My letter to the business leaders of Aurora, Colorado

I am writing today because __________ is one of the largest and most influential businesses in Aurora. I want to ask: Is your organization doing all it can to demand justice for Elijah McClain? Since he was killed by the use of excessive and unnecessary force by the police and other responders in August 2019, the Aurora Police Department has deemed itself capable of fairly and impartially investigating itself. They are clearly mistaken in this belief. As a result, the police officers who assaulted Elijah McClain have not been held accountable. Though the officers involved have been only recently removed from normal duty, no police officers have been fired. None have been charged or prosecuted. The District Attorney has sided at every step with the Aurora Police Department, and failed to demand a full and independent inquiry into Elijah’s death. Elijah McClain is dead, and he and his family have been denied the justice that is their due.

And now when people are gathering peacefully in Aurora to demand justice for Elijah and needed change to policing practices, the police seem incapable of responding in any way that does not further deny people their rights. They counter peaceful protest with unneeded force in full riot gear. As currently constituted the Aurora police seem to have abandoned their responsibility to protect the rights of the citizens that they are supposed to serve.

I want to know, what is __________ going to do about it? Your organization is uniquely positioned to insist on justice for Elijah. Your company has a unique opportunity to demand change and accountability from the police department, the District Attorney, and from Aurora’s mayor and city council.

You may think that I have no legitimate interest in what happens in Aurora, but the plain fact is that Elijah’s needless death diminishes everyone. Everyone has a responsibility to see that the racial profiling and institutional biases and aggressive police practices that led to his death are changed so it never happens again. That this tragic loss occurred in the community where you do business places a more pressing burden on your organization to insist on that change. I hope that __________ will make it clear to the Aurora Police Department and to the political leadership of your city that that change must be swift and decisive and effective. Use your influence in Aurora. An acknowledgement of the value of Elijah’s life requires nothing less. Defend him. His life matters. Black lives matter.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Williams

Sierra Vista, Arizona

Resistance Recommendation

I don’t live in Aurora, Colorado, but I do have a list of Aurora’s largest private employers, courtesy of the Aurora Economic Development Council. They were even kind enough to supply web addresses.

I’m sending letters and emails to Aurora’s biggest employers asking what they are doing to demand accountability from the Aurora Police Department for the death of Elijah McClain. I’m asking them to explain as members of the community what they expect from their police department. Are they speaking out? Or are they quietly complicit while their police, dressed in riot gear, abuse their power to disrupt peaceful and legitimate protest of the original abuse of power. I want to know if they really believe black lives matter—that Elijah’s stolen life matters—or if they merely mimic advocacy for the sake of their corporate image. And I want them to know that they are being watched for signs of duty and responsibility for the community where they profit and do business.

I’ll let you know if I get any responses.

The legal question of “justification” is based on whether the involved officers held a reasonable belief that the use of force was necessary. Based on the evidence and the law applicable at the time of Mr. McClain’s death, the prosecution cannot disprove the officers’ reasonable belief in the necessity to use force. Based on the facts and evidence of this investigation I cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers involved in this incident were not justified in their actions based on what they knew at the time of this incident.

Here is more weasel-speak from a District Attorney, this time from Dave Young, the District Attorney for the 17th Judicial District that covers Adams and Broomfield Counties in Colorado. The quote comes from a news release Young made on June 25 regarding his decision not to prosecute the officers of the Aurora Police Department after they assaulted Elijah McClain—actions that ultimately led to his death in August 2019. It points to the weirdly symbiotic relationship that police departments and district attorneys share. The web page for the District Attorney’s office acknowledges their goal is “to create a safer community through positive partnerships with law enforcement,” a stance that all but ensures that the District Attorney will put protecting the police ahead of serving and protecting the community. Body cam footage of the encounter between Elijah and the police who assaulted him is now widely available on the internet. Reasonable people who view it will come away as I did, with the reasonable belief that the use of force was unnecessary and unwarranted, that Elijah McClain posed no threat to the Aurora police officers, and that they harried and frightened him to elicit a fight and flight response that would justify their manhandling of a gentle introvert who only wanted to have his personal boundaries acknowledged and respected. Do you want to disprove the officer’s reasonable belief that force was necessary? All you have to do is watch.