Death of Elijah McClain

Elijah Jovan McClain (February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019) was a 23-year-old black massage therapist from Aurora, Colorado, who died after being placed in a chokehold by police and being sedated by paramedics. On August 24, 2019, an Aurora citizen reported to police that McClain was wearing a ski mask and looked "sketchy", although the caller also indicated that he did not believe anyone was in danger, and that he believed McClain was unarmed.[1] The three police officers who were involved in the incident, Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema,[2] said that their body cameras were knocked off during a struggle with McClain. McClain was forcibly held to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, after which an officer applied a chokehold and paramedics administered ketamine to McClain to sedate him.[3] While being transported to the hospital McClain went into cardiac arrest. Three days after arriving at the hospital, he was declared brain dead, and was removed from life support on August 30. McClain's autopsy was inconclusive.[4][5][6][7]

Elijah McClain
Elijah McClain in an undated photo
Born
Elijah Jovan McClain

(1996-02-25)February 25, 1996
DiedAugust 30, 2019(2019-08-30) (aged 23)
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationMassage therapist
Known forDying after being held in chokehold by police and being sedated by paramedics

On June 24, 2020, after a social media outcry and Aurora lawmakers' requests for a new, third-party investigation into McClain's death,[8] Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced his administration would reexamine the case.[9] Five days later, photos that were taken in October 2019 which showed officers posing inappropriately and reenacting the carotid restraint used on McClain were discovered. One officer resigned and three were fired.[10]

Background

At the time of his death, Elijah McClain had been a massage therapist for about four years. He shared an apartment with his cousin close to the site where he was taken into police custody and consequently died. He had never been arrested or charged with a crime. Friends and family described him as a "spiritual seeker, pacifist, oddball, vegetarian, athlete, and peacemaker who was exceedingly gentle".[11]

McClain's mother Sheneen moved her family of six from Denver to Aurora to avoid gang violence, thinking it would be safer in Aurora. She said that Elijah was home-schooled and she could see at an early age that he was "intellectually gifted, but fiercely independent". While still a teenager, he taught himself to play violin and guitar. During lunch breaks, he brought his instruments to animal shelters and played for the abandoned animals, believing that music put them at ease. Friends said that his gentleness with animals extended to humans as well. One of his clients recalled him as "the sweetest, purest person I have ever met. He was definitely a light in a whole lot of darkness". An acquaintance said, "I don't even think he would set a mousetrap if there was a rodent problem."[11]

Death
External video
Audio recording of the 9-1-1 call made on McClain and police body camera footage of McClain being apprehended.  on YouTube (3 hour 8 min 30 sec)

On the evening of August 24, 2019, an Aurora citizen called 9-1-1 after seeing McClain walking down the street wearing a ski mask and flailing his arms. Friends of McClain interviewed after the incident speculated that this arm-flailing was most likely just dancing, as he is believed to have been listening to music at the time of the call.[11] The 9-1-1 caller affirmed during the call that he did not believe McClain was armed and that he did not believe that anyone, including McClain, was in immediate danger.

According to the police report, McClain resisted when confronted by the responding police officers, and Officers Woodyard and Rosenblatt heard Officer Roedema shout "he is going for your gun". An attorney representing McClain's family said the officers involved slammed McClain into a wall immediately after apprehending him.[12][13] Roedema said that McClain "reached for and grabbed the grip of Rosenblatt's gun that was holstered".[14] There was no visual body-camera footage of McClain's alleged reach for the gun, which the officers explained by stating that all of their cameras had fallen off. However, the cameras continued to record audio, and one officer can be heard to say he did not remember feeling McClain go for his gun.

The three police officers held McClain on the ground for 15 minutes. McClain was clearly in distress while restrained, sobbing and repeatedly saying "I can't breathe". He vomited several times, for which he apologized, saying: "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to do that, I can't breathe correctly."[15] While McClain's arms were handcuffed behind his back, Woodyard applied a carotid control hold, which intentionally cuts off blood flow to the brain by compressing the carotid arteries in the neck, rendering McClain briefly unconscious. One officer threatened he would have his police dog bite McClain as he lay handcuffed and pinned to the ground.[16] After McClain was restrained, more officers arrived and audio of the conversation records them saying that McClain was "acting crazy", that he was "definitely on something", and that he had attacked them with "incredible, crazy strength" when they tried to restrain him. They also said that at one point three officers were on top of him.[15] Paramedics injected him with 500 mg of ketamine as a sedative allowable in Colorado for a condition called excited delirium.[17] McClain suffered a cardiac arrest while being taken to the hospital. He was pronounced brain dead on August 27 and died three days later, on August 30, 2019.[8]

The body cameras became unattached from the police officer's uniforms during the encounter, but the audio can still be heard. During the recording, when one of the body cameras was still attached to an officer, another officer can be heard telling him to move his camera. The attorney representing McClain's family accused the officers of purposely taking off their body cameras to support a false allegation that McClain reached for a gun, though this claim was never supported by any evidence during the subsequent investigation.[16]

According to a police report, the coroner could not determine the exact cause of death and therefore listed McClain's death as undetermined. Despite this, the same coroner stated that it may have been an accident resulting from an idiosyncratic drug reaction, could have been homicide if the officers' use of the carotid hold contributed to his death, or that his death also might have been caused by an asthma attack.[18][19][20]

Last words

According to body cam audio, these were McClain's last words as he was restrained by police officers:[21]

I can't breathe. I have my ID right here. My name is Elijah McClain. That's my house. I was just going home. I'm an introvert. I'm just different. That's all. I'm so sorry. I have no gun. I don't do that stuff. I don't do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don't even kill flies! I don't eat meat! But I don't judge people, I don't judge people who do eat meat. Forgive me. All I was trying to do was become better. I will do it. I will do anything. Sacrifice my identity, I'll do it. You all are phenomenal. You are beautiful and I love you. Try to forgive me. I'm a mood Gemini. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Ow, that really hurt! You are all very strong. Teamwork makes the dream work. Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to do that. I just can't breathe correctly.

Investigation

On August 28, 2019, all three Aurora Police officers involved at the scene were put on paid administrative leave. Adams County District Attorney Dave Young later determined that none of the three officers—Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema—committed any criminal acts, and no charges were filed against them.[22] The police body camera footage and audio of the initial 9-1-1 call were released publicly by the Aurora Police Department on November 22, 2019.[23]

In February 2020, Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly announced that he would begin a Critical Incident Review on the case to investigate how police and fire departments reacted during the incident. He also announced an audit on the body cameras of the Aurora Police Department to further investigate how well Aurora police officers comply with body-camera policies. At that time he said that a review of the incident found that the force applied during the encounter was consistent with training as determined by the Force Review Board.[24]

Petitions and investigation requests

On June 6, an online petition called for a reopening of the investigation into the death of McClain, and a request that the officers involved be removed from duty had been signed by more than 820,000 people. Members of the Aurora City Council's safety committee also requested an independent, third-party investigation into the death. County District Attorney Dave Young said he was aware of the petition and commented, "I don't open up investigations based on petitions."[24]

On June 10, three members of the city public safety policy committee sent City Manager Jim Twombly a letter asking for a new "neutral, third-party" look at McClain's death. Twombly responded saying that the city had already initiated an independent review of his death under the direction of Eric Daigle, a former Connecticut state police officer and attorney who now consults on the use of force and related policies. Council members replied saying they were not satisfied with the city's choice of a former police officer: "[We] don't consider Eric Daigle to be independent and neutral due to his long career in law enforcement. We need a truly independent review."[8]

On June 26, a spokesperson for the city of Aurora announced that all three officers involved in the incident had been reassigned to working in a non-enforcement capacity in an attempt to protect their safety. Woodyard and Rosenblatt were moved on June 13, while Roedema was moved on June 20.[25]

By June 25, more than three million people had signed the petition demanding an independent investigation into McClain's death, and on that date, Governor Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor to investigate McClain's death. He also signed an executive order directing the Attorney General, Phil Weiser, to investigate and possibly prosecute the officers involved. Polis said in a statement, "Elijah McClain should be alive today, and we owe it to his family to take this step and elevate the pursuit of justice in his name to a statewide concern."[13][26] Mari Newman, the family's attorney, commented, "Finally a responsible adult has stepped in and thank goodness that the governor has shown some leadership."[27]

Inappropriate photos investigated

On June 29, the interim police chief announced that multiple officers had been placed on administrative leave and were under investigation after photos of them surfaced that had been taken near the site where McClain died. The photos, taken in October 2019, show police officers posing inappropriately and reenacting the carotid restraint used on McClain before his death.[28][29] In July, three officers were fired from the department in relation to the photos, while one officer resigned.[10]

At a news conference, acting police chief Vanessa Wilson said, "While the allegations of this internal affairs case are not criminal, they are a crime against humanity and decency. To even think about doing such a thing is beyond comprehension and it is reprehensible." In response to a question from the floor, she addressed aspects of future officer training, and noted: "I shouldn't have to teach this. There is no training that should [have to] teach human decency."[30]

Use of ketamine questioned

In Colorado EMS providers are allowed to use ketamine to treat a syndrome known as excited delirium. When the EMS arrived on the scene of the encounter, McClain was already cuffed and restrained on the ground. One of the officers can be heard telling the EMS that McClain was "acting crazy", that he was "definitely on something", and that he had attacked them with "incredible, crazy strength" when they tried to restrain him.[15] Estimating that McClain weighed 220 pounds (100 kg), the medic gave him an injection of 500 mg of ketamine. According to information provided to NBC by Aurora Fire Rescue, the standard dose of ketamine is 5 milligrams per each kilogram of a person's weight. The coroner's report states that McClain was 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall and weighed 140 pounds (64 kg). That would mean that he should have received about 320 milligrams.[31]

The attorney for McClain's family, Mari Newman, said that medics had no right or reason to inject Elijah with ketamine and has asked for an investigation. Neuroscientist Carl Hart, chair of Columbia University's psychology department, commented, "Why anyone would be giving ketamine in that circumstance is beyond me." The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the World Health Organization do not recognize the condition. Paul Appelbaum, who oversees changes to psychiatry's main diagnostic manual, has commented, "excited delirium is bad science, based on faulty studies that grew out of the 1980s cocaine epidemic."[32] Carl Takei, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who focuses on police practices, said "ascribing a person's actions to excited delirium can create a shield for officers who use excessive force".[31]

In December 2020, John Dickerson, working for the television program 60 Minutes, investigated the use of ketamine in McClain's death. Dickerson said that the medical community is highly skeptical about whether "excited delirium" is a real medical condition and voiced concerns about the use of excited delirium as "a shield to protect police from charges of misconduct." Dickerson spoke with County District Attorney Dave Young, whose jurisdiction covers Aurora. Young justified the use of ketamine. He also felt that because the diagnosis of excited delirium was not ruled out as a cause of death, he was convinced that he could not win a homicide case against the officers because "you can't file a homicide charge without cause of death."[32]

Protests and memorials

A very small protest was held in November 2019 in response to the District Attorney's decision not to file charges. McClain's mother Sheneen was scheduled to take part but was in too much grief to appear and speak.[22][33]

A second event for McClain was held on June 6, 2020, after the death of George Floyd led to the formation of a nationwide protest movement in the United States. One of the event organizers remarked that the McClain family must have felt that the death of their loved one had been in vain when they saw the streets of Denver filled with protesters showing support for George Floyd while their loved one seemed to have been all but forgotten. One speaker said, "Today, I see all of your faces. And although it happened because of George Floyd, if we're not dealing with the atrocities, with the murders, with the brutality inside of Aurora, we have no business shouting another person's name."[34][35]

In June 2020, a memorial mural was painted in honor of McClain in Denver, Colorado, alongside murals of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.[36]

June 27 protest

On June 27, 2020, thousands of people gathered for a day of protests, speaker presentations, and an evening violin concert at Aurora City Center Park. Before the protest began, Aurora police issued a statement in support of a peaceful protest but warned of "outsiders" whose goal, they said, is to be destructive. Government buildings were boarded up, and police sat atop City Hall and the library observing the protest.[37]

No arrests were reported during the day, although both directions of Interstate 225 highway were shut down around 3 p.m. by thousands of marching protesters. In the evening people, including families with children, began to gather in City Center Park and musicians formed a circle and began to play a violin concert in honor of McClain, who was known to be an accomplished player. At that time the police announced that the protest was now an "illegal gathering", and ordered people to leave the park or they would use pepper spray to disperse them. Shortly thereafter the police, dressed in riot gear, moved into the crowd. Several attendees reported smoke and gas canisters were used. A police statement later reported that "pepper spray was used after a small group of people gathered rocks [and] sticks, knocked over a fence, & ignored orders to move back".[38][27] Various videos showed attendees seated on the public lawn without any such actions.[39]

Five attendees of the protest have sued the Aurora Police Department and its interim chief, accusing them of unconstitutional treatment. Their lawsuit also demands that the Aurora Police Department stop using chemical agents, stop shooting projectiles indiscriminately into crowds, allow crowd dispersal only when there is an urgent danger to other people, and require all police to have their body cameras on at all times.[40][41]

Arrest of protest organizers

Following the summer protests, Aurora Police Department arrested organizers involved with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and local groups on charges ranging from "inciting a riot" to "kidnapping."[42] This was in response to a protest on July 3rd where the Aurora police precinct was surrounded by protesters calling for the officers responsible for McClain's death to be fired and charged. On September 17th, 6 organizers, Russel Ruch, Joel Northam, Lillian House, Eliza Lucero, Trey Quinn, and Terrance Roberts, were arrested. Northam was arrested with the aid of a SWAT team and armored vehicle, while Roberts was apprehended while on a jog. Others were arrested at home or at work.[43] House, Lucero, and Northam face up to 48 years in prison.[44]

See also

References
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  2. Snowdon, Quincy (November 24, 2019). "Adams County DA: No criminal charges against Aurora police, medics in death of Elijah McClain". Sentinel Colorado. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. Niebert, Patty; Peipert, Thomas (June 25, 2020). "Colorado reopens inquiry into 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man put into chokehold by police". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  4. Snowdon, Quincy (June 8, 2020). "Video | Elijah Mcclain Tragedy Illustration And Anger Ripples Through Social Media".
  5. Phillips, Noelle. "Controversial Police Deaths In Colorado". The Denver Post.
  6. Body Worn Camera Regarding the In-Custody Death of Elijah McClain. Aurora Police. November 22, 2019 – via YouTube.
  7. Elise Schmelzer (August 30, 2019). "Aurora man to be taken off life support after confrontation with police left him brain dead". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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  9. "Colorado governor's office to examine case of Black man who died in police custody after millions demand justice". CNN. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
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  11. Stringer, Grant; Quincy Snowdon (October 27, 2019). "Unlikely Suspect: Those who knew Elijah balk at Aurora police account of his death". Sentinel Colorado. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  12. Roberts, Michael (October 2, 2019). "Torture, Murder Claimed in Elijah McClain Aurora Police Death". Westword. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
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  14. Dave Young, District Attorney (November 22, 2019). "The investigation into the death of Elijah McClain" (PDF). District Attorney's Office, 17th Judicial District, Adams and Broomfield Counties, Colorado. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Sentinel Colorado.
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  24. Alayna Alvarez (June 9, 2020). "Body-worn camera video from Elijah McClain's encounter with Aurora police". The Gazette. Colorado Springs. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
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  27. Police Show Up in Riot Gear at Peaceful Protest for Elijah McClain. NowThis News. June 29, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020 – via YouTube.
  28. Timothy, Bella (June 30, 2020). "Multiple Colorado officers under investigation after appearing in photos taken at Elijah McClain's memorial". The Washington Post Morning Mix. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
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  35. Michael Abeyta (June 7, 2020). "Elijah McClain's Mother Pleads For Concrete Change Following Protests". KCNC-TV. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  36. Erin Powell (June 6, 2020). "Denver artists create murals featuring Elijah McClain, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor". KIII-TV. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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  39. Lampen, Claire (June 29, 2020). "Cops in Riot Gear Stormed a Violin Vigil for Elijah McClain". New York: The Cut. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  40. Óscar Contreras (July 24, 2020). "Aurora police hit with federal lawsuit over response to Elijah McClain rally last month". KMGH. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  41. Meredith Deliso; Clayton Sandell; Jeffrey Cook (July 23, 2020). "City of Aurora sued over police response to 'violin vigil' following Elijah McClain death". ABC News. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  42. "Protesters, demonstration leaders arrested in connection to rallies in Aurora". denverpost.com. MediaNews Group, Inc. September 17, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  43. Kaplan, Noah (November 10, 2020). "The Election May Be Over, but Their Fight Has Just Begun". westword.com. Denver Westword. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  44. Lizarrega, Lori (January 3, 2021). "Preliminary hearing approaching for PSL protestors facing dozens of felony charges". 9news.com. KUSA-TV. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
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