Activists at the National Conference on LGBT Equality protesting the police killing of a Denver teenager forced Mayor Michael Hancock to cancel a speech on Thursday.
LGBT activists demonstrated against the shooting of 17-year-old Jessica Hernandez, who was shot and killed by police in her car on Jan. 26.
“After consulting with conference organizers, it was determined that protesters were unlikely to let Mayor Hancock deliver his speech last night,” the mayor’s spokeswoman told The Denver Post on Friday. The Post identified Hernandez as lesbian.
“The demonstrators were there to make a statement on recent events; and the Mayor heard them and respected their right to make their views known,” she added.
The mayor was attempting to reschedule his remarks for a later date at the conference, which drew up to 4,000 people at the Sheraton Denver Downtown, according to the Post.
Denver police said that Hernandez drove a stolen car into an officer’s leg, which prompted police to open fire into the car and kill her.
One eyewitness who was in the car where Hernandez was killed directly contradicts the police account of the incident. Another said police prevented her from filming the aftermath of the shooting.
Hernandez’s family has requested an independent investigation into their daughter’s killing by the Department of Justice.