The City of Aurora has agreed to hold in-person City Council meetings with one-hour public comment periods for three years as part of a settlement with activists who have been demanding more action in response to the death of an unarmed Black man in 2024.
MiDian Shofner (who used her maiden name, Holmes), an activist with the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, sued the City of Aurora last June after the Aurora City Council voted to stop allowing public comment at meetings. She and dozens of other residents had been protesting for more than a year during city council meetings over the death of Kylin Lewis, an unarmed Black man who was shot by SWAT officers without being served a warrant. The protests brought some meetings to a halt and left some councilmembers frustrated and angry at the time.
Lewis was fatally shot by Aurora Police Officer Michael Dieck during a SWAT operation alongside the Denver Police Department. Lewis was a suspect in a recent shooting, and officers were serving an arrest warrant. He was shot while reaching for his phone and shouting, “I don’t have nothing,” body camera footage showed…