My Personal Experience of How the First Amendment Died
I live in Highlands Ranch, Colorado in a county that is over 50% RED, and it shows. Our local neighborhood parks come under the jurisdiction of the Highlands Ranch Metro District. We have lived in this neighborhood for about seven years but have resided in Highlands Ranch for around twenty years.
In 2025, I was able to go our local park and chalk advertisements for No Kings 2 with nothing more than a few nasty comments from passersby. In January when Renee Good was murdered I chalked about that and was reported by a neighbor, a former friend. That incident brought Ranger M to my front door. At that time he told me that Highlands Ranch had no ordinance against chalking, and I was perfectly within my First Amendment rights. He said that he also expressed this to my neighbor who made the report.
But on that March 9th day, within three weeks of No Kings 3, I again wrote advertisements for that event and was accosted by a man in the park who didn’t want “my liberal shit” in the park. He and his large dog followed my husband and I around the park taking photos. Later that afternoon, we received yet another visit from Ranger M who left a Rules Violation Notice this time.
I was being cited for graffiti /vandalism, quote “writing with chalk- political statements.” This was under 18-9-117(1) Unlawful Conduct on Public Property. Research into the codes revealed that there was no such reference for anything like that. No chalking references. No graffiti under that section at all. Ranger M returned later that afternoon to explain the notice he left. I have him on videotape saying that he was in a meeting after the January incident where it was decided by higher ups that they didn’t “want” any more hate speech, religious, or political messages in chalk in the park. You can hear me say, “Well you may not want it but until you get an ordinance….” Later Ranger M goes on to try to intimidate me with the even more serious charge of criminal tampering.
(photo: from another chalking protest event)
Without an ordinance, the Highland Ranch Metro District has suppressed my right to engage in political, free speech. It is obvious they don’t want to deal with a few disgruntled MAGA neighbors and have decided that my rights are disposable. Highlands Ranch Metro District has decided the solution to this matter is to restrict my First Amendment rights because they are inconvenient. I have the violation notice, the codes in question, the videotape, and photos of the chalk.
To anyone with even a high school education, this is a clear case of the infringement of freedom of speech. I contacted multiple local media outlets both print and TV. Crickets. I was advised to reach out to a local county activism group. I did and even suggested we do a chalking event in our local parks to exercise our rights. Apparently, they are terrified of this proposition because their only response was to direct me to two supposed progressives on the Metro District Board. Those two individuals never even bothered to respond when I contacted them. So much for elected officials in the age of Trump. Lastly, I contacted my final bastion of hope. The ACLU.
In fact, the ACLU defended a case very similar to mine in 2018 in my own county (because apparently the suppression of First Amendment Rights in Douglas County is a pattern) involving a chalking incident and another free speech incident. In that case, the defendant was charged with criminal tampering. At that time, the ACLU successfully defended the case and won. But that was before the full onset of fascism and it’s not 2018 anymore.
So this is how the First Amendment died in 2026.
The First Amendment died when none of my neighbors, took up a piece of chalk and wrote something in support. Once upon a time in America, we believed in the maxim, “I may not agree with what you have to say but I’ll defend to my death your right to say it.”
The First Amendment died when Ranger M caved to his boss because he knew during our first encounter what was right and what it meant to be an American. Shame on him.
The First Amendment died when two levels of management were erroneously given power they should never be able to glimpse. They used that power to exploit and abuse an American right for expediency and because they did not have the backbone required to call themselves Americans. They capitulated to convenience and are one source of Donald Trump’s rot. They also knowingly sullied someone in their direct line of command. Shame on them.
The First Amendment died when the press became disinterested in the rights of the people. A press afraid of following certain kinds of stories for fear of blowback is not a free and fair press. The press no longer serves the public interest. No wonder no one watches or reads traditional media sources any longer.
The First Amendment died when a special interest group with activism in its name refused to…act.
The First Amendment died when the champion of civil liberties, the well-funded ACLU, declines to weigh in on a case fraught with intimidation, and obvious abuse of rights.
We are well into the establishment and solidification of fascism in the United States. Neighbors are turning in neighbors. Small, local power structures have been corrupted to enforce the MAGA agenda. When MAGA is made uncomfortable and they don’t want to see “liberal shit” in the neighborhood, they use the local power structure to make sure it does not occur there. I don’t need to wonder who would turn in Ann Frank in my neighborhood, I already know. It’s no longer a theoretical question. After that, the people in positions of authority swoop in and intimidate the hell out of people to suppress what used to be easily recognizable as basic American rights. Civics organizations, elected officials, and human rights organizations all bow out. Fascism lives and breathes in the neat, comfortable, covenanted neighborhoods where a new kind of conformity is now enforced. Welcome to ‘Merica. You can hear the jackboots echo.
I suppose that’s what happened in Germany too.
ellisnelson 