DENVER (AP) 鈥 The four Black girls lay facedown in a parking lot, crying 鈥渘o鈥 and 鈥渕ommy鈥 as a police officer who had pointed her gun at them then bent down to handcuff two of their wrists. The youngest wore a pink tiara as she held onto her teenage cousin鈥檚 hand.
The 6-year-old Lovely watched as her mother, Brittney Gilliam, was led to a patrol car in handcuffs after she shouted in frustration at the police, who mistakenly believed the car Gilliam was driving was stolen.
Over three years later, the Denver suburb of Aurora has agreed to a $1.9 million settlement with Gilliam and the girls that claimed the police officers鈥 actions were evidence of 鈥減rofound and systematic鈥 racism, a lawyer for the family, David Lane, announced Monday.
The settlement saved the girls the trauma of having to relive what happened during a trial, Lane said. The money will be evenly divided among Gilliam and the four girls, with the girls鈥 portions being placed into annuities so the money will grow by the time they access it when they turn 18, Lane said.
鈥淎ll parties are very satisfied with this settlement,鈥 he said.
In a written statement, the city confirmed a deal had been reached.
鈥淭he Aurora Police Department remains committed to strengthening the relationship with the community through accountability and continuously improving how it serves the public,鈥 it said.
That summer day in 2020 was supposed to be a fun girls鈥 day out for Gilliam, her daughter, her sister and two nieces. It instead became a traumatic ordeal.
An investigation by prosecutors found no evidence , in part because they found they were following their training for conducting a high-risk stop of what they suspected was a stolen vehicle. However, they said the incident was 鈥渦nacceptable and preventable鈥 and urged police to review their policies to ensure nothing like it happens again.
One of the officers who stopped the car, Darian Dasko, was suspended for 160 hours. He and the other officer, Madisen Moen, still work for the department.
lying facedown and being put in handcuffs triggered outrage following protests over racial injustice earlier this decade sparked by .
This settlement also marks the latest Aurora has been forced to pay out over police misconduct. The city in 2021 with the parents of . The 23-year-old Black man was killed in 2019 after he was stopped as he walked down the street, placed in a neck hold and injected with a sedative. One police officer also was and two others were acquitted. Two paramedics .
A state civil rights investigation 鈥 launched amid outrage over McClain鈥檚 death and released after Gilliam鈥檚 lawsuit was filed 鈥 found a deeply engrained culture of racially biased policing in the department.
Lane said he hopes the settlement sends a message to law enforcement nationwide that they need to use discretion in how they respond to situations.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be robocop and be an effective cop. You have to use common sense,鈥 he said.
Gilliam鈥檚 girls鈥 day out had started with a trip to a nail salon, but they arrived to find it closed. As Gilliam sat in her car searching her phone for another salon to visit, officers approached with their guns drawn and ordered her and a passenger to roll down their windows and put their hands out.
The officers could not see who else was inside because the SUV had tinted windows, according to the prosecutors鈥 investigation. But eventually, everyone was ordered out and put on the ground.
Gilliam shouted, 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to do all that. You don鈥檛 have to do all that,鈥 body camera video shows.
鈥淥K. OK, we鈥檒l deal with that,鈥 Dasko replied.
鈥淒on鈥檛 tell me it鈥檚 okay!鈥 Gilliam shot back.
About a dozen bystanders gathered to watch, some taking out phones to record it.
The video showed police seeming confused about how to handle the situation when they realized children were inside the SUV. Moen had graduated from the police academy two days before. She hesitated about what to do after the girls were on the ground, asking other officers who arrived later if she should handcuff them all. Another officer advised her to handcuff some of them.
Soon after, another officer seen in the footage said it was time to deescalate the situation, telling one of the handcuffed girls, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to be with your momma. You鈥檙e going to be okay. Alright? Alright? We鈥檒l get you out in a second, sweetheart. It鈥檚 for our safety.鈥 The body camera footage then shows Gilliam being led to a patrol car, hands cuffed behind her back.
Amid shouting and crying, police soon realized their mistake. While the department鈥檚 system notified them that Gilliam鈥檚 Dodge with Colorado license plates was stolen, the vehicle that was actually stolen was a motorcycle with the same license plate number in Montana.
Officers kept their guns drawn for about three-and-a-half minutes, and they removed the girls鈥 handcuffs after about eight-and-a-half minutes, once they realized the car wasn't stolen, according to prosecutors.
For the first year, Gilliam said the encounter with police left her full of rage, angry she could not do anything to help the girls.
鈥淢entally, it destroyed me because I felt like not only am I not safe, these kids aren鈥檛 safe,鈥 she said in an interview before the settlement was announced, recalling how it felt to be held on the ground in handcuffs.
Her daughter, whom she said was previously a 鈥渏oyous鈥 child, began acting out and became withdrawn. Lovely would not talk about what had happened. Gilliam eventually realized her daughter was afraid of upsetting her further.
But exactly a year later almost to the minute, Gilliam gave birth to another daughter. She said she felt God was trying to wake her up and that she needed to let go of her anger.
鈥淚 felt like I wanted justice, but at the same point, I couldn鈥檛 be angry,鈥 she said. 鈥淎ll I wanted to do was heal.鈥
