Chaos among conservatives on the Aurora City Council this week illustrated how profoundly out of touch they are from the community in regard to police reform.
For the third time in just several weeks, the July 8 City Council meeting spun out of control as protesters demanded to be heard by city lawmakers about their anger over the officer-involved death of yet another Black man at the hands of Aurora police.
The most recent fracas stems from the May 23 shooting death of Kilyn Lewis as he was being arrested in a condo parking lot. His arrest was connected to an outstanding Denver warrant for allegedly shooting a bystander while, possibly, aiming for someone else.
The larger problem stems from the unavoidable fact that Aurora police cannot seem to stop officers from killing Black people they encounter.
It isn’t as if they aren’t commanded by the State of Colorado to try and stop mistreating Black people, and especially stop shooting them, pistol-whipping them, forcing them to lie face down on scorching hot asphalt, calling them “porch monkeys,” shoving them face down between the front and back car seats of squad cars, throttling them or drugging them to death with tranquilizers.
Aurora police are being forced by state officials to stop it.
It isn’t as if the city hasn’t appeared to try to weed out most of the worst offenders, even firing officers caught tossing racial slurs at Black people or beating them bloody with their handguns or lying or being caught passed out drunk behind the wheel of a squad car.
But nearly five years after Elijah McClain was attacked by police and poisoned to death by complicit paramedics, Black people, especially men, are paying with their lives for Aurora not being able to stop some members of its force from killing Black men they encounter, usually during an arrest.
Clearly, the problem is one of attitude, in some ways racist, but in other ways disturbingly elitist and inept.
The ghastly and deeply erroneous foundation of the city council’s folly is illustrated by the recent comments of a Sentinel reader, which offered this anonymous appraisal, similar to dozens like it: “Not every black criminal is a victim. Sometimes they’re just criminals. And Aurora is safer without this one on its streets. Sorry, not sorry.”
Other comments make it clear that because Lewis had previous convictions and an unanswered warrant, his death at the hands of SWAT Officer Michael Dieck was justified.
There are two profoundly wrong tenets with that.
Police are empowered to enforce the law, peace and public safety. They are not, and cannot be, empowered to invoke justice, even accidentally.
The philosophy that Lewis “had it coming” because he was accused of shooting someone is nothing more than a brief evolution of mob justice.
Even those so callous and indifferent to justice that they believe that people who do bad things deserve to die for their transgressions, must admit the larger problem in Aurora. The problem is that those who pay with their lives in Aurora are most likely to be Black.
That fact was not lost on the state attorney general and researchers who found that Aurora has long exhibited “patterns and practices” of racial bias.
Those are the awkward but unavoidable facts the world knew when news broke in May that another Aurora cop had shot another Black man to death, this time during his controlled arrest, with his arms above his head, holding a cell phone.
After a competent and independent investigation, it may turn out that Dieck was justified in pulling the trigger on Lewis, even while four other Aurora SWAT officers at the scene did not fire their drawn guns at him.
But for now, widespread community members are appalled at yet another lethal police-involved shooting, killing yet another Black man.
Certainly, everyone should expect these protesters to remain civil in their public discourse. These protesters need to understand that this city council has no power over Dieck nor the investigation into the shooting, nor should they. But these protesters deserve to be heard, and they need to be heard by the entire city council.
They were not just subverted on Monday, they were insulted.
Councilmember Stephanie Hancock, in a long moment of absurdity, read aloud from an 1852 speech by Frederick Douglass. Hancock then scolded protesters, whom she observed at the start of the city council meeting not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.
“For anyone who won’t stand for the Pledge, who won’t acknowledge that this country is great, I would be happy to help you pack your bags and leave.”
Hancock’s nationalistic “my way or the highway” antic is a major blow to her credibility as a cogent and competent lawmaker and leader.
Hancock, who is Black, excoriated other Black people in the audience for not believing, as she says she does, that “American society was founded on the values of liberty and equality rather than the manifestation of racism that was slavery.”
Hancock embarrassingly misses her own point.
These protesters — who are not “bullies, terrorists, anarchists, opportunists, provocateurs and others who want to lift their voices so they can get social media clicks” as she accused them of being — are angry because Aurora police have been sanctioned for violating the very “liberty and equality” of Black people that she so vocally says she appreciates and defends.
The onus is on the city, and this city council, to prove that Aurora police can be trusted and permitted to continue to enforce the law, and quit shooting and killing Black people they encounter.
Talk about a Train- Wreck
The city council by political exclusion has drawn a line in the sand of how far they are willing to accommodate the Lewis bunch. The city council anticipated a large public backlash, but had a weapon. With their savvy ability to out maneuver CM Coombs on the floor with her resolution, shut off any chance she had. That totally shut down any planned public testimony which they all knew what that “M.O” would look like. Then they concocted to redirect the meeting into private quarters convinced themselves to serve as a suitable substitute for a public scheduled meeting. The council seemed they had the authority to act in private and regrettably refused to finish public business in public.Â
The ACLU is in the business for things that the public is betrayed through questionable actions by the Government. Did Aurora leaders overstep the guidelines using their political dominance?
Despite the most obnoxious behavior from the incompetent wannabe influence broker, Auon’tai Anderson, and his reoccurring meaningless side-show antics at city hall, the city by retreating sent a strong message, we have thin skin. Aurora council should expect seeing more of Auon’tai slowly leering (his trade-mark usually at young girls though) at all the council next meeting with his lack of judgment and impulsivity.
What a cluster!
Where there is discrimination demonstrated by the police or any government agency, it should be harshly handled. The problem is, of course, that a fair judgement must be made. I guess that I am spoiled. I spent a lifetime, as a police officer, trying to just look at the facts and not be swayed by my personal opinion of the person I was contacting. The popular narrative judgement made by the Attorney General that resulted in the consent decree was not fair. It grouped a bunch of incidents together and labeled them as racist where there was nothing to indicate racism. Admittedly, I know of some racist comments made by APD officers during my career and some racist actions. They were few and we did not like working around those officers. APD had long suffered from unethical leadership that would not deal with racist officers if they were in favor with the administration. I personally reported a lieutenant who was falsifying documents to cover the racist actions of his sergeant. The lieutenant faced no discipline other than being told not to test for captain for a year. He later tested for captain and became my boss.
The popular narrative about cops shooting innocent black men is part of what Thomas Sowell called the “invincible fallacy”. It is not born out by facts. But, investigators and prosecutors can politically benefit by appearing outraged and joining the social crusade. If you look at the facts of each incident, you will get a more complicated picture. The facts don’t seem to matter in this emotionally charged matter. The Sentinel continuously follows this popular narrative and repeats the same factual errors no matter how wrong. The Sentinel, for instance, keeps referring to the pistol whipping incident when the officer has been acquitted by a jury. I gave a copy of the business videos to Council that showed that the suspect was trying to take the officer’s gun before he was hit. The Sentinel has never tried to view those videos, even though I have mentioned them repeatedly. So much for fair and factual reporting. Those videos were never shown to the public by former Chief Wilson who used the emotional body cam videos to jump on the “invincible fallacy” bandwagon in an attempt to demonstrate her reformer status. She ruined the lives of two officers by not using even the most basic standards of investigation and fairness.
The sad truth is that black men will continue to be shot during incidents where the police respond and they make movements that cause the officers to believe that they are going for a weapon. The sad truth is that black men who continue to struggle will die from drugs or just poor physical condition. As long as the black population is disproportionally involved in crime, it will happen. The police have no choice but to continue to try to do their job. They are stopping far fewer suspects now out of fear of being labeled, fear of prosecution, and fear of civil suit. The result is that our communities are more dangerous. There are cultural problems with black youth as there are with much of our youth. However, we have glorified a certain life style that uses violence freely. The majority of mass shootings today are black youths shooting at each other and innocent people are hit. The media never discusses race in those situations. The vast majority of black men killed are killed by other black men. There are some cultural problems going on.
We have made it okay to violate the laws, loot, resist the police and simply do as you please. Our legislature, in a knee jerk reaction, passed a poorly written law that restricted the police and gave them vague and unworkable guidelines. The officers can’t tell you what the law means and know that they will be held to some interpretation of those laws by aggressive and politically motivated prosecutors. So, now, undermanned and in an uncertain position, they primarily just respond to calls. The shootings can only get worse when all proactive policing is discouraged.
I am only surprised that the Sentinel acknowledged that SWAT Officer Dieck might be found justified in this shooting. I don’t see how that fits with the Sentinel’s statement that the police can’t invoke justice, even accidentally.
As for Council Person Hancock, I am happy to see that she recognizes the fact that we should all be legally accountable. It takes some courage to stand up against the popular emotional narrative. Frederick Douglass made it clear that our Constitution tries to make things just. It is always man, as in religion, who subverts those higher goals. We must insure that we look at things fairly in order to get to those higher goals. Distorting the facts simply leads to creating unnecessary divisions. Our politicians are really good at that. I also recognize that some people, like Mr. Anderson, former Denver schools person, use these incidents to further their own reputation.
What I do see is a need for better training and supervision at APD, as in most police departments. Police politicians always lie to you about the training. The police receive about one third to one half of the necessary initial training in use of force. The ongoing training is far from what it should be. There is no requirement for any use of force knowledge or skills as one promotes. As a result, most chiefs know little about use of force and know little about what is being taught to their officers. When you pick smooth talking political hacks to be chiefs, you are not getting someone who will change the training environment and establish ethical standards.
Explained very well, Don Black!
I’d like the facts, too.
As usual a long diatribe of nothingness.
But you do do it well.
Again, Dave Perry ignores the facts in this editorial. Allison Coombs intended to introduce a resolution apologizing for the death of Kilyn Lewis before an investigation was complete. This was political grandstanding and was fully coordinated with the protesters in the room.
Kilyn Lewis who, was a convicted felon, was being arrested for the murder of a disabled black man. The bodycam videos of the arrest show Mr. Lewis ignoring police commands and then reaching into his back pocket. It turned out he was reaching for a phone and not a gun, but the officer facing him could not see that. The officer, fearing for his life, fired.
There is a high probability the investigation will determine the officer was justified in shooting due to Mr. Lewis ignoring police commands and drawing something from behind him.
If Council apologized prior to this finding, a lawyer would still try to recover damages. Council had not choice other than to delay a statement of the death. The protestors were not going to tolerate that.
To review the facts, Kilyn Lewis who was a convicted felon, was being arrested for the murder of a disabled black man. By watching the bodycam videos, you see Mr. Lewis ignoring police commands and then reaching into his back pocket. It turned out he was reaching for a phone and not a gun, but the officer facing him could not see that. The officer, fearing for his life, fired.
There is a high probability the investigation will determine the officer was justified in shooting due to Mr. Lewis ignoring police commands and drawing something from behind him.
If Council apologized prior to this finding, a lawyer would still try to recover damages.
You obviously did not see the same video that I saw.
And remember? “Innocent until PROVEN guilty”??
Again, Dave Perry ignores the facts in this editorial. Allison Coombs intended to introduce a resolution apologizing for the death of Kilyn Lewis before an investigation was complete. This was entirely political grandstanding and was fully coordinated with the protesters in the room.
Kilyn Lewis who, was a convicted felon, was being arrested for the murder of a disabled black man. The bodycam videos of the arrest show Mr. Lewis ignoring police commands and then reaching into his back pocket. It turned out he was reaching for a phone and not a gun, but the officer facing him could not see that. The officer, fearing for his life, fired.
There is a high probability the investigation will determine the officer was justified in shooting due to Mr. Lewis ignoring police commands and drawing something from behind him.
If Council apologized prior to this finding, a lawyer would still try to recover damages. Council had not choice other than to delay a statement of the death. The protestors were not going to tolerate that.
Coombs political stunt was designed to give people a voice in the chamber. Nothing wrong with citizens having a voice in government. Coffman and crew ran off like a bunch of cowards. There is no honor in governing behind closed doors. Autocratic MAGA trash are ruining this city.
I think she was simply trying to defuse the situation.
Just another weekly stab of the Sentinel Blog, saying the same things, with nothing new in an attempt to feed the hatred in the Aurora Black radical community over nothing except an attempt to help raise millions from radical lawyers for the Black community in Aurora. Don’t fall for this trap again, City Councilors and administration. It’s all about the money, not the good, bad or ugly of the APD.
Does the “average” Aurora citizen believe there is chaos in the conservatives on the City Council? No. This editorial begins with that premise.
Does the “average” Aurora citizen believe it is proper to not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? No. I believe the last time this happened was when the Pro Palestine terrorist protestors attended a meeting. The Black radicals want to live here but, it seems, only under the mores and rules that they deem proper while they are only such a small minority in our City.
In this situation, does the “average”, knowledgeable, citizen of Aurora understand that Mr. Lewis was a police wanted felon, (for murder with a gun), that would not obey police orders when confronted? Yes.
Does the “average” citizen of Aurora, believe that this Sentinel Blog really represents the news in Aurora in an unbiased manner? That’s the real question.
This opinion piece is well written and is a reflection of my own thoughts.
This shooting is again gonna cost the city millions.