The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado is arguing that the Colorado Springs Police Department racially profiled two black men
who were pulled over for an apparent cracked windshield and ended up in handcuffs.
A portion of the traffic stop was captured by passenger Ryan Brown, who began filming after the driver—his brother Benjamin Brown—had already been ordered out of the car at Taser-point, placed in handcuffs, and detained in the back of a police car.
As Brown repeatedly notes in the video, the officers never explained why they pulled the car over nor why they felt the need to put his brother in handcuffs. Throughout the video the officers refuse to openly communicate with Brown, although they do note he’s not under arrest as they pull him from the car and push him to the ground.
As the ACLU explains:
The two brothers were within a block of their home when they were stopped. Shortly after pulling the car over, an officer opened the driver’s door and, pointing his taser at Benjamin, demanded that he exit the vehicle. The officers immediately handcuffed, searched, and then detained him in the back of a police vehicle, even though he had been fully cooperative, no weapons or contraband were found, and there was no evidence to suggest that he had been involved in any criminal activity.
The officers held Ryan at gunpoint as they pulled him out of the car and Benjamin was afraid they were going to shoot his brother. “It seemed like forever,” he explained. “I was scared that the officer was going to pull the trigger.”
The ACLU of Colorado will represent the brothers in municipal court and Legal Director Mark Silverstein notes, “No reasonable person could watch the video recording of the traffic stop and say that two white men would have been treated the same way.” Meanwhile cooperating attorney Dan Recht—who will represent the brothers—explains, “As the video clearly shows, [Ryan Brown] acted calmly and like a gentleman, even in the face of an unjust stop. There was no justice for him to obstruct.”
Read more on the ACLU of Colorado's website.
