A Black family of five who were wrongfully detained at gunpoint in Aurora, Colorado, in 2020 after mistaking their SUV for a stolen vehicle have received $1.9 million in settlement of a lawsuit against the city, the family's attorney said Monday. It was announced on . .
The family of Brittney Gilliam (then 29 years old), her daughter (6 years old), sister (12 years old), and two nieces (then 17 and 14 years old) went to get their nails done when they arrived at the Aurora Police Department. the police officer ordered. Authorities said at the time that the two girls were placed on the ground and handcuffed.
Widely shared video of the episode shows four children lying on the ground in a parking lot, crying and screaming as several police officers watch over them, leading to the death of a black man in 2019. It sparked further anger at a department already controversial over its use. excessive force.
The settlement was reached several months ago but remained secret because it involved children, attorney David Lane said by phone Monday. He added that it would be divided equally between Gilliam, his niece, sister and daughter, noting that younger children would have to wait until they turn 18 to access their share.
Lane said the settlement helped avoid re-traumatizing children during depositions and trials and drew attention to the high costs of resolving similar cases. . Police officers used excessive force.
The city settled at least 11 police brutality cases from 2003 to 2018 for a total of $4.6 million, according to the ACLU of Colorado. In 2021, the city agreed to pay Elijah McClain's family $15 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit over the 2019 police encounter that ended his life.
A state investigation into Aurora police practices also found a pattern of racially biased policing, excessive force, and failure to record legally required information during community interactions. All were found to be in violation of state and federal law.
The city of Aurora confirmed the settlement in an email Monday. It added that the city's police force “remains committed to strengthening our relationships with the community through accountability and continually improving the way we deliver public services.”
Months after a stolen car was mistakenly stopped, Colorado prosecutors say they will not indict two police officers who drew guns and handcuffed some family members, saying they did not find enough evidence to support criminal charges. did. The Associated Press reported that one police officer was suspended for 160 hours. The city of Aurora announced Monday that he and another officer still work at the department.
The encounter happened on August 2, 2020, according to the civil lawsuit filed in January. Gilliam, who works in the food service industry, had planned to take his girlfriend's family to the salon to get their nails done and then go out for ice cream. 2021.
But the family outing quickly turned into a “horror show” as officers pulled up behind Gilliam's car, pulled out guns, forced the family face down on the ground and handcuffed two of them for more than 15 minutes. “It was.” Suits make a statement.
More officers arrived, at one point numbering more than a dozen, according to the complaint. Several bystanders also “watched in horror as the girls screamed and cried,” and some implored the officers to put away their weapons.
Police later said they mistakenly stopped the family's SUV because the license plate number was similar to one recorded as stolen property, but later realized the plate number belonged to a motorcycle with Montana plates. Noticed.
According to the complaint, Gilliam repeatedly asked the officers to see the register but was not allowed to do so. He claims the officers terrorized his family for no reason other than “because he is black.”
Gilliam, her niece, sister and daughter were all traumatized by the encounter and have “suffered significant distress” since then, according to the lawsuit. Nothing can take away the cry from her heart. Some people have trouble sleeping and eating. And all are undergoing treatment to process what happened that day, the lawsuit alleges.
Lane, the family's attorney, said the family is happy with the settlement but hopes the incident will prompt further changes at the police department, which has become “the poster child for police departments nationwide in need of reform.” He said he was looking forward to it.
“I hope the Aurora City Council and the voters of Aurora wake up to the fact that we desperately need a police department that spends less time at the gun range and more time in the law library,” he said. added.
