Melat Kiros rallies supporters at Colorado Capitol after venue changes and Hasan Piker absence

Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros spoke to a crowd of hundreds of people without leftist commentator Hasan Piker at the Colorado Capitol on Sunday afternoon, a last-minute location and lineup change after three Denver-area venues declined to host the rally.

Kiros, a 29-year-old lawyer and first-time candidate, is challenging Rep. Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. She garnered attention when she defeated DeGette for the first time in her 30-year congressional tenure at the Democrats’ Denver County Assembly earlier this year, taking the top spot on the ballot with 67% of the delegate vote to DeGette’s 32.8%.

The third candidate in the primary is University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, who qualified by petition signatures. The district is a safe Democratic seat, so whoever wins the primary will almost certainly go on to win in November.

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Piker was slated to speak at Sunday’s rally, dubbed the “Power to the People Rally,” but did not show up after it was moved to the Capitol. Piker is a streamer on the platform Twitch with over 3 million followers and is a star in progressive politics, especially among young people aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. Kiros joined him on his stream for a nearly hour-long conversation in May, and then again after the rally Sunday.

The rally was originally scheduled at ReelWorks in Denver, then moved to the Ogden Theater before landing at the Capitol. Event organizers said the venues, as well as Stanley Marketplace, cancelled the contracts for the event. In an Instagram post, Kiros blamed DeGette for the cancellations, saying the congresswoman “called up her donor class to silence us.”

“We know the reason that nothing really changes is because our representatives are bought and paid for by the same billionaires,” she said Sunday. “They ran us around all week, cancelling on us in multiple venues, because we are bringing together a movement of people that are refusing to accept the world as it is and are demanding power.”

“What we are fighting for is the foundation of our fundamental rights, and they can try and silence us,” she said. “They can try and kick us out of their buildings, but they cannot stop what we’ve already built in this people power grassroots movement.”

DeGette’s spokesperson James Owen said the claim that the congresswomen had a role in the venue cancellation “ridiculous.”

“If Melat Kiros wants to campaign with someone who said America deserved 9/11 we’d do nothing to stop her,” he said.

In a 2019 stream, Piker said that the United States “deserved 9/11.” He later said the comments were inappropriate.

Representatives for any of the three venues did not respond to comment requests. Hill Probasco, a leader in the Denver chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which helped organize the rally, said Piker chose not to come because of security risks. Throughout the event, he streamed from what appeared to be a hotel room.

“It’s a risk to be that out in the open, with as many threats as that guy has to deal with every day,” Probasco said. “I think he probably — from what I hear — felt that it wasn’t the best place for him to be.”

Piker is a controversial figure and outspoken against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. He said he has received death threats, especially following the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

There was a small counter-protest to the rally on Sunday across Lincoln Street at Veterans Memorial Park. About one dozen people waived Israeli flags and signs that read “Anti-Zionism is racism” and “Hasan Piker’s lies fuel hate crimes.” At one point when the crowd was quiet, a person, not associated with the counter-protest, yelled “f*** you” to those gathered.

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Democrat running in the U.S. Senate primary against Sen. John Hickenlooper, also pulled out of the event because of safety concerns, she wrote on Instagram.

“I can’t in good conscience say that there was time to pivot this event and ensure the safety of participants and attendees,” she wrote.

Kiros spoke for about 10 minutes, repeating campaign themes about getting corporate money out of politics, supporting policies like universal child care, establishing Medicare for All, and dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I’m so, so mad, because what we are doing is what is necessary,” she said. “We cannot continue to live in a country that is allowing fascism to rise, that is allowing our economy to be grinding working families to the ground, that is allowing our climate to completely deteriorate on the one planet that we all have to live on. This is not sustainable, and as angry as I am at the people who tried silencing us today, I want them to have dignity too.”

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson and Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, two Democrats also running for Congress, spoke before Kiros.

Cassie Svelnys showed up on Sunday with her dog Sadie and said her politics align with Kiros’ campaign. She said she had been waiting for an opportunity to attend a campaign event, and lives close by in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

“I’m excited that she is someone who is younger, who has not been in politics for decades,” she said. “Her support of dismantling these entrenched money systems, that really resonates with me.”

The primary election is June 30. Colorado clerks began mailing ballots last week, and voters can check the status of their ballots online through BallotTrax.

Colorado Newsline has a voter guide for state and local races, as well as candidate surveys.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:20 a.m., June 15, 2026, to include comments from DeGette’s campaign. It was later updated to clarify the estimated size of the crowd to which Melat Kiros spoke.

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