Police in Boulder, Colorado, launched an internal affairs investigation after video surfaced of several officers confronting a black man who was picking up trash outside his home last week.
The Boulder Police Department said in a statement Monday that one of its officers observed a man sitting in a partially enclosed patio area behind a “private property” sign at 8:30 a.m. Friday and asked if he was allowed to be there.
The man, whose identity has not been released, told the officer he lived and worked in the building, and presented his school identification card, but the officer detained him to investigate further.
The video posted online shows the man trying to explain to the officer that he lives in the building and does not have a weapon.
“You’re on my property with a gun in your hand, threatening to shoot me, because I’m picking up trash,” the man says. “I don’t have a weapon. This is a bucket. This is a clamp.”
He can also be heard saying: “I’m not sitting down. I’m not sitting down, and you can’t make me.”
The officer made a request over a radio for further assistance, saying that the man was uncooperative and “unwilling to put down a blunt object,” police said in the statement.
Several officers responded, including a supervisor. The object the man was holding was a tool to pick up trash.
Officers determined the man had a legal right to be on the property and left the area.
The initial responding officer is on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete, a spokeswoman for Boulder police told NBC News on Wednesday.
Police said once the internal affairs investigations is complete, the findings will be sent to a professional standards review panel, which consists of six members of the police department and six people from the community. The panel will then submit a recommendation to the chief of police, who will make a final decision on any actions to be taken.
The investigation and review into the incident is expected to take 60 to 90 days, police said.
