An activist and frequent protester at Aurora City Council meetings has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming her First Amendment rights are being violated by a recent decision to end public comment at its twice-monthly business meetings.
MiDian Shofner, who uses the last name Holmes in her suit, filed the complaint this week in U.S. District Court in Denver. It says the council ended public comment in a June 9 vote “to restrict one viewpoint: the viewpoint criticizing the (Aurora Police Department’s) killing of (Kilyn) Lewis and Aurora’s inadequate response to it.”
“Such actions sought to keep those holding that viewpoint from being able to speak to, and petition, their government for redress of their grievances,” says the suit, filed by the Denver law firm Newman McNulty.
Lewis, 37, was shot and killed by an Aurora SWAT officer on May 23, 2024, at an apartment complex in the city. He was unarmed. Police had been seeking Lewis on suspicion of attempted murder in Denver.
The lawsuit claims the decision to end public comment “was meant to target” those seeking justice for Lewis “because the resolution explicitly stated that the ban would be lifted once the lawsuit pertaining to the APD’s killing of Mr. Lewis is concluded.”
Lewis’ family last month sued Aurora on a wrongful death claim.
The federal lawsuit filed this week also faulted Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman’s decision to post to Facebook a photo showing Shofner and other protesters addressing the council alongside an explanation of the council’s decision. Shofner heads a group called Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership.
In that post, the mayor wrote that protesters who have attended council meetings over the last year have ignored rules of conduct and “taken every opportunity they could to hijack our agenda items during our regular meetings.”
“Their goal is simple: write them a check and they will go away,” Coffman wrote. “Until then, they will continue to disrupt our meetings. They have no choice but to continue disrupting our meetings because their lawsuit is meritless.”
Jeff Roberts, the executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, says the claims in the lawsuit are intriguing.
On the one hand, he said, there is nothing in state law that requires local governments to provide a public comment opportunity. And Aurora isn’t just shutting down public input for one group, but for everyone.
City councils, Roberts said, are allowed to manage public participation in proceedings to maintain decorum and order.
On the other hand, he said, plaintiffs may be able to successfully argue that Aurora’s ban on public comment resulted from animus toward a particular viewpoint, which could have First Amendment implications.
“Is the judge going to look at it as being more about the viewpoint of the group or how they’ve been acting when they go to the mic?” he said.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.
