Video shows Colorado police confronting black man who says he was picking up trash on his property

Police in Boulder, Colo., have launched an internal investigation into an incident captured on video in which police are alleged to have confronted and drawn their weapons on a black man who said he was picking up trash on his own property last week.

According to a police statement, an officer had observed a man in a partially enclosed patio found behind a “Private Property” sign on March 1 and began speaking to him to determine if he was allowed on the property.

In a 16-minute video posted to Facebook by a man named Vanardo Merchant, the man is seen speaking to the officer, who has his hand on his hip.

The man, whose identity has not been released, is heard yelling at the officer, telling him that he’s on “my property, with a gun in your hand, threatening to shoot me because I’m picking up trash.”

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It’s unclear, ABC Action News reports, whether the officer verbally threatened to shoot the man.

During the video, the man presents an officer with his school identification but is still detained as the officer decides to investigate him further.

“I don’t have a weapon. This is a bucket. This is a clamp,” the man can be heard telling officers.

He can also be heard telling police that he won’t sit down “and you can’t make me” as he is asked by officers to do so, adding that he feels threatened.

In the statement, police said the officer made a request for assistance “indicating that the person was unco-operative and unwilling to put down a blunt object.”

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Police acknowledged in their statement that the object “was used to pick up trash.”

In the video, the man repeatedly tells the officer to go home before more officers are seen arriving and surrounding the man.

About 10 minutes into the video, a third voice can be heard saying police are “getting ready to leave.”

Video then shows one of the officers appearing to return his ID to the man before the officers depart.

Authorities said they have launched an internal affairs investigation into the incident on Monday. The investigation and review process is expected to take between 60 and 90 days.