Denver pedestrians got a surprise this weekend when the audio messages from push-button speakers on some crosswalks were mysteriously replaced with anti-President Donald Trump messages.
“The walk signal is on, Trump … (reference to the Iran school that was bombed),” a robotic voice said, according to a video on the social media platforms TikTok and Instagram.
Other messages included profanity directed at Trump, social media users reported.
Audio signals at crosswalks, known as Accessible Pedestrian Signals, are designed to assist those who are blind or have low vision navigate intersections safely.
A spokesperson for Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure told The Denver Gazette on Monday that the agency was aware of only two hacked locations — Pearl Street and Colfax Avenue, and at Colfax and Washington Street.
“These crosswalk push-buttons were newly installed — still bagged and with their factory settings that included a default password that we now have learned is easy to find online,” DOTI Communications Director Nancy Kuhn told The Denver Gazette Monday.
These push-buttons on the signals weren’t meant to be operational yet, but had just recently received electrical power, Kuhn explained.
“We’ve been able to change the password from the default password, so we don’t expect a repeat situation at these locations,” Kuhn said.
Although seemingly rare, news reports suggest pranks like this are more mischievous than malicious, with similar incidents reported in 2025 in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area.
In Denver in 2025, multiple traffic signs were hacked to display anti-car messaging. At the time, DOTI said it was not investigating the incident and that the signs likely belonged to one of its contractors.
The anti-car signs come at a time when tensions between motorists and cyclists/pedestrians have flared in Denver in recent weeks over a DOTI plan to reduce lanes of motor vehicle traffic along Alameda Avenue near Washington Park.
