AURORA, Colo. — More than 50 people gathered Sunday morning at the GEO Group Facility in Aurora to protest conditions and ICE.
Protests continued throughout the weekend as demonstrators pushed for improved conditions at the GEO Group facility and the abolishment of ICE.
"We need more people out here so that we can actually prove that we are the change," said protester Hugo Pierre-Louis.
Sunday was the first protest attended by Emma Landis after the 21-year-old was shot in the foot outside the facility Thursday.
Police say Brandon Booth, 42, a GEO Group employee, was arrested after allegedly shooting Landis.
According to investigators, Booth was waiting to begin his shift when he became involved in a verbal dispute with Landis and another woman after protesters blocked the facility's entrance.
► Watch Tyler Melito's report in the video below:
Police say Booth fled the scene after the shooting but was later found nearby and taken into custody.
While Landis did not speak to the media, she addressed the crowd at the protest.
"It's really nice to see my community come together in support of this, and all I can say is just, let's keep doing this because people don't deserve this; no one deserves this at all," Landis said in part.
Many protesters said they attended Sunday’s protest because they viewed the demonstrations as a fight for human rights.
"To see what is happening today, I have to stand up with my privilege, and I have to be here, and I have to represent for every single person who isn't safe being here to represent, and I have to say no more, ICE out, abolish it all," said Ashley Wickham.
Wickham told Denver7's Tyler Melito that she has seen the ugliness of America, but her family’s darkest moments helped her understand the beauty in all people.
"I was raised in a Republican politician family in Oklahoma; I've seen the ugliness and the rhetoric behind some of these policies because I was raised in them," Wickham shared. "We have such a beautiful support system of such diverse people that when my husband's been raising our daughters home alone, and I've been at the hospital with my son, it's those people that have kept us going, and a lot of those people were immigrants."
Wickham, a U.S. Army veteran, also spoke plainly about her feelings regarding ICE's actions.
"I did not serve for this, and you will not be taking my rights anytime soon," Wickham proclaimed. "I'm going to make sure that I fight every single day for theirs because that's what I served for, not what they're doing to this, not shooting people who are practicing their First Amendment rights."
Denver7 reached out to a representative of the GEO Group for comment on this weekend's protests; at the time of writing, we have not heard back.
However, the company has previously said it is committed to the safety and care of detainees and complies with federal detention standards.
ICE too has previously defended its treatment of detainees at the Aurora facility, telling The Denver Post it spends millions annually on health care services.
Booth is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on multiple felony charges related to Thursday's shooting.
