In December of 2020, Aurora, CO police officers held a Black woman and four children at gunpoint. “A video of the group lying on the ground went viral online shortly after the incident.” Three years after Brittney Gilliam filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and police officials, they have reached a $1.9 million settlement.
It’s a horrifying situation to fathom— “four Black girls lay facedown in a parking lot, crying ‘no’ and ‘mommy’ as a police officer who had pointed her gun at them bent down to handcuff two of their wrists. The youngest wore a pink tiara as she held onto her teenage cousin’s hand,” the Associated Press reports.
What prompted this altercation? It all boils down to a case of mistaken car identity combined with racial profiling. Egregiously, it was supposed to be a day of pampering for fun a girls’ day out—Gilliam had planned an outing to the nail salon with her nieces, sister, and daughter.
But after discovering their salon was closed that day, they ventured back to their car. While searching for a nearby salon in the car, they were “surrounded by police who had their weapons drawn.” Apparently the police had mistakenly believed that Gilliam’s car was stolen.
After prosecutors conducted an investigation, they found that because the officers followed protocol and training with a high-risk stop on suspicion of a stolen vehicle, there wasn’t evidence that any crimes had been committed. Though they did say that this occurrence was “unacceptable and preventable.”
Darian Dasko, one of the officers on the scene that day, received a 160-hour suspension. Both Dasko and Madisen Moen, the other officer on hand that day, are still employees of the police department.
This isn’t the first settlement the city of Aurora has paid out due to police misconduct. In 2021, the city reached a $15 million settlement with Elijah McClain’s parents over his 2019 death after being stopped while walking “Down the street, placed in a neck hold and injected with a sedative.”
David Lane, an attorney for the Gilliam family, issued the following statement. “Aurora cops need to spend less time on the gun range and more time in the law library. Our hope is that police officers all over the country learn that law enforcement needs to use common sense, especially when dealing with children.”
“A robo-cop mentality will lead to huge liability,” Lane continued. “We believe that inexcusable racial profiling was involved in this case as well. 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.”
Lane believes settling will help the girls to avoid the trauma they might have endured by having to relive that day by going through with a trial. “All parties are very satisfied with this settlement,” Lane added. “The money will be evenly divided among Gilliam and the four girls, with the girls’ portions being placed into annuities so the money will grow by the time they access it when they turn 18.”
Michael Brannen, a spokesperson for the City, stated, “The Aurora Police Department remains committed to strengthening the relationship with the community through accountability and continuously improving how it serves the public.”