Community activist MiDian Shofner speaks to a group of protesters in the lobby of Aurora city hall after a city council meeting ended late on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. PHOTO BY MCKENNA HARFORD 
Aurora Councilmember Alison Coombs sits at her laptop while listening to group of protesters in the lobby of Aurora city hall after a city council meeting ended late on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. PHOTO BY MCKENNA HARFORD 
Protesters fill part of council chambers at Aurora city hall during a city council meeting Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. PHOTO BY MCKENNA HARFORD
AURORA | A group of community activists dominated Monday’s City Council meeting for nearly five hours, mostly demanding the firing of the city’s police chief — and then continued in the city hall lobby until almost 3 a.m. Tuesday.
At the end of the nine-hours of passionate speeches, disruption and clever entendres, it appeared that three in the original crowd of about two-dozen protesters linked to the threatened “sit in” refused to leave the building and faced expulsion and court summons.
Police and city officials confirmed that MiDian Shofner was cited for municipal trespassing.
The group was led by The Epitome of Black Excellence, a community organization that includes many family members of Black men who were killed by Aurora police. Group leaders announced plans for what they said would be a sit-in after repeated attempts to engage with city officials on the topic.
Activists had demanded a meeting with City Manager Jason Batchelor, Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs and Councilmember Rob Andrews, who leads the public safety committee, to discuss their demands for the termination of Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain. That conversation took place after the city council meeting in the lobby of city hall.
The group’s complaints against Chamberlain include the officer-involved shootings under his watch, as well as concerns with transparency, accountability and “rhetoric they believe has contributed to fear and distrust among immigrant communities and communities of culture.”
Aurora has been under a state mandated consent decree since 2021, which oversees policy and training changes in the public safety departments, including police and fire, to address a history of racial bias and excessive force.
The city is nearing the end of its consent decree monitoring period and a report from earlier this year shows the departments are substantially compliant with most of the mandates.
Chamberlain was hired as police chief in 2024. The city manager is responsible for hiring and firing the chief, although the council confirms the hire.
During Chamberlain’s tenure, there have been multiple fatal officer-involved shootings, including the deaths of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield and Rashaud Johnson. The officer who killed Belt-Stubblefield, Matthew Neely, is facing charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter after being indicted by a grand jury.
There has been one officer-involved shooting so far this year, where an officer shot and killed a man who was attacking him with a knife during a mental health crisis.
“We did not begin with a sit-in,” MiDian Shofner, CEO Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, said last week. “We began with conversation. We began with public comment. We began with invitations to work together. We began by asking our elected and appointed leaders to hear what families and community members were telling them. When every conventional avenue of civic engagement leaves the community standing in the same place, the question becomes what the community is expected to do next.”
Monday night, after the long council meeting, Batchelor, Coombs and Andrews met with the group in the lobby until about 2:30 a.m.
Last week, Batchelor pointed to improvements in public safety, such as declining crime rates, a positive rating from a community engagement survey, progress on the city’s consent decree and the creation of the Office of Public Safety Accountability.
“I stand behind the ongoing work and continuous improvement at APD,” Batchelor said.
He made similar comments early Tuesday, in support of Chamberlain.
Batchelor, Coombs and Andrews stayed until the end of the all-night lobby event.
By about 2:35 a.m. the group appeared to be finished, with some members saying, however, they would remain and refuse to leave.
At about 6 a.m. Tuesday, it was unclear who it was that stayed and how the city and police handled the refusals.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Stop the theater. A few dozen activists do not speak for Aurora’s more than 400,000 residents.
Their real demand—covered in prior reporting—is a large city payout over an officer-involved shooting of a previously convicted felon with a violent record who was being arrested on an attempted first-degree murder warrant. Kilyn Lewis was wanted after shooting a legally blind man in Denver. He failed to comply during the SWAT arrest attempt; the officer, who reasonably perceived a threat, was cleared by both the DA and the department’s review. The family has sued. This is the pattern: minimize the context, elevate the death, and press for both firings and taxpayer money.
Under Chief Chamberlain, major crime has dropped nearly 39 percent, with homicides down sharply. That is what matters to the vast majority of residents who want safe streets. A small group staging an overnight sit-in and declaring they will not leave until they get a termination date is not civic engagement—it is leverage. Aurora is not required to fire its police chief because activists demand it.
The same small group of non-productive members of society routinely appear in an effort to get a payday from the City.
Props to Batchelor for not letting the beligerent group have their way.
I am sure more people would show and spend the night, but most members of the community have jobs. I am sure if these people worked a steady job for as long as they have been trying their scam, they would have earned more than the payout!
This is the epitome of their excellence…
Fatigue is hitting hard
Safety begins at home. Teach your kids to act kindly and you will have less conflict.
How do these folks not have jobs? Whose payroll are they on? Meanwhile Aurora’s productive citizens are working and paying taxes.
I completely agree. This is nothing more than coached staged theatre for personal financial gain. Watch the videos. Decide for yourself.