#Roommates, a disturbing viral video of a black family (including minor children) being handcuffed by police with weapons drawn has resulted in a public apology. The Aurora, Colorado Police Department has formally apologized for the shocking incident—but the family and many activists don’t think it’s enough.
Aurora, Colorado is at the center of another controversy involving its police department. As you may recall, the Aurora PD is the same police unit that is responsible for the heartbreaking death of Elijah McClain. This time the Aurora PD has issued a formal apology to a black family after drawing weapons on them, handcuffing them and forcing them to all get on the ground because they mistakenly believed they were in a stolen vehicle. @TMZ_TV reports, that after a viral video sparked outrage showing the handcuffing of a 6-year-old, 12-year-old, 14-year-old, 17-year-old and an adult woman—the Aurora PD issued a statement and an apology for the way things were handled.
Brittney Gilliam told reporters that she had taken the minor girls to get their nails done, and they were sitting in the parking lot with the car turned off when cops approached from behind. She says the officers immediately had their weapons drawn and told them to put their hands out of the window and exit the vehicle. Gilliam and the others were then cuffed and accused of being in a stolen car. She explained that it was stolen in February but returned to her, and she had all the documentation for the vehicle. Reportedly, that’s when the police realized they made a mistake.
Aurora Interim Police Chief, Vanessa Wilson, says she’s called Gilliam’s family “to apologize and to offer any help we can provide, especially for the children who may have been traumatized” by the ordeal. She also said, “I have reached out to our victim advocates so we can offer age-appropriate therapy that the city will cover.”
According to the Aurora PD, cops received a call of a possible stolen vehicle and Gilliam’s had a matching license plate and description, but turns out the license plate information was for a motorcycle registered in another state.
The department added that “The confusion may have been due, in part, to the fact that the stopped car was reported stolen earlier in the year. After realizing the mistake, officers immediately unhandcuffed everyone involved, explained what happened and apologized.”
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