ProgressNow Colorado. “I have noticed there have been a lot of student groups that have risen up and made their voices heard and I think that’s fantastic.”
As for the planes flying over campus since Tuesday, that was pre-planned by Runyon-Harms as well.
“We wanted to get as many people seeing our message as possible.”
In addition to the protest against the Koch Brothers, there was also the group ‘Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’ as well as MECHA, or Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, a Chicano group protesting the anti-immigrant rhetoric of candidate Donald Trump. Their coordinator of community activism, Antony Huizar, and his group brought a puppet of the former real-estate magnate, hoping to bring an issue that has been overshadowed by the student ticketing debacle at the debate itself.
“MECHA was actually disappointed in the student body that there was too much of a focus on the ticketing issue,” said Huizar, who is also a student at the university. “There are real issues that we need to take a stand for.”
That has, in a way, become what the free speech area is all about. It is for pushing forward ideas and agendas that aren’t revolving around student tickets. At this point in time, that has taken a backseat to other issues more pertinent to the debate. But what’s important is the actual creation of the free speech area, and the fact that everyone will have the opportunity to make their voices heard as the debate begins at 6 p.m.
