DENVER - The ACLU of Colorado filed a federal 诉讼 this morning on behalf of Dwight 工作人员, a disabled black man who was removed from his home without a warrant in the middle of the night, 克制, forced to the ground, and unlawfully arrested by Aurora police.
“The Constitution forbids police from intruding into the privacy of a person’s home unless they have a warrant issued by a judge,” said ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein. 在这种情况下, police had no warrant, nor did any of the extremely limited exceptions to the warrant requirement apply. Our 60-year-old client was not a threat and presented himself in a calm and cooperative manner. 不过, Aurora police arrested him inside his home, aggressively and violently threw him to the ground, 克制 him, 搜他的身, and presented him with a trumped-up, groundless charge of resisting arrest.”
According to the 诉讼, on November 14, 2015, 工作人员 intervened to stop his stepdaughter from being physically abused by her husband. 施虐者, 谁是白人?, then called Aurora police and claimed that 工作人员 had assaulted him and that 工作人员 might have a gun inside his house.
凌晨2点, more than an hour after the incident, two Aurora police officers arrived at 工作人员’ home and started banging loudly on the front door, flashing lights into the windows, and threatening to kick in the door if he did not come out.
One officer shouted, “You’re going to get a warrant for your arrest if you don’t come down here to resolve this.”
工作人员, who had been on the third floor watching television, eventually heard the officers’ banging and came to the door. The officers, who had no warrant, ordered him to come outside. 工作人员 complied and stepped out onto the front porch. The officers then began a physical search of 工作人员.
As the officers were patting him down, 工作人员 noticed that his cat had run out the front door. He pointed at his cat and said, “My cat’s outside!”
当工作人员, whose spine is damaged from a car accident, pointed to his cat, one of the officers threw him to the ground, slamming his body on top of jagged loose rocks.
工作人员 sustained multiple injuries. Police took him into custody and charged him with resisting arrest and assault against his stepdaughter’s abuser. A judge dismissed the resisting arrest charge for lack of evidence, and a jury found him not guilty of the assault charge, because he was defending his stepdaughter.
“This case adds to a disturbing string of incidents in which Aurora police have abused and violated the Constitutional rights of people of color,” said Silverstein. “Until Aurora improves police transparency and accountability, the victims have no choice but to seek justice in the courts.”
今年7月, Aurora paid $110,000 to settle claims brought by ACLU of Colorado on behalf of Darsean Kelley, a young black man who was tased in the back as he said, “I know my rights.” In September,
ACLU of Colorado sued on behalf of Omar Hassan, a black man who Aurora police forcibly removed from a coffee shop after telling him “your kind of business is not welcome here.”
今天的 诉讼 seeks compensatory and punitive damages. 工作人员 is represented by Silverstein and ACLU staff attorney Sara Neel, as well as ACLU cooperating attorneys Sarah Parady and J. Bennet Lebsack of Lowrey Parady LLC.
资源:
View the complaint: http://safarinautique.com/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/工作人员Complaint.pdf
Map of incidents involving Aurora Police and people of color:
http://safarinautique.com/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Map-o...
more on this case
