Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

You may remember that back in August we reported that police in Aurora, Colorado held a black family at gunpoint, forcing terrified small children to lay face down on the ground handcuffed in a parking lot after they stopped their car in the search for a motorcycle that had been stolen. Video shot by a witness showed Brittney Gilliam’s daughter and nieces screaming for their mother who had also been put in handcuffs.

Now, Gilliam has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Aurora and its police officials, NBC News reports: “Gilliam alleges in her lawsuit that officers searched her and the girls at gunpoint without probable cause or evidence of a crime, targeting the family because they were Black.”

CNN’s Chris Cuomo reported on the incident back in August:

Aurora Police Department apologizes after officers drew weapons on a Black mother and her four Black daughters in a stolen vehicle mix-up.

"I felt powerless, I felt dehumanized and I couldn't protect them," says the mother, Brittney Gilliam. https://t.co/PdR9dOnVif pic.twitter.com/YKCQmAYwl7

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) August 6, 2020