Aurora City Council meetings go virtual after more protests from Kilyn Lewis family and supporters

In-person meetings of the Aurora City Council have been suspended until a lawsuit filed by the family of Kilyn Lewis is resolved.

In a Facebook post, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said that decision was made to avoid disruptions caused by the Lewis family and its supporters. They have protested at city council meetings since last summer. Coffman wrote that they have taken every opportunity to hijack regular meetings and prevented others from speaking during the public comment listening period.

“Since last summer, our city council meetings have been disrupted with threatening taunts and harassment from members of the extended Kilyn Lewis family and their supporters,” Coffman wrote. “This is all about their demands for a financial settlement from the city following the May 23, 2024, fatal Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) incident involving First-Degree Attempted Murder Suspect Kilyn Lewis.”

Last month, the estate of Kilyn Lewis filed a lawsuit against the City of Aurora and former Aurora SWAT team Officer Michael Dieck, the officer who shot and killed Lewis. According to court documents, they’re seeking compensation for financial loss “pain, and suffering, inconvenience, emotional distress, anxiety, loss of enjoyment of life.”   

The decision to take City Council meetings virtual comes after an Arapahoe County District Court Judge ordered the release of unedited body worn camera footage of Lewis' fatal confrontation with Aurora Police in May 2024.  9News sued to obtain the complete recordings earlier this year. The news outlet said the judge ordered the city to inform him whether the police have complied with his order by June 16. The city may appeal the decision. 

This isn’t the first time that the Aurora City Council has tweaked how their meetings are conducted. During their Sept. 23 meeting last year, they voted to end in-call comments. Earlier this year, the general public comment period was moved to a 40-minute window before each meeting’s official start. Last month, the city council voted to limit speakers to one at a time.     

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership CEO MiDian Shofner released a statement in response to the city council’s latest decision. She wrote that the change will not come from behind a webcam.

“By removing general public comment and retreating into indefinite virtual meetings under the guise of ongoing civil litigation, they are not protecting due process; they are weaponizing it,” Shofner wrote. “This is not about law or order. This is yet another attempt to demonize the name and legacy of Kilyn E. Lewis, a son of this city whose life was stolen. They invoke his name not to honor it, but to associate it with division and disruption, when in truth, it is their unchecked leadership and officers like Michael Dieck that brought us to this moment of reckoning.”

Lewis was shot and killed by Officer Michael Dieck as the SWAT team attempted to arrest the 37 year-old unarmed Black man on a warrant for an earlier attempted murder. It was later discovered that a dark object that he had in his right hand as he attempted to comply with officers was a cellphone and a fruit snack, not a weapon. 

Screen grab from video released by the Aurora Police Department.

Last October, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office declined to press criminal charges against Dieck following an Critical Incident Response Team investigation and a grand jury declined to hear the case. Following APD’s own internal investigation, Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said Dieck didn’t violate the agency’s policies in shooting and killing Lewis.

Sweeping reforms to the Aurora SWAT team came after the handling of the Lewis shooting was questioned by the independent monitor of the Aurora Consent Decree. As part of those changes, Dieck is no longer on the SWAT team, but remains employed by APD.