A conservative content creator’s call for right-wing Christians to gather at the “ministry-driven” coffeehouse, Drip, which is regularly protested by LGBTQ activists, resulted in one of the shop’s staff rebuking its loudest supporter.
Ever since it opened its doors in 2023, Drip, which is part of a ministry that posts its belief that homosexuality is a “lifestyle we believe to be sinful,” on its website, has been protested by pro-LGBTQ activists. Members of the Denver Communists and other groups typically gather outside the establishment, which is located in Denver’s Santa Fe Arts district, during the neighborhood’s monthly First Friday Arts Festival, which draws thousands of people.
Saturday morning’s protest however, took place not as a planned event, but rather in response to a conservative livestreamer’s call for people to pack the coffee house to “defend” it against the Denver Communists, who otherwise wouldn’t have had any reason to protest it on a Saturday. Activist Z Williams, of the Bread & Roses Legal Center, confirmed that the groups only showed up after right-wing content creator Corey Blair, who posts under the name Break The Chains Media, mentioned the Denver Communists in his posts promoting the morning’s event. “He called us out by name,” said Williams, “so we came for a bonus protest.”
The scene outside was decidedly one-sided. Fifteen or twenty members of the Denver Communists, Trans Empowerment Alliance and Bread & Roses Legal Center, along with the Notes of Dissent marching band, filled the parklet in front of Drip with flags and tunes, including circus music to accompany anyone entering the business.
Inside the cafe, about the same number of supporters of Drip, some of whom were wearing shirts of the anti-abortion group White Rose Resistance, occupied most of the seats. However, it was unclear if all of the patrons were there because of the call for supporters.
Opposing the LGBTQ activists on the sidewalk was one pro-Drip activist, Jayden Scott of Michigan, who said he was already in Denver when he learned of this event, so he decided to participate. Equipped with a folding table and portable PA system, Scott alternated between reading Bible verses at the protestors and giving brief speeches about how Christians must stand up and fight to reclaim American culture. He told CTR he was there out of love and intended to minister to the pro-LGBTQ activists, but in other exchanges with the protesters, he said “we’re out here rebuking these homosexuals and these faggots.” He also repeatedly shouted about “global Islamists,” who he insists are invading America.
One such rant, in which he was joined by a Colorado activist from Grand County, Carlos Galindo, ended with the pair shouting “Bring back the Crusades!”
Scott told the Colorado Times Recorder he is the founder of American Crusade, which, according to its website, calls on Christians to join up to engage in spiritual warfare in response to the “No Kings” protests. Prior to launching his crusade, Scott appeared in a viral video celebrating the murder of Renee Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
