Aurora police settle with Colorado woman for $1.9M after video of her and kids held at gunpoint went viral
Over three years after a Colorado woman and her sister, daughter and nieces were pulled from her car and ordered to the ground at gunpoint by Aurora police officers, the department has settled a civil lawsuit for $1.9 million. Video of the incident taken by bystanders at the time went viral.
The car was mistaken by officers for a stolen one. The license plate number was the same, but the state of the license plate was different -- the stolen car they were looking for had a Montana license plate but the car stopped had Colorado plates. Brittney Gilliam said what started as a "Sunday fun day" with her family to get their nails, ended with traumatized children, some of whom were handcuffed, in that August 2020 traffic stop.
"Our hope is that police officers all over the country learn that law enforcement needs to use common sense, especially when dealing with children," Gilliam's attorney David Lane, of Killmer Lane LLP, told CBS News Colorado on Monday. "A robo-cop mentality will lead to huge liability.
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"We believe that inexcusable racial profiling was involved in this case as well," Lane said. "When the race of the occupants of a vehicle causes guns to be drawn, a line has been crossed which will result in huge consequences for the police. Hopefully, this settlement will lead to changes in how police departments handle situations like this in the future."
Gilliam says she, her 12-year-old sister and 17-year-old niece were handcuffed while lying on the asphalt of the parking lot. Her 6-year-old daughter and 14-year-old niece were also ordered to the ground. The high temperature that day was 87 degrees, historical weather data shows, and pavement temperature can reach 50 to 60 degrees warmer than atmospheric temperatures.
The family was Black and video of the stop prompted outrage across the country, during a summer of protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
Aurora police previously described the traffic stop that day as a "high-risk" stop, which typically involves officers having their guns drawn and ordering all of the cars' occupants out and onto the ground.
The department's chief at the time, Vanessa Wilson, apologized to Gilliam, offered city-paid counseling to the children and said at the time that officers need to be able to use discretion in how they handle traffic stops.
Gilliam filed a civil rights lawsuit in January 2021 seeking damages and a written apology. It was the first lawsuit of its kind filed after a police accountability bill was signed into law in Colorado.
The Arapahoe District Attorney's Office said around that time that it would not file criminal charges against the officers.
The City of Aurora did not immediately respond to a request for comment.