Community reacts to Kansas state representative facing domestic battery charges
By Greg Payne
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JOHNSON COUNTY, Kansas (KCTV) — A Kansas state lawmaker was scheduled to be in court today after being arrested over the weekend.
Representative Aaron Coleman, a Democrat who represents the 37th district in KCK, is charged with domestic battery.
Due to COVID the hearing was only through Zoom and not at the Johnson County Courthouse.
Even with it being a Zoom hearing Coleman still wasn’t present, but the hearing still went on.
21-year-old Aaron Coleman was arrested at 8:15 PM Saturday by Overland Park police on a domestic battery charge.
Coleman’s attorney says his client is pleading not guilty.
His attorney waived the reading of the complaint against Mr. Coleman, so we still don’t know exactly what happened.
The attorney did mention the incident involved two family members at Coleman’s grandfather’s home, and that the complaining victims were the grandfather and Coleman’s brother.
Both of them and Coleman’s mother attended the zoom hearing, and all of them said they wouldn’t feel unsafe having contact with Mr. Coleman.
It was also mentioned that the mother is looking to seek private help for Coleman.
This is not the first time he has been in the middle of controversy, facing disciplinary actions for threatening posts online and admitting to posting revenge porn while still in middle school.
“He should resign and maybe get his act together, probably try again in a couple of years when he does maybe rehab or something to help him out,” says KCK resident Anna Servos.
House Democratic leader Tom Sawyer is hoping Coleman does step down, issuing a statement saying “This is extremely disturbing news. We are watching closely to make sure we gather all the facts. His constituents and the state of Kansas would be better served if he were to resign and get the help he badly needs.”
There are some who believe Coleman shouldn’t be judged so quickly.
“I’m not really informed enough on the issue to speak a whole lot into it but like I said in general let’s not just assume everybody is guilty, let’s see how that goes first,” says former KCK resident James Guzan.
Coleman’s bond is set at $1,000 and his next court appearance is December 22nd at 3:30 p.m.
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