Black Lives Matter

Jurors on Friday found police used excessive force against protesters, violating their constitutional rights, during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd two years ago, ordering the city to pay a total of $14 million in damages to a group of 12 who sued.

The Army has reversed a reprimand a Colorado National Guard officer received after attending a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.

When demonstrators assembled on a narrow street near the Capitol building in Denver to protest the death of George Floyd last spring, Alan Kennedy joined them. He came as a “white ally,” capturing a police crackdown on his phone and then writing about what he witnessed in a guest commentary in a local newspaper. As a captain in the Colorado National Guard, he wasn’t a typical protester. His actions got him in trouble with his commanders. After months of trying to overturn reprimands, Kennedy in March filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming commanders violated his First Amendment rights.

On Monday, the city of Aurora released the results of a months-long independent investigation into Elijah McClain’s death. The report’s findings validate what Elijah McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, has been saying publicly and privately about his death for nearly a year and a half. Ms. McClain joined Colorado Edition to talk about her son, the independent investigation, healing and justice.

For months people have been protesting against police brutality. At the same time, Denver has been experimenting with removing police from some emergency situations and sending in unarmed mental health professionals instead.

As protest events continue, many different groups are showing up with guns, throwing safety into question.

People gathered at the Colorado state Capitol in Denver on Saturday to protest the filing of felony charges against several leaders of racial justice demonstrations.

When mass protests erupted across the country in late spring, the first Wyoming community to join that national movement was the city of Riverton. On June 1, 150 or so people gathered in Riverton City Park to honor George Floyd's life and demand justice.

In the year since Elijah McClain died after being stopped by police in Aurora on his way home from a store, the number of people calling for justice to be done in his case has grown to millions of people around the world.

KUNC reporters Adam Rayes and Leigh Paterson join Colorado Edition’s Erin O’Toole to talk about how and why Colorado’s protest movements have evolved over time.