Boulder Cop Who Confronted Black Student Picking Up Trash Resigns

BOULDER, CO — A Boulder police officer has resigned after receiving criticism of racial profiling for confronting a black man who was picking up trash in his front yard. Officer John Smyly was found to be in violation of department policy and resigned before the end of disciplinary proceedings, but police said an internal investigation showed no evidence of racial bias in the incident, according to news reports.

Zayd Atkinson was picking up trash in his front yard in the 2300 block of Arapahoe Avenue about 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1, when Smyly, a 14-year veteran of the department with no background of disciplinary action, confronted him. Atkinson told Smyly that he worked and lived in the building, and showed the officer his Naropa University identification card.

"I live here," Atkinson can be heard yelling to officers in a video clip of the confrontation. "I'm picking up garbage from my [expletive] dorm. I go to school here."

Smyly detained Atkinson and called for back-up assistance after Atkinson refused to drop a blunt object he was using to pick up trash, police said. Police Chief Greg Testa would later state during a Boulder City Council meeting that one officer on the scene did have his gun out of its holster, although it was kept pointed to the ground.

In a Monday, March 11 protest of police over the incident, Atkinson spoke out.

"It seemed as if he definitely wanted to shoot me," he told reporters at the event, according to the Boulder Beat. Atkinson said that officers also had their tasers ready for use.

"While we have no proof that racial bias was a motivating factor, the internal affairs investigation resulted in sustained violations of police policies," Testa said in a statement.

"However, a disciplinary appeal process required by the police collective bargaining agreement likely would have overturned a termination of the officer, and he would have returned to duty after extensive additional delay.

Though an internal investigation found no proof that race was a factor in the incident, Testa said in a statement "We will increase training on racial bias and emphasize training around community values to ensure this does not happen again."

Other officers in the incident were cleared of wrongdoing, news station KDVR reported.

Related:

• Officer Contact Prompts Boulder Police Internal Investigation
• March Planned To Protest Police Who Confronted Black Man In Yard
• Black Student Confronted By Boulder Police Speaks Out At March
• Police Chief Questioned By Council About Trash Pick-Up Incident