Welcome back to CTR’s weekly roundup of articles pertaining to political extremism in Colorado. Aside from protests over the weekend in opposition to the Trump administration’s actions, which you can read our coverage of here, we have multiple stories pertaining to right-wing activism and overreach by the federal government. First up, we have a piece by James O’Rourke on the various far-right donors to a Colorado conservative training program called the Leadership Program of the Rockies (LPR). LPR’s investors range from longstanding conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation to extreme Libertarian city-state advocacy groups. Logan Davis has a column examining the link between modern right-wing anti-public education activism and the now 60-year-old John Birch Society. We are also highlighting two pieces by the Colorado Newsline’s Lindsey Toomer, who wrote about Trump’s Energy Secretary dismissing the role of climate change in Colorado wildfires and the now 10 international students at Colorado universities who have had their visas revoked.
From DC to Denver: The Right-Wing Groups Funding Colorado’s Conservative Training Program
James O’Rourke dives into the world of the Leadership Program of the Rockies (LPR), a training program for conservative politicians and activists. Recently, LPR announced its list of sponsors for its 2025 conference, which includes far-right and conservative activist groups. Notable sponsors include The Heritage Foundation, the far-right think tank that published Project 2025, Turning Point USA, a right-wing organization aimed at bolstering conservatism on college campuses that has increasingly pushed hate speech and conspiracy theories, and the Free Cities Foundation, a libertarian/neo-feudalist group that advocates for what it calls “free cities” – autonomous zones free from any government regulation.
John Birch Never Dies
Sixty years ago, the John Birch Society started out as a group of wealthy industrialists to oppose regulations on major businesses, and tax hikes. It has grown, largely due to the extensive funding provided by its founding members, like Fred Koch and Harry Lunde Bradley. The John Birch Society emerged as a “major national political force, with local chapters spring up in state after state and the group’s fringe … beliefs becoming more and more influential.” The legacy of the Birchers echoes in modern conservative activism aimed at crippling public education. Logan Davis analyzes the conspiratorial basis for right-wing attacks on public education and how that relates to a wider historical trend.
Colorado Newsline: Trump energy secretary during Golden lab visit doubles down on minimizing climate change
Although Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledges the existence of climate change, he insisted while visiting the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden that it was not a crisis. Wright denied that climate change played any role in the severity of wildfires Colorado has been experiencing and said blaming the Marshall fire on climate change is “simply to not look at the data”. However, hotter and drier conditions in Colorado have been identified as exacerbating the severity of the 2021 fire that devastated Boulder County.
Colorado Newsline: Trump administration revokes 10 international student visas in Colorado
As of Wednesday last week, 10 international students in Colorado have had their student visas revoked by the Trump administration. Although it is unclear why these students have had their visas revoked, Trump issued an executive order “targeting student visas of those who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses”. Other higher profile cases targeted legal residents, like Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, where the reason given for the visa revocation was that over protected speech. The revocations targeted students in both the University of Colorado system and Colorado State University. The universities have declined to provide additional information in an attempt to protect the students’ privacy.
