The national NAACP is working to rebuild its Boulder County branch after former local leaders announced they were dissolving it in protest of what they called “retaliation” by city officials. The national office says the branch remains active and is moving forward with plans to appoint new leadership.
Last month, the NAACP suspended Boulder County’s 12-person executive committee — led by then-president Annett James, criminal justice committee chair Darren O’Connor and board member Jude Landsman — following the group’s announcement that they were shutting down the branch. The suspensions came amid a prolonged internal conflict involving city officials and allegations of unethical conduct, largely stemming from the committee members’ opposition to the appointment of Police Chief Steve Redfearn.
In a March 28 letter, the former leaders said they were dissolving the branch due to what they described as pressure from city leaders to align with city interests — a claim the city denies. Days later, the national NAACP said local branches do not have the authority to disband themselves and that the Boulder branch remains active.
At a virtual meeting of Boulder County NAACP members on April 30, national representatives reiterated that the branch is still active — but no longer under the control of its former executive committee. That group, they said, has continued to hold meetings and send emails using official NAACP branding, despite being suspended.
“The next step is going to be finding members of the branch who want this branch to continue [and] finding members of the branch who want to step up and be in leadership positions,” said Steve Ricard, a national board member now overseeing the branch as an administrator.
National officials said only 50 active members are required to keep a branch going. Boulder County has about 500 members, but the community appears divided on how — or whether — to move forward. Some attendees at the April 30 meeting voiced frustration with the national office’s intervention and questioned whether the NAACP remained a viable platform for advocacy. Others expressed interest in helping to rebuild.
Ongoing conflict with city officials
Tensions between Boulder County NAACP leaders and city officials date back more than a year, centered on the group’s public opposition to Redfearn’s appointment as Boulder’s police chief. Redfearn previously served as a captain in the Aurora Police Department during the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after being restrained and sedated by police and paramedics.
Local NAACP leaders accused Redfearn of contributing to what they described as a “cover-up.” Redfearn has denied any wrongdoing, saying he changed a dispatch code from a report of a “suspicious person” to an “assault on a police officer,” based on officers’ accounts at the scene. He later testified for the prosecution in the criminal trial related to McClain’s death.
In July 2024, the NAACP branch leaders recorded a confidential mediation session with city officials and later threatened to release it publicly. This prompted City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde to file a formal complaint with the national office, accusing the leaders of unethical conduct.
Redfearn’s appointment in September 2024 renewed objections from local NAACP leaders. In October, the leaders released a partial transcript of the meeting — a move the national NAACP said “tarnished the Association’s reputation.” It responded with a cease-and-desist letter instructing the chapter to stop unauthorized mediations or negotiations and refrain from making “unsubstantiated and inflammatory statements” about Redfearn and the city. “There is no evidence to support your suggestion that Steve Redfearn bears responsibility for McClain’s death,” the letter stated. The national office also objected to suggestions that Redfearn is “anti-Black.”
In February 2025, after O’Connor published an op-ed critical of the city, the national office suspended him.
The following month, citing persistent pushback, the national chapter placed the Boulder County branch under Ricard’s administration. The executive committee rejected the move, calling the national office’s actions “egregious and harmful to the Black community” and saying the national office had not meaningfully engaged with local leaders before issuing “penalties and hostile takeovers.”
National officials responded that those unwilling to comply with the administratorship could resign. Instead, the committee voted unanimously to dissolve the branch.
“The aim has been clear: to remove the leadership of NAACP Boulder and reshape our branch into a powerless symbolic entity that serves the city’s interests rather than the community’s,” the executive committee wrote in its dissolution letter. “We would prefer to let this great local branch conclude rather than exist as merely a façade.”
This week, O’Connor filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Boulder, alleging officials retaliated against him for his public criticism of Redfearn’s appointment in violation of his First Amendment rights.
Ricard said the city played no role in the national office’s actions.
“This has nothing to do with the City of Boulder or the police chief,” he said. “This has everything to do with, you refused to follow the procedure and policy of this association.”
The decision to dissolve was made without consulting the branch’s full membership — a move some criticized. “The entire membership should have been included in such a foundational decision,” City Councilmember Taishya Adams wrote on Instagram.
James, the former branch president, did not respond to questions about the suspensions or the ongoing conflict.
Disputed authority and uncertain future
In response to the dissolution announcement, the national NAACP suspended the entire executive committee. None of the suspended members have appealed the decision yet, according to Portia Prescott, president of the Colorado, Montana and Wyoming NAACP State Conference.
Prescott said that the former executive committee continues to send emails to members using a Mailchimp account and NAACP branding. “That’s why it’s more confusing,” she said. “They have the full 500-person list, and they’re sending stuff out from” an NAACP Boulder email address.
Ricard said that going forward, any official NAACP Boulder County meetings must be organized by himself, Prescott or Chartashia Miller, secretary of the Colorado-Montana-Wyoming NAACP State Conference.
National officials also said they currently do not have access to the Boulder County branch’s member email list or treasury account and are working with legal counsel to resolve the funding issue. Questions about who controls the branch’s funds have added another layer of tension to the dispute.
At the April 30 meeting, many Boulder NAACP members appeared to be learning for the first time about the extent of the dispute between local and national leadership. Some were skeptical of the national NAACP’s version of events. Others said they were ready to move forward.
For now, the future of the Boulder County NAACP remains uncertain. National leaders plan to continue holding monthly meetings under Ricard’s oversight. Former NAACP Boulder leaders appear to be exploring forming a separate organization.
The city is not used to pushback or being directly challenged by anyone. This has consequences, and it creates an atmosphere that discourages progress that aligns with equity and fair representation among other things. Aren’t we seeing the extreme version of this playing out on the national level now? Shouldn’t congress have stood strong against some of those cabinet appointees (in addition to most everything else done by executive order)? The Boulder NAACP is grassroots to the core and has a strong voice, and that is frightening for the city when the spotlight is on them. The main issue here, though, would seem to be lack of support from the national organization. Maybe not surprising, though.