COLORADO SPRINGS — After a quieter week downtown last week, protesters made their presence known again Sunday.
“Today’s protest was basically to let everyone know we’re not done, we’re not through, this isn’t over,” protester Demarick Webb said.
The group of around 100 people came together with short notice Sunday afternoon.
“Actually this protest was kind of on a whim, because a lot of people in the Springs did not know about Elijah McClain,” protest organizer Jasmine Dunn said.
The group marched to call for action to be taken against the Aurora officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain last year.
Though calls for an external review and independent investigation into McClain’s August 2019 death have been ongoing in Colorado since it happened, the heightened awareness regarding the case nationally has brought further pressure from the public for another investigation. The city has already changed department policies directly tied to McClain’s death.
“We wanted to support our people in Denver and show that we’re in solidarity with them and that we’re here for Elijah McClain as well,” Dunn said.
Gov. Jared Polis announced Thursday Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser will investigate whether criminal charges are warranted against anyone involved in the death of McClain.
Beyond calling for action on that specific case, the group wanted to make a larger statement.
“Our statements are to the police, it’s to the people,” Dunn said. “We want them to know that we see them, we see what’s going on.”
They wanted to make it known they don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.
“We noticed that they took down the barriers at CSPD which means they think we’re not going to come down there,” Webb said.
Organizers said recent changes—like the passing of Colorado’s Police Accountability Bill and a new Police Oversight Committee forming in Colorado Springs—show what they have been doing is working.
“We’ve got the SB 217 passed, we’ve got the police accountability,” Dunn said. “And if there were no protests then that would’ve never started.”
That’s why they’re planning to keep coming out and marching.
“We’re not going give up just because we got a senate bill passed,” Webb said. “That’s not the end. There’s still a fight left.”
Dunn said the group is planning on holding another march on July 4.
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