Remaining charges dropped against Aurora protest leaders

A trio of Aurora protester leaders, who erstwhile faced decades successful situation connected felony charges stemming from demonstrations past summertime implicit the decease of Elijah McClain, had a twelve remaining counts dismissed Monday.

John Kellner, the 18th Judicial District Attorney, dropped the 12 remaining charges against Joel Northam, Lillian House and Terrance Roberts, tribunal records show.

The 3 protestation leaders, on with 3 others, were arrested and charged past twelvemonth with a litany of crimes, including attempted kidnapping, inciting a riot and theft successful transportation with a July 3 objection extracurricular an Aurora constabulary precinct.

Kellner’s bureau successful April moved to withdraw the astir superior charges, portion an Adams County justice successful March threw retired attempted-kidnapping charges against House, Northam and a 3rd protester, Whitney Lucero, uncovering nary probable origin to enactment the accusation.

The remaining charges against 5 of the protestation leaders successful Adams County were dismissed successful May.

“This past twelvemonth has been of people truly scary and honestly beauteous grueling for each of us,” Lucero said successful an interview Monday with BreakThrough News.

Between her, House and Northam, the trio had been to tribunal implicit 70 times successful the past year, Lucero said.

“Our enactment (Party of Socialism and Liberation) made the aboriginal determination erstwhile we were arrested that we weren’t going to let this repression to marque america hide our heads oregon spell underground oregon scare us,” Lucero said. “That we were going to combat these charges and weren’t going to let this repression to halt the combat for justness for Elijah McClain.”

An important portion of their story, House said successful the BreakTrhough News interview, is the narration betwixt the constabulary they were protesting against and the prosecutors.

She called for an probe into erstwhile Adams County District Attorney Dave Young, drafting parallels betwixt the protesters’ lawsuit and 1 successful Georgia pursuing the decease of Ahmad Aubrey, a 25-year-old Black antheral changeable and killed portion jogging successful February 2020.

Earlier this month, erstwhile territory lawyer Jackie Lee Johnson was charged with violating her oath of bureau for allegedly showing “favor and affection” for 1 of the men charged successful Aubrey’s death.

“There’s this thought that the constabulary recognize that prosecutors person their backmost and they run with virtual impunity,” House said. “If anyone challenges that, past the prosecutors volition travel and enactment them successful their spot — perchance fastener them distant careless of their innocence. This is highly dangerous.”

The dismissal of the remaining charges against the protestation leaders comes little than 2 weeks aft a statewide expansive assemblage indicted 3 Aurora constabulary officers and 2 paramedics successful transportation with McClain’s 2019 death.

The reversal of fortunes was not mislaid connected Northam.

“It reaffirms the rule of erstwhile you fight, yea you don’t cognize whether oregon not you’re gonna triumph oregon suffer the fight, but you cognize if you don’t fight, you’ve already sealed the woody that you mislaid the fight,” helium told BreakThrough News connected Monday.