Police said the car’s licence plate matched the number of a stolen vehicle
The city of Aurora has reached a $1.9 million settlement with a Black family from Colorado after police held four juvenile relatives at gunpoint. Brittney Gilliam and her six-year-old daughter, nieces aged 14 and 17, and sister, 12 were wrongfully stopped in 2020 at a parking lot. The police ordered the girls to lie face down on the hot parking lot and handcuffed. The incident was caught on camera and drew outrage at the time.
The police had mistakenly believed Ms Gilliam was driving a stolen car and had been trained to perform a “high-risk stop”, BBC reported. They apologised for the incident and offered to cover therapy services for the children.
Ms Gilliam later sued the officers and accused them of “profound and systemic” racism, the media outlet reported.
Aurora PD handcuff and held family at gunpoint. pic.twitter.com/GkTWKFZqkI
— Joshua Rodriguez (@Joshuajered) August 3, 2020
On the day of the incident, Brittney Gilliam and the girls went to a nail salon and returned to their car after finding out the salon was closed. Officers then approached the vehicles with guns drawn as the family got into the car.
In the video, Ms Gilliam and all four girls lie face down in the parking lot. Ms Gilliam, her 12-year-old sister and her 17-year-old niece were handcuffed.
The children can be heard crying and calling for the mother as witnesses question police about the situation.
“Would your kids be okay after that? Having a gun pulled on them and lay on the ground. Especially a six-year-old,” Ms Gilliam told CBS soon after.
Police said the car’s licence plate matched the number of a stolen vehicle but from a different state.
Officers immediately uncuffed everyone involved when they realised their mistake, according to Aurora’s police chief, Vanessa Wilson.
On Monday, David Lane, a lawyer for the family, confirmed that a settlement has been reached with the city of Aurora.
“All parties are very satisfied with this settlement,” he said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Aurora Police Department said Tuesday the agency “remains committed to strengthening the relationship with the community through accountability and continuously improving how it serves the public.”
“We have been trying to train Aurora for several years to have their cops spend less time on the gun range and more time in the law library,” Mr Lane told The Washington Post.
