Lawsuit targets Aurora cops
The ACLU says police ousted an Ethiopian from a coffee shop because of his race.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado claims in a lawsuit that two Aurora police officers ejected an Ethiopian man wearing a hoodie from a coffee shop where he bought a muffin.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver on Wednesday, said officers Machelle Williby and Lisa Calcamuggio approached Omar Hassan as he sat at a table at Caribou Coffee on March 16, 2016, and told him he wasn’t welcome there. The suit said the officers singled out Hassan because of his race and had their hands on their guns when they forced him to leave.
“Our client is the victim of unjustifiable racial profiling,” said ACLU of Colorado legal director Mark Silverstein. “Police officers had no grounds, no basis and no legitimate authority to order Mr. Hassan to leave the coffee shop.”
In a statement, Aurora police said the department takes allegations of misconduct seriously and the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau investigated the incident.
“Based on the findings of our 2016 internal investigation, we strongly disagree with the allegations brought against our officers in regards to this incident,” the statement said. It said the department could not comment further.
Hassan had just finished a night shift at a flower distribution warehouse in Commerce City and was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants and work boots, the ACLU said.
The two officers stood close to Hassan as he ordered his muffin, then followed him to a table, “stood directly over him with their hands placed on their guns and commanded him to leave,” according to an ACLU news release.
Hassan asked why he was being ordered to leave, and Williby responded, “Your kind of business is not welcome here.”
When Hassan asked, “Who says that?” Williby motioned to the counter and answered, “They do,” according to the release.
Williby, according to the release, then said, “I don’t care if you eat your muffin, but you have to leave here.”
In a signed affidavit given to the Colorado Civil Rights Division, Andrew Thompson, the manager on duty at the time, said, “Neither I nor anyone working at the store that morning reported anything about (Hassan) or asked that he be escorted from the property. The officer did not speak to me about the customer before escorting him out.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, court costs and “any further relief this court deems just and proper.”