Boulder Police Officer Resigns After Confronting Black Man Picking Up Trash — Colorado Public Radio — 2019-05-17 cpr 
_I feel physically horrible as I watch the footage in these two videos. I share this early as a content warning. This is not fiction and it is a disturbing glimpse into the systemic Challenges of Policing._
A white Colorado police officer who pulled out his gun during a confrontation with a black man picking up trash around his dormitory resigned this week.
Police body camera footage released Thursday provided a full video account of the tense encounter, which had gained national attention based on video shot by someone inside a student dormitory at Naropa University, a liberal arts school associated with Buddhism in the city of Boulder. city
VIMEO 333354867 Body camera footage — 2019-03-01
After about eight minutes, more officers arrive and form a loose half circle around Atkinson.
One officer can be seen holding a rifle; the investigative summary says the weapon fires bean bags. One officer drew his handgun when he arrived but reholstered it in less than a minute, while Smyly had his gun out until Atkinson put the trash-grabbing tool down, according to the summary.
Atkinson, 26, said he believes Smyly should have been fired immediately. He said he has had trouble sleeping and spends time outdoors or with friends to calm him.
"My life right now is kind of restless, unsettled," he said.
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I shared this CPR article with my friends on Facebook.
Boulder people, this story is old news (one year old). Long-story-short: structural racism is right here in Boulder, in case you thought we lived in a bubble of progressive idealism. Please watch the video of the police officer's body camera as he "investigates" Zayd Atkinson "for trespassing".
The systemic problems that lead to this are hard to see, 'cos they're operating in the background.
Most people in this city who are cleaning up grounds around any given building are 1. a small group of people, and 2. mostly of Mexican descent. I will speculate that context contributed significantly to the officer's assumptions—which seem to be assuming that Mr. Atkinson was "casing the joint" rather than cleaning the grounds.
If it had been me picking up around the place, the officer would likely have assumed I was an owner or landlord just picking up, 'cos I'm white and fit [the appearance of] those assumptions.
The other bit of disturbing context for me... this address used to be a Dairy Queen. It went out of business and this small block of apartments went up in its place. It's upscale compared to the general state of disrepair in the residences in this corner of Boulder. That is to say, this address is also an example of gentrification. It's conspicuous if you know the state of student housing around 30th and Arapaho.
_As I was preparing this wiki page I noticed this other video with Zayd Atkinson surrounded by eight officers._
VIMEO 333359560 Half-circle body camera footage — 2019-03-01
The confrontation does wind down here. But it is a painful emotional journey.
The sense of relief is enormous. Right behind the growing relief is an equally growing sense of dread about the systemic and structural problems on display.
Officer Parker identifies himself here as he attempts to de-escalate the conflict. He is the brother of my neighbor—we have met at a birthday party. This hits even closer to home.
Atkinson's anger feels so completely justified to me. I admire his strength of will to stand his ground, his refusal to just comply.
I admire how Parker does de-escalate the conflict — not all the way to a resolution, but offering his name and speaking respectfully turned the emotional direction of the conflict.
I am grateful for the conversation we cannot hear in the background where another man confirmed Atkinson's claims of living on the premises.
I am grateful that this confrontation ends without the death of a black man.
My felt sense of horror in watching the footage comes from fear about what has happened in other confrontations between police and black men. It also comes from knowing that there is no chance I would ever experience anything like this, because I am a white man.
My experience of The Police is completely different. Even if I were confronted, my assumptions and my felt sense of safety would be completely different. My sense of personal outrage would be completely different. I have been raised to comply, in part because compliance is not life-threatening for me.
I was genuinely surprised and puzzled by the anger in Body Count's song Cop Killer. I couldn't relate.
VIMEO 333361023 Body camera footage — 2019-03-01
At 10m40s in this video an older white man shows up, out of breath, confirms Atkinson's claims of being a student and doing his job. The man identifies himself as Director of Security for Naropa University. The officer does not demand identification.
In fairness to the officer, the man is on the phone with someone else, seems to be confirming the identity of the student himself. The story matches up with what Atkinson has been claiming. Perhaps that is sufficient to meet whatever protocol is called for by the police in this situation.
As soon as they have Atkinson's identity confirmed they back off and the incident comes to a close.
This last point feels especially conspicuous. The officers back off immediately once Atkinson's identity has been confirmed.