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A Black pregnant Colorado woman says she was trying to use a $1.50 coupon for Dove shampoo and conditioner at an Aurora Target but ended with her police searching her for a gun. 25-year-old Jazzmin Downs said she doesn’t understand why the search occurred 9 News reported.

“I was never a threat,” said Downs. “There was never any concern of me having a gun, but you see my hand in my pocket, and you yelled gun, and you guys rushed me.”

A video of the incident that is now going viral shows Downs being pat down by an officer right outside of Target. In the video, Downs is clearly upset, and said the officer was hurting her stomach. Twenty minutes earlier, Downs said she was in Target checking out and attempting to use a coupon that she printed out on the internet. She was told by an employee they store didn’t accept the coupon she was trying to use and when Downs asked to talk to a manager about the situation she was asked to leave the store.

Downs claims she was continually asked why they were denying her service, and the manager called security, and then police according to the news station.

A Target spokesperson said the customer was “angry and aggressive,” however, Downs said she was being defensive, and eventually walked out of the store on her own to call the store’s corporate office. She said she was outside for several minutes before one police officer showed up, and they had a conversation, and he even joked about needing coupons because dog food was expensive. Then when the officer went inside to talk to store employees she waited by his squad car. Then minutes later she said four officer came to the scene. At this time Downs said she was still on the phone the corporate office, her purse under one arm and her other hand in her jeans.

Downs spoke with the officers for minutes and then one seemed to take notice that her hand was in her pocket.

She said she spoke with the officers for several minutes, and then one seemed to take notice that her hand was in her pocket.

“I was still explaining to them what was going on and then he yelled at me stating get my hand out of my pocket and I look at him confused,” she said. “When I took my hand out of my pocket, I took the lining with me to show him there was nothing in my pocket, and I put my hand up. “Well that wasn’t obviously good enough for him and he yelled that they had to search for a gun.”

The video, has been shared over 20,000 times, was taken by Facebook user Tiffany Goodloe who posted the video to her page. Downs said the officers rushed her and were squeezing her stomach.

“All I want is an answer as to why they did what they did,” she said. “They violated me as a human. They violated me as a mother. They violated me as a pregnant woman. They violated me just in general for no reason and they had no explanation but we were in fear of you or you made me nervous.”

In the video after the pat down, one officer is heard saying, “You’re making me nervous when you reach inside your pocket like that.”

Another officer told the pregnant woman she didn’t know why they were called to the Target, “We just came here; we have no idea what had happened.”

Aurora Police Department told 9NEWS the responding officers did nothing wrong, however, they will look at the department’s policies regarding pat-downs of pregnant women moving forward.

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