A large crowd marched on Main Street on Monday afternoon, condemning the Trump administration’s immigration policies and, especially, targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement with chants and and signs as they captured the attention of the Sundance Film Festival crowds.
The marchers moved through the festival pedestrian zone before descending Main Street to a small park just off Park Avenue. The demonstration appeared to grow in numbers as the marching continued. The authorities estimated between 150 and 200 people participated, but the attendance appeared to be significantly greater than that figure at certain points.
The Park City Police Department did not immediately report any law enforcement issues. One of the speakers was told not to use a megaphone, though. At least two of the demonstrators climbed atop cement security barriers as they urged on the crowd. There was a heavy police presence, including members of the Summit County Mounted Patrol. The Main Street pedestrian zone has been heavily patrolled throughout Sundance by a variety of law enforcement agencies.
Some of the demonstrators carried large lettering that spelled “ICE kills” and “GOP Lies” while one of the larger signs urged people to resist. A few of the signs including profanities. Other signs included messages of “Park City needs snow not ICE,” “De-ICE the USA,” “ICE = Gestapo” and “Impeach Kristi Noem,” a reference to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Another sign featured a portrait of President Trump and a message that “Dictators always fail.” The demonstrators chanted a variety of slogans, including “shoot film, not people,” “we rise” and “ICE out.”
The demonstration was organized quickly as Sundance continued and amid a series of shootings in the nation involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including fatalities. The left-leaning Sundance crowds have a long history of demonstrations and it seemed likely prior to the festival there could be protests of the Trump administration’s immigration policies during the festival.
Victor Bell, who lives in Park City, was in attendance and said he is “fed up with the dictatorship we’re having and how he’s treating American people and immigrants … many of which have the right to be here and it’s just not right.”
“Just another protest, another place to show Trump that his support is being lost throughout the country,” he said.
Caroline Gleich, a Park City-area resident who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as Utah’s Democratic nominee against Republican John Curtis in 2024, also participated on Monday. She said in an interview that “acts of brutality against protesters exercising their constitutional rights in Minnesota” created an important moment for “democracy, for due process, for justice and accountability.”
“Our message today is accountability and justice,” she said.
Gleich said she wants Noem and the Department of Homeland Security “to be held accountable for the misrepresentation of facts after the murder.”
“We want to prevent any more funding, not another dollar, for ICE,” she said.
The demonstration followed the day after a smaller gathering on Main Street that also centered on the administration’s immigration policies.
The Sunday event involved a march up Main Street at just before noon. The group carried signs with messages against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Many people in the Sundance Film Festival pedestrian zone on Main Street cheered as the marchers passed.
There was a confrontation at the Sunday protest between the demonstrators and a man on Main Street, as the man briefly brandished what appeared to be a metal hiking stick. The demonstrators continued to march. There was a heavy law enforcement presence.
There has been a series of demonstrations in the Park City area since the start of Trump’s second term a year ago, including one at City Park and several on the pedestrian bridge crossing Interstate 80.
