As tensions continue to boil over amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has placed large swaths of the nation at a standstill, a small group of health care workers blocked hundreds of protestors in Denver on Sunday afternoon, resulting in a dramatic showdown.

Alyson McClaran , a photojournalist based in Denver, said the medical workers stood in the street to counter hundreds who had gathered at the Colorado capitol in an event dubbed Operation Gridlock . The event was meant to express frustration with Gov. Jared Polis (D) stay-at-home orders as coronavirus continues to infect tens of thousands of people around the country.