One of their substitutes was a Mexican national flag. Another was a “Thin Blue Line” flag flown upside down with “ABOLISH ICE” spray-painted on it. A black U.S. flag with a single blue stripe meant to honor police, the “Thin Blue Line” symbol is notorious for its presence at Black Lives Matter counter-protests and at the 2017 Charlottesville white nationalist rally. According to The Colorado Independent, the third was a custom flag that read, “F\*ck cops.”

The protest’s official organizers distanced themselves from the roughly two dozen protesters who, according to a local Fox affiliate, also tried to burn the U.S. flag during their replacement action. Police are investigating the matter after standing down during the incident itself and said they had advised the GEO Group to use more heavy-duty barricades at the point of entry where the protesters gained access to the facility.

"I'm a bit devastated," Cristian Solana-Cordova of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition told Denver ABC 7. "I'm let down by these people who basically took the mic away from our community leaders so they could pose for a selfie, essentially to show off on Instagram just how woke they are." He added that his group hopes to see those who swapped the flags “be brought to justice.”

"It's not freedom of speech to trespass on land," George Brauchler, the local district attorney, told Denver ABC 7. "It's not freedom of speech to take down an American flag or Colorado flag that you don't own. Lawlessness is not freedom of speech."

The flag action wasn’t the most militant protest of the weekend. According to The Washington Post, friends say an anarchist identified as Willem Van Spronsen was killed Saturday while using “incendiary devices” in an attack at an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington, which is also run by the GEO Group. According to The Seattle Times, a local activist group that was not affiliated with the suspect believes the target was a parking lot containing buses used in deportations. Police said the suspect tried unsuccessfully to ignite a propane tank.

Identified by ICE as an “anti-immigration-enforcement protester,” the suspect had been arrested while armed with a knife and baton at the same facility a year ago. According to The Seattle Times, court documents indicate Van Spronsen was accused of lunging at a police officer’s neck while the officer was detaining a 17-year-old protester.

As noted by Heavy, there was some confusion online about the suspect’s gender identity. The name Emma Durutti (reportedly a combined reference to anarchists Emma Goldman and Buenaventura Durruti) was used in account connected to Van Spronsen and a manifesto reportedly written by Van Spronsen refers to “trans comrades.” People who say they were friends of Van Spronsen have come forward to say he was a cis man who used Emma as a "nom de plume."

“He was ready to end it,” Deb Bartley, a longtime friend of the suspect, told The Seattle Times. “I think this was a suicide. But then he was able to kind of do it in a way that spoke to his political beliefs … I know he went down there knowing he was going to die.”

Editor's Note: This story was updated on July 18 to include more information about Willem Van Spronsen's gender identity.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: 5 Reasons Why Activists Are Calling for the Abolition of ICE