Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the death of Kilyn Lewis happened during Chief Todd Chamberlain’s tenure. Lewis was killed while former Chief Heather Morris was leading the department.
Updated 4 p.m. Oct. 8: This story was updated with statements from City Manager Jason Batchelor, Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs and Councilmember Rob Andrews.
AURORA | A group of community activists are calling on the city to fire its police chief with a sit-in planned for the Oct. 12 city council meeting.
The Epitome of Black Excellence, a community organization that includes many family members of Black men who were killed by Aurora police, said in a press release that the sit-in comes after repeated attempts to engage with city officials on the topic.
The group is demanding 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.
“We did not begin with a sit-in,” MiDian Shofner, CEO Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, said in the release. “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.”
Chamberlain did not return a request for comment before the story was published.
In a statement, Coombs and Andrews said they reached out to schedule a meeting with the Epitome of Black Excellence because they “believe that listening to one another is essential to building trust and finding solutions that move our community forward.”
“We recognize and respect the importance of ensuring that every voice is heard, and we welcome the opportunity for open, honest, and constructive dialogue,” the statement said.
A statement from Batchelor also opened the door for conversation.
“I welcome discussions with all community members on city issues and look forward to having a meaningful dialogue,” Batchelor said.
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.
Shofner confirmed in a text that the Epitome of Black Excellence received an invitation for discussion, but said that since the effort is a collective one, “arranging a meeting with our team will not suffice.”
Following public comment at the Oct. 12 meeting, the group plans to have members stay on the council floor until city officials agree to set up a meeting.
“Participants understand that remaining in the building could result in directives from city officials or law enforcement to leave and potentially expose individuals who refuse such directives to arrest,” the release says. “They nevertheless intend to remain peaceful and nonviolent while pressing city leadership for an immediate response.”
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.
In 2026, Aurora’s crime is following a national trend of decreasing crime, with property and violent crimes down 10.5%.
In the press release, the group says they don’t expect the city to agree with every criticism of the chief, but that their concerns shouldn’t “disappear into the machinery of city government without response.”
Since Chamberlain’s hiring, the Epitome of Black Excellence and likeminded community members, such as those with the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee, have consistently spoken at council meetings to ask for police oversight and reform, including replacing Chamberlain.
“Two years into Chief Chamberlain’s leadership, families and community members who have repeatedly appeared before their government are no longer willing to accept silence as engagement, acknowledgment as accountability, or public comment as a substitute for substantive dialogue,” the release says.
Previous protests over officer-involved shootings have shut down the council chambers and forced meetings to end or move online.
Here we go again. Aurora residents are disgusted. Another sit-in, another attempt to bully the council into firing a police chief who has helped bring crime down. Most of us want a city that is well managed, not one run by whoever refuses to leave the room.
Speak at public comment, by all means. That is your right. But shouting down meetings and occupying the council floor is not civic engagement. It is a tantrum with a schedule.
Meanwhile, the rest of Aurora wants safe neighborhoods, repaired streets, maintained parks and libraries that stay open. Council members who keep indulging the grandstanding should remember they were elected to serve all of us, not the loudest few.
Chief Chamberlain is doing a stellar, documentable job fighting crime with modern technology and practices, and a bunch of activist felons and useful idiots hate him for it. I applaud him for it. If this ragtag group represents the “epitome of black excellence,” they really need to raise their bar. Physician, heal thyself.
Sec. 94-387.
Obstructing municipal government operations.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct municipal government operations. A person commits obstructing municipal government operations if that person intentionally obstructs, impairs, or hinders the performance of a municipal governmental function by a city employee by using or threatening to use violence, force, or physical interference or obstacle.
“Shofner confirmed in a text that the Epitome of Black Excellence received an invitation for discussion, but said that since the effort is a collective one, “arranging a meeting with our team will not suffice.”
Following public comment at the Oct. 12 meeting, the group plans to have members stay on the council floor UNTIL CITY OFFICALS AGREE TO SET UP A MEETING.”
Epitome of Black Excellence? Please. Try a HBCU, but Lewis’s mom just can’t deal that her kid was doing ridiculously sketchy shit and paid a shitty unfair price. This isn’t black Excellence.
These are main-character-complex having idiots who interrupt almost EVERY town hall since her kid died. Lady. Heather was fired. Todd isn’t her. LA complaints from whiners aside: dude makes progress.
I have to comment. I saw thar there were only comments from people opposed to a peaceful protest. I’m a 72-year-old white man who understands the group’s point. I’m not sure Chamberlain needs to go, but one thing is sure, they must be heard. This is a stated peaceful protesr that has respectfully asked to be heard and after being denied, have decided on a peaceful sit-in as a means of showing their displeasure. It is important that they stated up front that the expectation is that the City will probably disagree with their poinr of view. This signals a willingness to listen as well as to state their position. In America, this is how it works. Honor their request and listen to the Epitome of Black Excellence as well as honestly state the City’s position or agree to take the opinion under advisement or futher meet, but be sure to come to a conclusion and clearly state it. All should respect and honor a well-considered petition!
They have been heard ad nauseam under a number of guises. They don’t want to be heard, they want acquiesence to their demands which include substantial monetary damages. They seek the reward for criminal behavior behavior of their family members.
They have been heard at Council meetings. They have been heard at Ward meetings. They have been heard through direct e-mail. They have been heard through their civil pleadings suing the City. They will be heard in Civil Court. The Sentinel can also publish their message yet again if it is not bored with that message as of yet. Instead of that the group seeks disruption and the Sentinel hopes for the news story of disruption.
They’ve been heard. Repeatedly. EACH meeting they’ve fully interrupted and broken tons of decorum or rules and regarding at.
They say nothing of use and just want to have someone HAVE TO hear them whine for once.
How do you improve on a shooting that was almost reasonable? STOP TRYING TO MAKE PHONE CALLS DURING AN ARREST, MY GOD. Just do it at the jail LIKE THE REST OF US, and shootings would lower.
Demanding you get to do what you want when you’re being arrested for chilling with gangbangers while they conduct drive bys is a fully regarded decision and Kilyn Lewis paid the typical and known price for acting like that. Fk the EBE’s CEO. Terribly disruptive and useless complaining citizens.
They’ve been heard non-stop, you self-loathing Boomer. They’re not looking to be “heard,” they’re looking for a ghetto lottery paycheck.
They don’t need to be “heard” anymore. They need to be barred from any and all future council meetings.
As this group of professional progressive grifters show up at these city town-halls, school board events, county meetings, private political events work on the perception most Aurora leaders will give support to their ideology. Half will. As a result, the goal to meet the expectation of a new low bar of useless public input has been met, congratulations. Aurora council meetings have converted into a new social pathogenic gathering place.
In the meantime, Side Show Bob with his band of malcontents have been busy answering questions in a different public building. A Denver District Federal Court. There, things are worlds different than the city and there unlike Aurora City Hall, decorum and mutual respect…still holds sway. These same geniuses are not getting the assumed easy-peasy luxury as they answer their show cause order. Standing now to answer questions to Judge Timothy O’Hara, as defendants in their Denver Public School case. As Shofner, Anderson, and Hashim Coats get to explain why they are so special, their reasons not maintaining discovery cutoff date rules. Wondering excuses from Shofner and Coats, of why not, don’t cut it with this judge. To these three things like a judge’s expectations don’t sink in. That requires real work to now be accountable, perhaps take things seriously for once. Can you just imagine of all things? They’re being sued for intimidation, manufactured false police reports, conspiracy and using social media to menace Kristen Fry, a Denver parent, at school meetings.
What’s fascinating, and otherwise ironic is the involvement in this case suing these three hard charger City Hall social warriors is that the law firm David Lane working along with Mountain States Legal a conservative leaning firm as they occasionally are on opposite sides. But not this time, both represent Kristen Fry. Her fight is against being bullied and harassed in public meetings.
Monday night Mayor Coffman will allow one more city hall circus orchestrated by the gang of three rather than doing much more than sit up there with that powerful disillusioned stare.