AURORA, Colo. — 20-year-old Jordan Joseph White was sentenced for his leadership role in a riot at the Aurora Municipal Courthouse during the summer of 2020, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
On July 25, 2020, a large group of protestors marched to the Aurora Municipal Courthouse. The group marched to the courthouse on several roadways including Interstate 22, shutting down the highway, according to the district attorney's office.
In a news release, the district attorney's office said the protest turned into a riot where people started tearing down a fence, launching fireworks at police officers who were guarding the area, tearing down protective boarding and masking windows.
Officials said five employees were in the building during the incident.
Investigators said White was identified on surveillance video as one of the protestors wearing military-style clothes, smashing windows, directing other protestors to help and throwing a lighted firework into the building.
White was charged with six counts of:
- First-degree arson
- Inciting a riot
- Criminal mischief
- Engaging in a riot
- Disobedience of public safety orders under riot conditions
White pleaded guilty to two felony counts of inciting a riot and fourth-degree arson, according to the district attorney’s office.
RELATED: Two protesters shot by a fellow protester in Aurora as vehicle drives through crowd on I-225
At White's sentencing hearing on March 4, 2022, Deputy District Attorney Justin Friedberg showed pictures and video of the property damage from the 2020 protest, the news release said. Friedberg also noted the act of White and the other protestors took a human toll.
"Twenty-seven people had to come in the next day and just sit down in the rubble and get back to work,” Friedberg said. “The aftermath only speaks to the violent nature of the acts, but doesn’t’t speak at all to the trauma of the judges and court staff that had to return to that scene.”
The employees who were inside the building during the protest also spoke at Whites' sentencing.
White was sentenced to six years in the department of corrections for his role in the protest.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS