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About 70 demonstrators rallied at the Aurora City Council meeting last week to protest the police shooting of another unarmed Black man, 37-year-old Kilyn Lewis— who police shot and killed last month in Aurora. Lewis’s death comes two years after Colorado Attorney Phil Weiser imposed a consent decree on the city of Aurora mandating the city fix “patterns of racially biased policing and excessive use of force in the Aurora Police Department.”
The Consent Decree came in the aftermath of the 2019 murder of Elijah McClain, and a report showing Black people were more than 250 percent more likely to be arrested in the city of Aurora than white people.
Despite the decree, in 2022, only about five months later, Aurora’s City Council fired Vanessa Wilson, the interim Chief of Police who had begun to reform the APD by creating DEI trainings and removing many of the so-called “bad apples” involved in Elijah McClain’s death. In Wilson’s place, the Council appointed a new interim chief who rehired the officers and ended many of Wilson’s programs for reform.
Meanwhile, police violence in Aurora has continued. So far this year, out of the 348 reported uses of force by Aurora PD, about 40 percent of those were against Black residents – that’s despite Black residents only making up about 16 percent of the population.
Lewis was the second unarmed Black man Aurora Police officers killed since June of last year. The incident happened at around midday, on a Tuesday in May. Footage shows Aurora PD confronting Lewis and Officer Michael Dieck shooting and killing Lewis within eight seconds of arrival.
Lewis, who had a 16-year-old son, can be heard shouting that he is unarmed. As he begins to fall to his knees with his hands in the air, Dieck fires. Dieck, who is on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, reported that he thought the cellphone in Lewis’ right hand was a weapon. KGNU’s Alexis Kenyon reports.
Visit the Justice For Kilyn website here.
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Community members, including longtime Aurora residents, social justice activists, and friends and family members of Kylin Lewis, crowded into Aurora City Council chambers on Monday, June 24.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Mike Coffman announced that ralliers should be aware of the time because they only had one hour for public comment. “There are more people signed up than can speak, given the three minutes, and so if you’re going over the three minutes, you’re cutting somebody else out,” said Coffman.
Mike Coffman, a Republican who was elected to Aurora City Council in 2019, created the council’s one-hour public limit as Black Lives Matter protests began to spread across the country. With growing outrage over George Floyd’s death, footage of the similarly brutal and ultimately fatal 2019 arrest of Elijah McClain began circulating nationwide. McClain, who was 23 years old and unarmed, was walking home from a convenience store when Aurora Police tackled him to the ground. paramedics injected McClain with a lethal dose of ketamine.
By 2021, protestors flooded Aurora City Council chambers demanding change.
“Mayor, point of order,” said Council Member Alison Coombs. “We have the ability as a council to agree to go over the hour. Has it already been predetermined by the Mayor?”
Mayor will not support us going over an hour,” said Coffman.
Lewis is the third unarmed black man that Aurora police have killed in recent years. He was the second person of color killed this May.
More than half of the protestors at Monday’s meeting signed up to speak. K-Dot, who identified himself as Lewis’ cousin, said he was disgusted with the council members.
“And you guys are just sitting there with blank stares on your face. I don’t know if you guys have seen the same body-worn camera that I’ve seen. But that was absolute murder. My cousin died over a f**king cell phone. Literally. And then you smear his name to the public. You didn’t even get that right,” said K-Dot.
According to body cam footage released by APD, Aurora officers shot and killed Kylin Lewis eight seconds after they stopped him. The footage shows Officer Michael Dieck fire at Lewis who has both hands in the air and is falling to his knees. In Lewis’ right hand, he is holding his cell phone. According to APD, Officer Michael Dieck shot Lewis because he thought Lewis was holding a weapon.
Dieck, who is on paid administrative leave, has a history of violence. In 2021, he was involved in the assault of Kyle Vinson who police suspected of trespassing. The incident made headlines after footage of Aurora Police Officer John Haubert violently pistol-whipping Vinson became public. Vinson was cooperating with Haubert when Haubert pressed his duty pistol against Vinson’s head as Vinson lay on his stomach. Haubert struck Vinson multiple times with his pistol and choked him. Vinson cried out, “You’re killing me,” and repeatedly stated he could not breathe.
Officer Dieck arrived at the scene and tazed Vinson.
Bruno Tapia is a longtime Aurora resident. He told City Council that this Thursday (6/27) will be four years since thousands of peaceful protesters gathered for a violin vigil, honoring Elijah McClain outside City Council chambers.
“And those demonstrators were brutalized by the Aurora Police Department. It wasn’t until that violent vigil happened that the City Council did anything. So it is unbelievable that four years later, once again, the community has to gather here to demand justice for another unarmed black man murdered by the Aurora Police Department,” said Bruno Tapia.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” said Katie Leonard, an organizer with the Party of Socialism and Liberation in Aurora. “This family has lost a family member, and you can’t even sit here for more than an hour to listen to them. Well, I have news for you. We’ll be back. We demand justice for Kylin Lewis.”
At the one-hour mark, about a half dozen speakers, including Kylin’s mom and sister, still had not gotten a chance to speak.
As Coffman began to call the next agenda item, Council Member Alison Coombs asked him to reconsider the hour limit.
“Mayor opposes,” said Coffman. “They were here two weeks ago. They’ll be able to come back and speak two weeks from now.”
“They’re here right now. They took the time to come here right now,” said Council Member Coombs.
“We didn’t use to have a time limit on public invited to be heard. Just for context,” said Council Member Crystal Murillo.
Council Member Stephanie Hancock motioned to end the debate and Mayor Mike Coffman seconded.
As council members tallied votes to extend the one-hour limit, Gina Simien, Kylin Lewis’s aunt, stood up from the crowd and shouted at the dais.
“You want to go home but so did my nephew. Eight seconds it took to murder my nephew on his knees.”
Coffman didn’t look up from his desk.
“And you want to stand here and talk about ‘order this, order that’? I watched him go down in the ground,” Simien continued. “I watched him be put in a coffin. Do you understand this? This is not child’s play. Eight seconds, it took to kill him. No children will celebrate Christmas or birthdays. Do you understand? This is what it’s like. Do you understand? This is what outrage looks like. Do you get it? I’m pissed off,” said Gina Simien in tears.
“Coffman, how would you like to vote?” asked Aurora City Clerk Kadee Rodriguez. “Mayor votes no to extend the time. I’m voting no to extend the time,” said Coffman.
The motion to extend the debate failed with four ‘yes’ votes and seven ‘no’ votes from Mayor Coffman, Councilmember Bergen, Councilmember Gardner, Councilmember Hancock, Councilmember Jurinsky, Councilmember Sundberg, and Mayor Pro Tem Zvonek.
The crowd of ralliers erupted, chanting Kylin Lewis’ name. They began to leave their seats and sat on the ground in front of the dais. Coffman called a meeting to recess and most of the Council members left the chambers.
After about 10 minutes of chanting, the council returned. Coffman announced that he agreed to allow the remaining comments. About 30 minutes later, ralliers left the chambers.
As Aurora City Council wrapped up the meeting, with only a handful of people left in the audience, Mayor Coffman asked if any of the members had any final statements.
Councilwoman Hancock said that while it’s important that people speak their feelings, there’s an appropriate and respectful way to do it. “If you’re not able to articulate it in a way that is meaningful and ultimately supposed to be convincing to the people that you’re talking to, then you might want to step back and maybe do some research or calm yourself so that you can speak. But it’s important to also understand the City Council itself does not have the ability to fire and tell people what to do in the police department. We need to see the investigation find its full course. We need to do that and then do the appropriate things,” said Hancock.
‘Oh, wow,” said Candice Bailey, a lead organizer of demonstrations following the 2019 murder of Elijah McClain and longtime social justice ‘actionist,’ in Colorado.
“Well, first of all, let’s be clear. When people say that City Council can’t do anything, you’re full of shit. You’re full of shit.” Bailey is also the Colorado Commissioner of the Colorado Jail Standards and a committee member of Colorado’s Law Enforcement Grant Committee.
“They can end the contract with the Aurora Police Department. That is all that needs to happen. And the leadership that is in this community right now is actually complicit. They are allowing this to happen knowingly. They are making the taxpayers pay the bill and they’re acting like its nothing. And that has been going on and on and on. So we can talk about the corruption of the city of Aurora all day. Why are they emotionless? I wish I had that answer,” said Bailey.
A few days after the meeting, I talked with Lewis’ sister, Tajh. She said every day is different since Kilyn’s death. “Cause you know, you try to go through your day as normal, but then you get sad when you think like, oh, let me call my brother and see what he’s doing and you can’t call him. Yeah. You know, so you try to get through your day. And that’s what I want everybody to understand is that they did not treat him as if he was a, like a person. It seems like they hunted him down like an animal or something.”
KGNU contacted Aurora Police Department for this story. They said they are conducting an internal investigation into the incident. Lewis. Read a full copy of their statement below.
Email Statement from Aurora Police Department:
Note: KGNU asked several specific questions and APD responded below.
First, several protestors called for APD to release an unedited copy of the Kilyn Lewis bodycam footage during their public comment. Is it policy to release bodycam footage that has been edited? Will the department release the unedited tape? Is there a reason why APD didn’t release the unedited footage?
Contrary to assertions, the body-worn camera videos of the incident itself that APD released on June 20 were not edited. APD compiled and presented three video angles of the incident exactly as it occurred. The video briefing subsequently replayed each of the three video angles, which upon replay were zoomed in and/or slowed down.
It is worth noting that APD, upon request, has already released – and will continue to release – the individual video files of the three body-worn camera video angles depicted in the critical incident video briefing in their native format. Any other videos not depicted in the video briefing are being processed under the CCJRA.
Second, a number of protestors brought Officer Michael Dieck’s eyesight into question. They said he is partially blind in one eye? Does Officer Dieck have visual impairments?
Officer Dieck passed all the standardized testing that is required to become an APD officer, which includes minimum visual acuity standards. Beyond that, federal law strictly prohibits disclosure of an employee’s health or medical information.
Then, finally, I am interested in hearing APD’s general response to the death of another unarmed Black resident/demands for systemic reform. I know APD is conducting an investigation into the shooting. Is any more being done or considered to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future?
For clarification, two investigations are ongoing:
– The 18th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team is conducting an independent investigation of the officer-involved shooting to determine whether the officers’ actions complied with state law.
– Concurrently, the Aurora Police Department’s Internal Investigations Bureau is conducting an administrative investigation of the entire incident assessing compliance with agency policies and training. This investigation will also include a review of tactics and an assessment if any changes need to be made in policy, training, and/or tactics.
Until these active and ongoing investigations are completed, we will not be providing any additional information or comments about the ongoing investigations. As such, we cannot accommodate an interview with KGNU.
We regularly encourage media and the public to visit AuroraGov.org/ConsentDecree and AuroraGov.org/APDPortal (see Aurora Consent Decree) to learn more about the city of Aurora’s commitment to progress. The city is in substantial compliance with 52 of 78 consent decree mandates that have been reviewed to date. These are significant achievements for APD, AFR, CSC and the city. Of the 26 mandates that are not yet in substantial compliance, 19 are partially compliant and on the right track. The website for the Office of the Independent Consent Decree Monitor for the City of Aurora is another informative and detailed resource as well.
