Dozens of people gathered in a park across from the Aurora Police Department Sunday afternoon at a peaceful rally, where they aired grievances toward police and called for reform.
About a dozen politicians and community leaders spoke, calling for change. Community members called for residents and “good cops” to speak up. They called for better opportunities.
“We don’t hate police, we hate brutality,” said emcee Nick Thompson. “And what we want to do is radically change how policing has been done.”
Rally organizer Sharonda Roberson said she arranged the event “out of pure anger,” and after she failed to get a response from city leaders to a list of 13 demands circulating online and at the rally. The demands included calls for transparency regarding the complaint process against police officers, a requirement that law enforcement attend a monthly forum where the community can voice concerns with officers, and psychological evaluations and implicit bias training for officers.
“If we were truly a progressive city we would have had a response, we would not have had this rally today,” Roberson said. “The marathon continues. This is only the beginning.”
The rally followed a morning press conference where local officials preached togetherness and called for police reform.
It was at least the third large gathering outside the Aurora Police Department in one week. After one protest on May 31, a crowd descended upon downtown and violence broke out as some people looted stores and lit police squad cars on fire. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The Aurora protests come as peaceful protests take place throughout the suburbs and the country in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sometimes commingling with violence and looting.
Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was captured on video pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck as Floyd protested he was unable to breathe.
Chauvin and three other officers have been charged in Floyd’s death.
In Aurora Sunday, dozens of residents sat at picnic tables and lawn chairs in Simmons Park, behind Simmons Middle School, as they listened to local elected officials, leaders and community members speak.
They carried signs reading “Good cops, we waiting on you” and “Silence is violence, #BlackLivesMatter.” At times, chants broke out of “No justice no peace, no racist police,” and “Say his name – George Floyd” and “Say her name – Breonna Taylor.” An emcee led chants of “All power to the people.”
Some, such as Shaunay Ross, brought their children. Ross, who lives in Aurora, came to the rally with her son, age 4, and two daughters, ages 1 and 7.
Ross said she tries to talk with her 7-year-old daughter about the world around her. And she worries about the black men in her family, she said.
“I just think about my son’s future,” Ross said.
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Sadiiq Rasheed urged the rally attendees to speak up and hold those in power accountable. He didn’t agree with defunding the police and doesn’t advocate for individuals destroying what they did not build, but he said dollars speak and people have a different understanding when they are hit financially.
“We need to understand there’s a frustration that people are not politically equipped to speak for themselves about,” he said. “So what do people do when they have no room to move? Just like a cat in a corner, they fight back.”
He called for trade and other programs for residents that are accessible and well publicized.
“We’re trying to compete in the open market and raise our children up, not to just be basketball players and entertainers and dancers and all type of manner,” he said. “But to compete in the open market in the open world.”