A 20-year-old man in Arapahoe County was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in causing destruction to the Aurora Municipal Courthouse during the 2020 protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
Jordan Joseph White pleaded guilty to two felony counts, including inciting a riot and fourth-degree arson, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced Monday in a news release. Prosecutors initially charged White with six counts, including first-degree arson.
The charges stem from incidents on July 25, 2020, when protesters converged on the Aurora Municipal Center Complex after a march for racial justice along Interstate 225 and outside Aurora’s city buildings. Protests had been centered in Aurora throughout the summer in the name of Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man who died after police attempted to arrest him and paramedics injected him with Ketamine.
Prosecutors alleged that White and others tore down protective boarding outside the courthouse, smashed the windows and launched fireworks at police officers and inside the building. Authorities said five courthouse employees were trapped inside the building, and the crowd caused more than $74,000 in property damage.
“During the investigation, White was identified on surveillance video wearing military-style fatigues, smashing windows, directing other rioters, and throwing lighted fireworks into the building through the broken windows,” the DA’s office said in the news release.
Judge Ryan Stuart, according to the DA’s office, told the court before imposing his sentence that “(a)ttacks on our temples of democracy — our capitols and our courthouses — must be met with swift justice.”
