A Colorado district attorney said Friday that she will investigate the actions of Aurora police who pulled out their guns and instructed Black girls and women to get on the ground first after missing the minivan they were in for. in set car.
“If our investigation determines that the officers involved have committed a crime, I will not hesitate to file and prosecute prosecutors,” District Attorney George Brauchler, who has jurisdiction over Aurora, said in a statement. “I intend to investigate this matter as soon as possible.”
The officers have not been publicly identified.
The girls, ages 6 to 17, were with Brittney Gilliam, 29, mother of one of them, aunt of others, as well as Gilliam’s sister when police stopped her in a parking lot on Sunday based on the belief that the minivan in which she was traveling were stolen, according to family, police and Gilliam’s attorney.
The girls were on their way to get their nails ready when they were hand-drawn on the ground ordered by officers with guns drawn, Gilliam said. A bystander, Jennifer Wurtz, used a phone to record video of the stop.
One of the girls shouts, “I want my mom.” Another says, “Can I have my sister next to me?”
Two of the children and Gilliam were retained, even after the group was allowed to get off the ground, said David Lane, a civil rights lawyer representing the family. Gilliam was found in a police car.
Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said in a statement Friday that she shares “the concerns about what happened, which is why I immediately ordered an investigation into internal affairs.”
The department said in an earlier statement to NBC News that officials believed the minivan was stolen when it shared the plate number of a stolen motorcycle.
When officers realized the sets of motorcycle had plates from another state, “they involved everyone, withheld efforts to explain what happened, and apologize,” public information officer Faith Goodrich said in the statement.
