The public comment portion of Monday night’s Aurora City Council meeting focused on community concerns related to a recent police shooting of a 37-year-old Black man, but only after technical difficulties were resolved within the virtual platform currently used by council.
Rajon Belt-Stubblefield was killed after an attempted traffic stop on Aug. 30. In the following days, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain asserted that the officer involved tried to de-escalate the situation before using deadly force.
“This was a tragic incident. A life was lost. An officer was forced to make a split-second decision that no one wanted. But the suspect’s actions created this danger, and our officers responded to survive and to protect others,” Chamberlain said during the press conference. “This was not something that the officer, the department, or the City of Aurora wanted. Our officer was performing his duty, enforcing traffic laws and keeping our roads safe. He did not choose this confrontation. It was the suspect’s actions that escalated and turned this into violence.”
Denver7 reached out to Belt-Stubblefield’s family, who are not ready to speak publicly at this time. The family said they have not viewed the body-camera video as of Monday evening. Aurora Police say the footage will only be released after the family watches it first…