Aurora sued over suspension of in-person meetings and public comments, Mayor Coffman calls supporters of Kilyn Lewis family disruptive

The Aurora City Council’s decision to suspend in-person meetings and remove the public comment period in its meetings has led to a lawsuit from MiDian Shofner. 

The CEO of The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership filed the federal suit last week against the city over viewpoint discrimination in speaking about the 2023 death of Kilyn Lewis at the City Council meetings. Her attorneys also filed a preliminary injunction, requesting a judge block the rule change while their lawsuit works its way through the courts. 

“This lawsuit is about change,” Shofner said. “My hope is that this lawsuit is catalytic for the way that our bodies of government have to honor and hold the public. And it's also an opportunity for the city of Aurora, in particular, to be able to see justice because I'm not the only voice that's been silenced.” 

The city council made many changes to its meeting earlier this month in response to family and supporters of Lewis. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said the decision was made to avoid disruptions caused by the Lewis family and its supporters.

On Monday, Coffman posted on Facebook saying “disruptions” during city council public hearings on specific items -- which are still allowed -- continued despite the rule changes.

“Last night was more of the same with the continued harassment and disruptions of our city council meetings led by professional activist Midian Shofner from 8PM Consulting for Humanity,” the post said. “Shofner is leading an effort to get the city to write a settlement check to the law firm representing the Kilyn Lewis family against the city of Aurora…. Since the lawsuit against the city has no merit, it is my belief that Shofner is resorting to extralegal tactics to get the city to write a settlement check in exchange for her to go away and stop coordinating the harassment and the disruptions of our council meetings.”

Shofner has been one of the lead supporters and advocates for the Lewis family. 

“We know that the rule iterations have been modified because there is a collective body and collective voices coming together on the matter of Kilyn Lewis,” said Shofner, who is listed as the sole plaintiff in the lawsuit. “It was easily assumed that they were making these rule changes to try to essentially push back against the narrative that they were hearing about Kilyn Lewis (and) make it harder to access the council in a public space.”

According to court documents, the city council voted 7-3 during their June 9 meeting to hold future meetings digitally until a separate civil lawsuit filed by the Lewis family last month is settled. Shofner said she didn’t consult the family before she filed the lawsuit, nor did the family ask to be co-plaintiffs. 

Her attorney, Mari Newman of Newman McNulty, said she wasn’t surprised by the city’s decision.

“This is viewpoint discrimination because the City Council is unwilling to listen to the criticism regarding police brutality,” Newman said. “We're talking about the same city that shut down a peaceful violin vigil decrying police violence by bringing in tear gas and batons. This is a city that we've seen time and time again, simply won't listen to criticism by those who decry police violence against its citizens.”

Coffman’s announcement of the decision via a June 10 Facebook post featured a photo of Shofner, the family and supporters at the podium during a city council meeting. In the post, he accused the family of not following the rules and disrupting meetings to force a financial settlement from the city. 

“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,” the Facebook post reads. “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.”

Family and supporters of Lewis have protested at City Council meetings ever since the unarmed 37-year-old was shot and killed during a confrontation with Aurora PD's SWAT team in May 2024. Officer Micheal Dieck fired off one shot after he thought Lewis had a weapon in his right hand. It was later discovered that it was a cellphone and a fruit snack. 

Shofner said the Lewis family should be able to pursue justice without judgment. 

“This has never been about any type of dollar sign or any type of pattern of greed. This has always been about justice, and Mike Coffman can't see that,” Shofner said. “We have been very clear that we are looking for change — not for now, but forever. And that's going to take a lot more than a paycheck.”

The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges against Dieck after a Critical Incident Response Team investigation, and a grand jury refused to listen to the case. The Aurora Police Department determined Dieck didn’t violate agency policy after conducting its own investigation. 

Legally, public bodies aren’t required by state and federal law to include public comment periods in their meetings. 

Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, said that’s left up to that respective body. But they can’t restrict someone’s speech because of what they say. 

“There are going to be several things that a judge is going to look at here,” Roberts said. “One is the fact that public comment is not required, but did they suspend it because of what these particular speakers have been saying about the police shooting of Kilyn Lewis? Now Aurora will say, ‘Well, we suspended it for everyone, not just those speakers.’ And they'll also say that they did it for reasons of disruptions, things like that.”

Newman said she’s not worried if the city presented that argument in court.

“The City of Aurora made it patently clear that the reason that they were suspending all in-person council meetings was specifically to silence a particular group,” Newman said. “And in that way, this is illegal viewpoint discrimination. If this were a generalized rule done for a generic reason, perhaps it would sustain constitutional muster, but it doesn't.”

Roberts said he’s never seen a case like this, which will be argued in federal court on the grounds of First Amendment rights. 

“What this complaint notes is that the mayor did say they're going to reconsider this when the lawsuit is resolved,” Roberts said. “So, does that make the judge think this actually is more about a point of view that these people who have been making public comments have been expressing? Is it limiting their expression? Or is it more about trying to have a meeting without disruptions? Both things could be possible. But what has more weight?” 

Shofner said the Lewis family and supporters will continue to engage with the Aurora City Council through public hearings at meetings. 

This is the third lawsuit against the City of Aurora involving the Lewis shooting. 

An Arapahoe County District Court judge ordered the city to release unedited body-worn camera footage from Lewis’ confrontation with Aurora Police from May 2024. 9News had sued to obtain the complete recordings earlier this year.

The city has since released the footage to the Lewis family and has made it available to the public on its website.