STILL HAPPENING

Boulder Cop Investigated for Pulling Gun on Black Man Cleaning Up His Yard

Officer appeared to be afraid of the man’s trash-grabber device.

Colorado’s Boulder Police Department has launched an internal investigation after a cop pulled a gun on a black man who was picking up trash outside his own home. The incident was captured on video—it shows a man with a bucket and a grabber device in the front yard of a townhouse complex alongside an officer with his hand on his hip. The person filming repeatedly says the man lives at the complex and was only picking up trash before the officer is joined by other officers. The man and the officers then appear to yell at each other. The department later said the cop was trying to determine if the man was allowed on the private property, and said the person “was uncooperative and unwilling to put down a blunt object”—later determined to the grabber. After facing angry questioning at a city council meeting, Police Chief Greg Testa told the crowd: “All aspects of this incident, specifically the actions of the initial officer, are being investigated... In contrast to what was stated in the video that is on social media, body-worn camera video indicates that only one officer had a handgun out, and it was pointed at the ground.”