Denver, CO
Officer acquitted in Elijah McClain’s death resigns from Aurora Police Department
																								
												
												
											 
An Aurora police officer acquitted in the death of Elijah McClain resigned from the department Friday.
Nathan Woodyard, 34, who put the 23-year-old McClain in a neck hold during the violent 2019 arrest, was found not guilty in November of criminally negligent homicide and reckless manslaughter in McClain’s death.
After the verdict, Woodyard requested to rejoin the police department and was owed $212,546 in back pay. He’d been suspended without pay since September 2021, when he was indicted on the criminal charges.
He could have returned to the department after completing a reintegration process, city spokesman Ryan Luby said in November. Instead, he resigned on Friday, Luby confirmed.
McClain was walking home from a gas station — wearing a black ski mask as he often did, and dancing to music — on Aug. 24, 2019, when someone called 911 to report him as a suspicious person.
The responding officers detained McClain, violently forced him to the ground and handcuffed him before paramedics injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. Woodyard used a neck hold on McClain, who had committed no crime. The 23-year-old suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, where he was later declared brain dead. He died Aug. 30, 2019.
With Woodyard’s resignation, none of the three officers charged in McClain’s death will be returning to work at the Aurora Police Department.
Officer Jason Rosenblatt, who was also acquitted of criminal charges, was fired before the jury trials for responding “ha ha” in a text to a photo of three officers reenacting the choke hold on McClain. Officer Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and assault in McClain’s death, and was fired after the verdict. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail.
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																															Denver, CO
Denver Summit women’s soccer team to play home opener at Empower Field at Mile High next year
 
The Denver Summit, the newest soccer team in the National Women’s Soccer League, will play its inaugural home opener at Empower Field at Mile High in March, the team announced on Monday.
The team, which was only just named this past July, will play at the home of the Denver Broncos until its temporary stadium and then its permanent stadium are completed. Earlier this year, Denver NWSL announced plans for a new 14,500-seat stadium near Interstate 25 and Broadway that’s expected to open in 2028.
“This will be an unforgettable moment for our club, our players, our city and our fans,” Denver Summit FC President Jen Millet said in a statement on Monday. “We’re honored to play our first home match and host ‘The Kickoff’ in such an iconic stadium. We’re grateful to the community for the incredible support to help us reach this moment.”
                         
                   
              
The team’s ownership group, which progressively grew over the summer, includes Peyton Manning, Mikaela Shiffrin, Mellody Hobson, Molly Coors, and Rob Cohen.
“We are honored to support Denver Summit FC for their inaugural match at Empower Field at Mile High,” said Broncos President Damani Leech. “This venue has hosted many memorable moments in Colorado sports history, and we look forward to working together to bring a best-in-class experience for Summit FC fans.”
While the opposing team hasn’t yet been announced, tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, Nov. 12 and can be purchased at www.denversummitfc.com.
Denver, CO
Twitter reacts to another Bo Nix comeback vs. Texans
														 
The Denver Broncos have made significant work of the fourth quarter this season. Denver has outscored opponents 80-26 in the final 15 minutes during their six-game win streak, which have led to some heart-pounding games from the Broncos this year. Denver has scored 96 points in the final 15 minutes this season, tied with the Green Bay Packers for the most in the NFL.
In Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans, the Broncos entered the final frame down 15-7, before promptly scoring a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game with just over 12 minutes left. Bo Nix then led a final Denver drive to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired. Sunday marked the Broncos’ fourth fourth quarter comeback this year, tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the most this season. Twitter lit up after Nix’s latest great escape.
The Broncos now have a short week to prepare for the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
Denver, CO
First memorial to Flight 629 bombing, one of Colorado’s deadliest mass murders, unveiled in Denver
														 
There is a distinct before and after the night of Nov. 1, 1955, when a United Airlines flight exploded over a sugar beet field near Longmont, killing all 44 people on board in one of the deadliest mass murders in Colorado history.
There is before Susan Morgan lost her parents, Stewart and Anne, at 12 years old because a Denver man, Jack Gilbert Graham, put a homemade bomb in his mother’s suitcase.
Graham bought a life insurance policy as he escorted his mother, Daisie King, to the gate for United Airlines Flight 629 at Stapleton Airport. She unknowingly carried 25 sticks of dynamite, timed to explode after the Portland, Oregon-bound flight took off.
There is before Dave Benedict learned, at 3 years old, that he would never meet his grandparents, James and Sarah Dorey, because they were killed when a bomb exploded on their flight to visit him for the first time.
Now 70 years after the bombing of Flight 629, families of the 44 victims gathered at the former Stapleton control tower for the unveiling of Colorado’s first memorial to the tragedy.
“Today’s commemoration is not just about what happened in 1955, it’s about who we became because of it,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek told hundreds of people gathered at the FlyteCo Tower on Saturday morning.
It was also about healing, Benedict said. He thought this weekend would include a dinner, maybe, and was at a loss for words to describe what the ceremonies and events organized by the Denver Police Museum and dozens of other organizations and volunteers meant to him.
“The ability to listen to other people’s stories and to hear what carrying 70 years of unspoken pain has been like… we’re hearing that over and over again,” he said. “Very few of the victims’ children or spouses had any context in which to talk about this, to work through it or process it, so that’s happening now.”
In the decades after losing her parents, Morgan came to realize she also had lost her life as she knew it and who she thought she would become, she said.

But even knowing the darkness that became part of her life, Morgan told the crowd of families, first responders, investigators and court officials, she cannot wish that it never happened. That she had never created her “second family,” or viewed the world with clear eyes.

“I’m among a large group of people whose lives have been scarred by the same tragedy as mine,” Morgan said. “That sense of something shared is a remarkable thing.”
It’s not clear why it took so long to create a memorial to the bombing, although some officials on Saturday speculated the scattered nature of the victims’ families – only one, Daisie King, was from Colorado – played a part.
But each one had a story, former Denver Police Department Deputy Chief William Nagle told the crowd. Nagle read out name after name, describing the life behind each one.
Capt. Lee Hall, a World War II veteran who was planning to retire early. He left behind a wife and four children.
Helen Fitzpatrick, who was flying with her 13-month-old son, James, so he could meet his father and namesake while he was deployed in Japan.
They were restaurant owners, general contractors, car salesmen. Folks taking the first airplane trip of their lives.
“What is important now is that we tell the story of each of these 44 lives,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told the crowd.
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