The Aurora City Council voted this week to meet virtually and to do away with public comment sessions until the suburban city resolves a lawsuit filed recently by the family of a Black man fatally shot by Aurora police.
The decision, made during a virtual meeting of the council on Monday, was the latest narrowing of public participation in the crafting of city business in Aurora as council members have faced repeated protests related to the shooting.
The move follows the council’s decision last month to limit speakers at the lectern to one at a time, with exceptions for children, those needing interpretive help and people with physical disabilities.
Aurora again tightens public comment rules at City Council meetings as protests of police conduct continue
Since the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Kilyn Lewis in May 2024 by Aurora SWAT officer Michael Dieck, protesters have regularly come to council meetings demanding accountability. In the council chamber, meetings have descended into chaos as protesters have become loud and unruly, on occasion sending elected leaders behind closed doors to finish business remotely.
The Arapahoe County district attorney last fall declined to file charges against Dieck; Lewis’ family on May 28 sued both Dieck and the city as part of a wrongful death claim.
Monday’s vote was 7-3 in favor of the motion.
Councilwoman Alison Coombs, who cast a no vote, called the measure “absolutely ridiculous.”
“It’s an attempt to silence the public instead of just listening,” she said.
But Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky said the council had listened to protesters “over and over and over and over again.”
“So now it’s in the court’s hands, so let’s let the court decide,” she said. “That’s going to be the final ruling.”
Then addressing on screen Auon’tai Anderson, a former Denver school board vice president and a frequent protester at Aurora council meetings, Jurinsky said: “We’re done with the disrespect going in every direction. We’re going to conduct city business.”
Other city councils have faced public comment challenges in recent months, including as people have demonstrated or pressed for resolutions weighing in on the Israel-Hamas war. In Boulder, where the City Council cleared its chamber in April following disruptions, the council canceled public comment at its meeting last week. It cited security concerns just days after the antisemitic firebomb attack on the Pearl Street Mall that injured 15 people.
But critics took Aurora’s council to task for its indefinite pause. In a statement Wednesday, MiDian Shofner, the CEO of a group called the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership — and a frequent protester at Aurora council meetings — said Monday’s decision “is not leadership, it’s avoidance.”
“They can mute our mics, but they cannot mute our movement,” she wrote. “Kilyn’s name will never be buried in bureaucracy. It will echo through every demand we make until justice is not a privilege, but a standard in this city.”
It’s not clear how long it will take for the civil suit to reach a ruling, jury verdict or settlement, but often such cases are active for several months at least, and sometimes years.
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