The 18th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team is investigating an incident where a man was shot and killed during a traffic stop in late August on Sixth Avenue in Aurora.

The Aurora Police Department has yet to name the police officer who was involved in the shooting. 

At 7:31 p.m., Aug. 30, an Aurora police officer was attempting to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation on Sixth Avenue east of U.S 225 when the driver struck another car traveling eastbound, according to Aurora Police Department’s press release. 

Rajon Belt-Stubbefield sitting with his kids and wife Tandra Blankson. (courtesy of Belt-Stubblefield’s family)

After the collision with the first vehicle, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said that the driver, later identified as Rajon Belt-Stubblefield, 37, traveled over the median and collided with a second vehicle heading westbound. 

Chamberlain addressed the community right outside of the crime scene on the night of the incident.

During the press conference, he said that when the officer approached Belt-Stubblefield after the crash, he gave him commands to exit his vehicle.

“At some point, after much conversation […] the suspect stepped out of the car and started to move toward the sidewalk area,” said Chamberlain. “What we do know right now, is that it appears at some point that a gun was seen by an officer on the ground, and the suspect appeared to be walking towards that weapon.” 

Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer, is representing Belt-Stubblefield’s family alongside Attorneys Milo Schwab, Harry Daniels, Mari Newman and Barbara Clouse in an ongoing civil case. In the past, Crump has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown.

‘Don’t shoot me’

In body camera footage, which was released to the public on Sept. 12, the officer activated his lights, conducted a traffic stop, and approached Belt-Stubblefield’s car with his gun already drawn. 

Once police gave him a command, Belt-Stubblefield can be seen in the bodycam footage saying, “don’t shoot me” and getting out of his car. He then made his way to the sidewalk where he proceeded to throw a gun in the grass. 

The officer can be seen in the bodycam footage subsequently pulling Belt-Stubblefield’s shirt and pushing him onto the ground. 

During the struggle, the officer fell to the ground while Belt-Stubblefield stood up and backed away further down the sidewalk. The officer is then seen in the footage standing back up and advancing towards Belt-Stubblefield with his gun pointed at him. 

“While (Belt-Stubblefield) was walking towards our officer, he began to shout at other people [… ]‘get the shit’[…] over and over,” said Chamberlain. “This is all speculation, but it seems that he was referring to having someone retrieve that handgun”. 

The bodycam footage also shows the officer attempting to punch Belt-Stubblefield before saying, “I’ll shoot you”. 

Rajon Belt-Stubblefield (courtesy of Belt-Stubblefield’s family)

While the officer and Belt-Stubblefield back into the street, Belt-Stubblefield’s son Zion can be heard in the footage saying “officer chill”, and “dad chill”. 

Then, Belt-Stubblefield stopped moving forward and turned around to say ‘get the shit’ with his back facing the officer. That’s when the officer is seen in the footage punching Belt-Stubblefield in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward.  

“This was not a singular event […] We had an officer by himself who saw some type of violation, he tried to make a traffic stop. The behavior of the suspect was not normal – he plowed into another vehicle in front of him which caused such force to go across the median and into oncoming traffic. He then crashed into another car,” said Chamberlain. “He refused to adhere to what the officer was saying, he immediately became aggressive, he approached the officer, there was a weapon on scene that we know without question”. 

Chamberlain also said that the officer de-escalated the incident on multiple levels, both verbally as well as physically.

“We are going to investigate every aspect of this. This is without question, a tragedy at every level,” said Chamberlain. “There is nothing positive about this […] And all of this could’ve been adverted, had there just been a communication and the suspect listened to directions”. 

Chamberlain said that it doesn’t appear that any of the people involved in the crash were injured and that they will also be witnesses in the investigation. 

‘He was unarmed’

MiDian Holmes of the Urban Leadership Foundation

MiDian Shofner, CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership and a key witness of the incident, was taking a ‘self-care day’ and on her way to Beauty Supply Warehouse at 13870 E 6th Pl. in Aurora when she witnessed Belt-Stubblefield getting shot by police.

“I came under the bridge, and probably, I don’t know, less than 30 seconds later, I felt that high impact collision from behind where I was hit by Rajon,” said Shofner. 

After seeing broken glass on the street and airbags deployed, Shofner stepped out of her vehicle to see if everyone involved in the collision was OK. 

“That’s when I saw the officer out of his vehicle with a gun already drawn,” Shofner said. “So I called out, ‘put your gun away and do your job’. But, you know, traffic was coming. There was no reaction. I don’t know if the officer heard me or not”.

Shofner said that during the altercation she saw the officer punch Belt-Stubblefield in the back of the head while he had his back turned. 

“It took maybe all of a couple seconds for the officer to pop off three shots. Then I saw Rajon fall to the ground,” said Shofner. “That’s when I started screaming out, ‘Render aid! You need to render aid’”.

At that moment, Shofner said that there was a part of her that didn’t want it to be real. 

“I felt so compelled to say, ‘Wait a second, can we just rewind this and start over?” Shofner said. “I didn’t want it to be real, because it was so traumatic, it was so gory, and it was so unwarranted”. 

Shofner stated that it was clear to her that Belt-Stubblefield purposefully disarmed himself. 

“As that third shot rang out, I saw flesh from Rajon leave his body as he fell, and that’s something that you can never unsee.” said Shofner. “I saw utter disregard for him as a person, because, from where I was standing, he was unarmed.”

‘A less lethal option was an option’ 

After Belt-Stubblefield was shot, a woman can be seen in the bodycam footage getting out of her car and offering the officer a tourniquet, stating that she is a first responder. 

The officer who shot Belt-Stublefield can be heard in the bodycam footage responding, “This is not a tourniquet kind of thing, thank you”. 

Shofner said that the shock she felt quickly turned to anger. 

“I remember feeling so infuriated that this happened […] And then something in me just told me to speak,” said Shofner. “And that’s when I just started screaming everything that was in my head. I kept saying, ‘a less lethal option was an option’[…] I was telling the officer, ‘you didn’t have to do this. You didn’t even render aid’”.

During the press conference on Aug. 30, Chamberlain addressed statements that the police didn’t administer aid to Belt-Stubblefield after he fell to the ground. 

Aurora Chief Chamberlain Speaking at Press Conference

“To be able to render aid, you have to feel secure in being able to provide that aid. If that officer felt threatened, if that officer felt he couldn’t do it it’s because he had to be more in control of the scene around him, to ensure his safety and the safety of the community,” said Chamberlain.

Shofner said that when Chamberlain was speaking at the press conference that he was clearly trying to paint a narrative.

“When Todd Chamberlain gave his first update, he was very theatric in a lot of the language that he used,” said Shofner. “Rajon was blatantly disarming himself, making it very clear, ‘This weapon is completely out of my hands’,” said Shofner. “Then (Chamberlain) tried to tell us what Rajon’s intentions were, and Rajon is no longer alive to speak to it.” 

According to Shofner, Chamberlain’s accounts of the incident were neither truthful nor transparent. 

“And what Todd Chamberlain also forgot to do was tell us about the history of the officer who was involved, Officer Matthew Neeley,” said Shofner.

Aurora Police Department’s History of Excessive Force

An 18th Judicial District Court Judge ruled on May 2, 2019 that Aurora Police Officer Matthew Neely gave false testimony during a motion hearing on a burglary case in Arapahoe District Court.

During the ruling, the judge stated on the record that, “Officer Timmons and Officer Neely are not credible. They testified inconsistent with the video that the Court observed, so the Court finds that their other testimony regarding what happened when the video is not on is not credible and the Court is not willing to believe any of it”. 

Additionally, the Judge stated that the arrest was unconstitutional and that the use of force was unjustified.

Specifically in the ruling, the judge said that “law enforcement had no reason to conduct a frisk of the defendant, no specific reason to believe that he was armed or dangerous, possessing any weapons on his person. They were not conducting a lawful arrest, so this was not an arrest — or search incident to arrest, this was a blatant violation of his constitutional rights, searching through his pockets to try and find evidence of a crime.

During a press conference on Sept. 12 with Belt-Stubblefield’s family and lawyers, Attorney Milo Schwab discussed Aurora Police Department’s history of excessive force. 

“The Attorney General said that (Aurora Police Department) engages in bias policing- they have a pattern and practice of excessive force,” said Schwab. “They use force against black men five times more than against anybody else. This is a police department with a deep culture of racism, a deep culture of bias, and a deep culture of using force instead of their words”. 

Schwab continued, addressing other officer-involved shootings that have occurred in Aurora in past years. 

“We are here yet again, planning a funeral for someone we shouldn’t be. This is the second time this summer that an Aurora police officer has killed someone, a man of color who was unarmed. Every year it seems we are burying another brother,” said Schwab. 

Crump also spoke with Belt-Stubblefield’s family at his side. 

September Press conference with Crump, Belt-Stubblefield Family, and Attorneys

“We are here to say we are not gonna let you sweep this under the rug. He was a husband, he was a father, he was a man trying to take care of his children,” Crump said. “You can’t sanitize this execution. You can’t give us no narrative. Once you see it, you know in your soul that it was unjustified. We are going to raise the justice baton for our brother Rajon”. 

Shofner said that the Aurora Police Department is not ready for ‘the legal prowess’ of Crump and other attorneys. 

“First and most importantly, as we go into this journey of justice, it’s going to be long, it’s going to be hard, and it’s going to be painful,” said Shofner. “ At this time, what the family is seeking from the community is to make sure that Rajon’s name stays lifted, that we don’t let his name fade out –  that we ensure that whenever there is an opportunity to show up and to speak up in the name of Rajon, that we do it in mass.”

Although it was incredibly traumatic and hard to watch, Shofner said it was divine intervention that she ended up witnessing the incident. 

“At the end of the day, I watched that officer bait Rajon into his own execution, and I’ve seen no accountability since”.

The Aurora Police Department declined to comment due to multiple ongoing investigations.

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The post “Raise the Baton for Brother Rajon”: APD Traffic Stop Turns Deadly appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.