Monday night’s Aurora City Council meeting will be entirely virtual after councilmembers received “active threats of violence” against them, a councilmember told The Denver Gazette Friday.

Aurora city spokesperson Ryan Luby said the city cannot comment on matters of security, but did confirm that the meetings will be held virtually.

Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky told The Denver Gazette that councilmembers were told to stay home Monday by Aurora police, who voiced concerns about their safety. Jurinsky didn’t have many details about the security concerns beyond what police told her, she said.

“Police were just stern with us, saying they’ve become increasingly concerned about their ability to protect us and the public who attends the meetings,” Jurinsky said. “I don’t really know what’s going on, but there has to be something bigger I don’t really know.”

The news follows a meeting two weeks ago after which Mayor Mike Coffman was seen in a video yelling at former Denver Public Schools Board member Auon’tai Anderson in what Anderson called an “attack.”

Anderson has been at the forefront of months of public comment by supporters of Kilyn Lewis, who was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer who was trying to arrest him on a warrant for attempted homicide. He was unarmed.

After Monday night’s meeting, which ended with an hour of public comment largely from Lewis supporters, a video emerged of the mayor walking quickly toward Anderson and shouting at him.

It is not immediately clear if Monday’s meeting going virtual is connected to the incident between Coffman and Anderson at the last meeting. 

In Monday night’s virtual meeting, councilmembers will vote on an ordinance that gets rid of the requirement to provide shelter options when abating a homeless camp. 

In other council news, councilmembers will hear an update on a multipurpose entertainment venue feasibility study and vote on a resolution regarding the use of the occupational privilege tax.

During Monday night’s study session, officials will present an update on the venue feasibility study, which is meant to determine the need and logistics of bringing a multipurpose venue to the city that could accommodate large events, like sports games and arts performances.

Ryan Johnson, of Johnson Consulting, said the city is losing money that could stay in Aurora to venues outside the city. The purpose of the study is to find a way to keep that money in the city rather than letting it trickle out into the surrounding area, he said.

During the regular meeting Monday, councilmembers will vote on a resolution directing the city manager to allocate the funds from the occupational privilege tax to public safety. 

The resolution directs the city manager to allocate the funds to building two fire stations, the Aurora Highlands Fire Station and the Southshore/Blackstone Fire Station, with any remaining money going to public safety and police operations.

Councilmembers will also vote on an ordinance passed through study session two weeks ago that would change city code to remove the requirement of providing shelter and a 72-hour notice of unauthorized camping on public property. 

The ordinance follows a Supreme Court ruling that the Eight Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause does not prohibit the enforcement of an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property, according to the ordinance language.

The ruling allowed the city to treat violations of the camping ban as they would treat any unlawful act, city documents state. 

The council’s study session begins at 5:15 p.m. and the regular meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Both meetings will be live streamed at auroraTV.org and Youtube.com/TheAuroraChannel. They will also stream live on cable channels 8 and 880 in Aurora.

Public comment will not be allowed at either of Monday’s meetings.