‘Modern Day Lynching:’ Aurora Shooting of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield Reignites Calls for Police Reform

Rajon Belt-Stubblefield was shot and killed during a traffic stop by the Aurora Police Department (APD) in Colorado on August 30. This marks the third officer-involved shooting in Aurora this year.

The shooting has prompted renewed calls for police reform and accountability, especially as it fell on the 6th anniversary of the high-profile death of Elijah McClain, another case of police brutality in Aurora.

On September 6, Aurora Chief of Police Todd Chamberlain held a press conference where he defended the officer’s actions as necessary self-defense, stating that the officer “feared for his life.” The APD said that Belt-Stubblefield “refused to listen to the officer’s commands” after he tossed a gun from his car onto the grass nearby.

“As the suspect moved toward the officer, looking back at the weapon, the officer struck the suspect in an attempt to de-escalate the situation and prevent him from focusing on the weapon and reaching that weapon,” Chamberlain said during the press conference.

Chamberlain said in the news conference that the officer “punched the suspect” to distract him from asking people at the scene, including his 18-year-old adult son, to “go retrieve the firearm he tossed after the traffic collisions.”

MiDian Shofner, an Aurora resident and CEO of The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, was in one of the cars that was hit during the Aug. 30 incident.

Shofner was critical of Aurora Chief of Police Todd Chamberlain’s characterization of Belt-Stubblefield as a dangerous criminal. “The chief of police is trying to convince us that, somehow, when you punch someone, that’s a de-escalation tactic,” Shofner says.

Shofer’s group, The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, an activism group in Denver, Colorado, has released a statement regarding the shooting of Belt-Stubblefield. The complete statement can be read below:

“Statement on the Release of the Aurora Police Department Body Camera Footage in the Modern-Day Lynching of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield – 

“To the City of Aurora: you are being summoned by truth, by grief, and by justice. You are being called to confront what is inevitable. It is time to dismantle a culture of policing that has preyed upon the lives of Black men, women, and children for far too long. You cannot spin your way out of accountability. You cannot control your way out of justice. Aurora must face what is coming. Because the community, the courts, and history itself will demand it.

“The release of the Aurora Police Department’s body camera footage does not bring clarity. It confirms what our spirits already knew. Officer Matthew Neely did not approach that accident scene with the intention to protect or preserve life. He approached with his weapon drawn, his mind made up, and his actions anchored in aggression.

“In his final moments, Rajon Belt-Stubblefield spoke words that echo through generations of Black suffering in this country: “Don’t shoot me.” What followed was not any effort at de-escalation. Instead, Officer Neely chose violence in every decision he made. Rajon disarmed himself, posed no lethal threat, and yet was treated as an enemy rather than as a man who had just survived a collision. He was pushed, punched, and ultimately executed under the color of law.

“Chief Todd Chamberlain previously claimed he would be providing the ‘facts.’ With the release of this footage, it is clear his statements were designed to spin a narrative that dehumanized and criminalized Rajon while shielding an officer whose actions were reckless, unjustifiable, and fatally flawed. The truth is now undeniable: It was Rajon, not Officer Neely, who resisted escalation. It was Rajon, not the Aurora Police Department, who fought to survive an encounter stacked against him from the start.

“This tragedy reflects the culture of the Aurora Police Department. Aurora’s police culture is not built to serve and protect. It is built to spin and control. And culture is a reflection of leadership. City Manager Jason Batchelor’s unilateral appointment of Todd Chamberlain, absent community voice, denied this city accountability. Today, Aurora reaps the consequences of decisions made in secrecy and sustained by silence.

“The legal pursuit of justice in Aurora has now been activated. Attorneys Ben Crump, Milo Schwab, Mari Newman, and Barbara Clouse represent a relentless pursuit of truth that fortifies this community in its fight.

“Rajon deserved life. His family deserves justice. And this city deserves better than the silence and complicity that has long passed for leadership.”