AURORA, Colo. — At a virtual meeting Monday, Aurora City Council passed a resolution requiring anyone who wants to speak during public comment at a city council meeting to be at the meeting in person.
The council voted 7-2 to stop accepting virtual public comment.
The move came after a meeting earlier this month was interrupted by a self-proclaimed white supremacist who, participating virtually, spewed slurs against Jews and the LGBTQ+ community.
Monday night's entire meeting was held virtually. LaRhonda Jones, mother of Kilyn Lewis, was the first person to speak in the public comment period, which will be the last virtual public comment period for some time.
Over the past few months, people have regularly spoken at city council meetings to push for accountability in the death of Lewis, who was unarmed and holding a cell phone when he was shot and killed by an Aurora officer in May. The council opted to finish some of those meetings virtually after they were interrupted by protests.
"I don't understand how moving to a virtual meeting is supposed to solve the problems this city is facing, especially when it was hateful, racist comments over the phone on the call line at the last meeting that caused harm, not the people standing for justice," Jones said at Monday's meeting.
After Jones spoke, her supporters, one after one, read a letter that she wrote to the council, pushing for accountability in her son's death.