Aurora residents upset with a prosecutor’s decision not to press charges in the death of Jor’Dell Richardson — the 14-year-old who was shot by the police following a chase and a struggle — want the city’s councilmembers to slash law enforcement’s budget and exert pressure to get the officers charged.

“This should be a wake up call. Instead, it’s a pattern,” said S.B. Ford, who took the mic at Monday evening’s city council meeting and claimed that patterns of abuse in Aurora’s policing suggest the need for systemic restructure and solutions.

District Attorney John Kellner last week determined no criminal liability on the part of the Aurora police officer who fatally shot Richardson. An investigation concluded that Richardson and several others robbed a liquor store; that it was Richardson who demanded the clerk hand over vape products; and, that when the store clerk hesitated, Richardson “displayed what appeared to be a handgun in his waist area and said words to the effect of ‘I’m not playing.’”

At the time he was shot, Richardson had a pellet gun that police said looked strikingly similar to a real handgun.

Ford said she wants the city to be safe for all children and added that’s not the case for young, Black people.

“Some of being young is about making mistakes,” Ford said. “When I was 15, I got into a car accident and left the scene because I panicked because I was 15 … I got to grow up and I got to learn from those mistakes. Jor’Dell won’t get that privilege.”

Kate Crowe, a teacher, echoed the sentiment, saying she shoplifted and wore hoodies at Richardson’s age.

“I didn’t deserve to be murdered for those choices and neither did he,” Crowe said.

Crowe said that, as a teacher, she spends her days surrounded by young adults not much older than Richardson and feels “heartbroken and furious” that he died before he could even go to high school. Crowe asked the city council to examine the city’s budget for policing.

“I hope the city council, especially with the election coming up, decides that the police department hasn’t shown itself worthy of the enormous chunk of money that comes out of the city budget every year,” Crowe said.

Jonce Palmer, another speaker, called the district attorney’s decision “despicable” and the actions of police “unacceptable.” Palmer said the council should do everything in its power to have charges brought against the officers who shot Richardson.

“When Aurora PD, or any police district, kills a child, that is a crime,” Palmer said. “Jor’Dell Richardson’s killers need to be fired. They need to have criminal charges against them for murder.”

Aaron Futrell asked councilmembers to remember where they were on Sept. 11, 2001. The 22nd anniversary of the attacks happened on the day the council was meeting.

“I’m sure Jor’Dell Richardson’s parents will always remember where they were (when he died),” Futrell said, adding that the officers who shot Richardson should be fire and they should not be “at their desk jobs or on the streets.”

“The cops who have literally just been on the force for six months to a year who are killing innocent people, shooting first and asking questions later, absolutely need to go,” Futrell said.

In a news release last Wednesday, Aurora Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo said Kellner’s decision not to press charges was “fair and just … following a comprehensive analysis of all the facts.”

An investigation released by Kellner’s office described the circumstances leading up to Richardson’s death.

The report said a sergeant on patrol assigned to the city’s gang unit had noticed a group of teenagers wearing hoodies and medical masks near a liquor store and asked for backup. Officers Roch Gruszeczk and James Snapp responded.

The report said the clerk of the store that was robbed told police a group of masked individuals lined up in front of the register and one of them — who police later identified as Richardson — demanded the clerk hand over vape products and displayed what appeared to be a gun. The report said the clerk believed the individual, who was the only one in the group who wore a white sweatshirt, carried a real gun.

When Gruszeczka and Snapp arrived at the scene, they saw the masked individuals running out of the store, “carrying armfuls of merchandise,” according to the report. And when another unmarked police car arrived, the individuals “immediately abandoned the merchandise and scattered,” the report said, adding that the responding officers viewed the action as “being indicative of a robbery or similar crime having just occurred.”

The two officers then chased Richardson.

The report described, based on interviews with the officers, how Gruszeczka dove onto Richardson to try and gain control of what turned out to be a pellet gun.

“Officer Gruszeczka saw and felt the individual reaching his hand in between their bodies to try to get his hand around the grip of the pistol. Although Officer Gruszeczka reported he had a hand on the slide of the gun, he felt the suspect’s hand at the grip of the gun and could not block the trigger,” the report said. “During this struggle, Officer Gruszeczka unholstered his own firearm and loudly ordered the individual to drop the gun. In response, Officer Gruszeczka felt the individual’s fingers and knuckles moving along Officer Gruszeczka’s belly, re-gripping the pistol-grip of the gun.”

That’s when he opened fire at Richardson.

In the video of the incident, Richardson can be heard saying, “They made me do it … I didn’t know who they were. They made me do it.”

Also in the video, Gruszeczka later said, “God, please be with that kid.”