Police in Boulder, Colorado, have launched an internal affairs probe after video surfaced showing a white police officer drawing a pistol on a black man who was picking up trash outside his own home last week. The video shows the officer approaching the man, who was using a trash picker and bucket to clean up his yard.
Boulder resident: “You’re on my property with a gun in your hand, threatening to shoot me because I’m picking up trash. I hope that camera is on.”
Roommate: “He’s picking up trash, and you have your hand on your gun? Go home!”
In a police report, the officer claimed the man was uncooperative and “unwilling to put down a blunt object”—even though the man and his roommate repeatedly identified the object as a trash picker. The officer who drew his weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.