The 23-year-old Black man's death while in police custody in August 2019 is making headlines as his family demands justice. Then theres the simple question of access to masks. He refused and told the officers, I have a right to go where I am going, police body camera video shows. McClain, 23, was killed in Aurora, Colorado, about 40 minutes from Boulder, Colorado - the site where a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle stormed through a supermarket killing 10 on March 22, 2021. Halpern said that this particular case remains important to McCain because she believes individual accountability is essential, especially in situations tied to larger, structural issues such as police reform. But if you watch the video from about the 15-minute mark (warning: It contains violent and upsetting content), youll see someone pick up the body camera and point it toward McClain and one of the officers before dropping it back into the grass. The officers eventually brought him to the ground, claiming he had reached for one of their guns while they were pinning him against a wall to handcuff him. "The Fourth Amendment prohibits the use of excessive force, and the right to be free from forcible injection is absolutely a recognized and protected liberty interest," Craven said. Black people, men especially, have spoken out about the dangers of. She and her team also investigated how interpersonal influences such as community and social networks can influence ones decision to wear a mask. CBS / Mari Newman Elijah McClain died after police. Nevertheless, Aurora Fire paramedics who had been summoned to the scene because of the neck restraint "injected McClain with ketamine while police personnel held him on the ground," Sentinel Colorado reports. Some were strapped to ambulance stretchers. The Denver Nuggets' head coach wore a "Justice For Elijah McClain" T-shirt at a game. Both Sides of a Breakup: She Didnt Tell Her Family She Was Dating a Woman, At Bottega Veneta, Characters You May Know. In 157 pages, the investigators contend that the APD stretched the record to exonerate the officers rather than present a neutral version of the facts, and that police particularly Woodyard, who placed his hands on McClain within ten seconds of exiting his vehicle, investigators said escalated what may have been a consensual encounter with Mr. McClain into an investigatory stop without reason to suspect criminal activity. When paramedics arrived, they gave him what was described as a therapeutic dose of ketamine; body camera footage shows that it made his body go limp when he was loaded onto a gurney. According to the department's incident report, an unknown person called 911 because McClain was wearing a ski mask and "acting weird" by "waving his arms around." Someone called 911 to report a suspicious man, and when police officers arrived, they told McClain to stop. McClain was pronounced dead three days later. Elijah McClain was only 23 years old when he was murdered by police officers in Aurora, Colorado while he was simply walking home from the gas station on the cold night of August 24th, 2019 after buying his brother an iced tea. Councilperson Juan Marcanosaid he felt it was crucial to put together a code of rules regarding the use of the carotid pressure ban to ensure its impact. Elijah McClain GoFundMe/Sheneen McClain On August 23, 2019, McClain was walking home just after 10:30 p.m. after buying tea from a local convenience store. In addition, the petition calls for a new, in-depth investigation into McClains death. His family said McClain wore the mask because he had anemia, which caused him to get cold easily. The woman given ketamine had requested an asthma pump after police sprayed her with mace. The officers body cameras allegedly got jostled out of place during the struggle, so much of the video footage of their actions against McClain is lost. He was placed in a choke hold for 15 minutes, despite already being restrained, hand-cuffed and vomiting. McClain died in the hospital three days later. The former quarterback is reportedly considering.comedy? McClain, a massage therapist, was wearing a ski mask and typically did so because of a blood condition that made him feel cold, his family has said. In a span of 18 minutes, the lawsuit said, defendants subjected Elijah to a procession of needless and brutal force techniques and unnecessary, recklessly administered medication, the combined effects of which he could not survive., In November 2021, city officials and lawyers for Mr. McClains family said they had finalized an agreement to settle the civil rights lawsuit for $15 million. We should learn the answer if we can, because this use of ketamine as a tool of law enforcement isn't unique. A lover of animals and music, McClain was walking home from a convenience store. dangers of wearing any mask as a Black person, police murders of Black people with health conditions or a disability, cleared without repercussions by the police board in February, Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas jail after being arrested for a lane change violation, had epilepsy and depression, Eric Garner, who was killed by New York police officers who put him in a choke hold, had asthma, diabetes and a heart condition, Baltimore residentFreddie Gray, who had a developmental disability, died after a spinal injury caused by a rough ride in a police van, Tanisha Anderson, who lived in Ohio, was having a mental health crisis when police restrained her face down outside her home, which killed her. Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here. Death of Elijah McClain. I hear and understand Councils concernsas well as the communitysabout the individual that was hired to conduct the review, Twombly said in a statement on June 10. Much of the story of McClain's death is horribly familiar: Like Trayvon Martin, he was walking home from a convenience store with an iced tea. After a handful of Zoom dates, Zach is back in action, but who will come out on top? After officers restrained him on the ground, he vomited several times, for which he apologized, saying, Im sorry, I wasnt trying to do that, I cant breathe correctly.. The manner of death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, was still listed as undetermined. McClains family says he often wore a ski mask because he has anemia, a blood condition that made him get cold easily. An officer said in the body camera footage that officers had put him out with a carotid hold twice, at least once successfully, meaning Mr. McClain had lost consciousness. If the ketamine contributed to his death which the autopsy report declines to say perhaps McClain had an "idiosyncratic" reaction, a possibility the report allows. Upon arrival at the hospital he was admitted and subsequently placed on life support. He is laying on the ground vomiting, he is begging, he is saying, I cant breathe, says a quote from the familys lawyer, Mari Newman, on the petition page. When an independent report investigating the August 2019 death of Elijah McClain was released in February, it found that police had no legally justifiable reason to stop McClain that evening let alone search him and restrain him with multiple carotid chokeholds. She stopped breathing after being tranquilized and had to be revived. His sister later told a local ABC affiliate, Denver7, that McClain was wearing an open-face ski mask because he had anemia and would sometimes get cold. And although he was unarmed, simply walking home, and, his sister said, listening to music, police claimed that a struggle ensued. One officer accused McClain of reaching for his gun though, as an independent report on the incident would later make clear, Woodyard, Roedema, and Rosenblatt offered conflicting accounts of whose gun McClain had supposedly tried to grab. After the fact, the report says, detectives with the APDs Major Crimes unit failed to ask basic, critical questions about the justification for the use of force and seemingly ignored contrary evidence in its investigation of the incident. Body camera footage, released three months after Mr. McClains death, shows three officers identified by the Aurora authorities as Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema arriving at the scene at around 10:30 p.m. One officer approached Mr. McClain, who was listening to music, and told him to stop walking. Advocates also honored McClains life, who Newman said was a kind, loving person who made friends everywhere he went., He was a person who, immediately before this whole event, was in a convenience store making friends with strangers, Newmanadded. Bodycam video shows that the officers told McClain he was "being suspicious," while McClain responded, "I have a right to go where I am going." Several officers responded to the call and at least one officer forced. Meanwhile, the paramedics each face one count of second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury; second-degree assault for recklessly causing serious bodily injury by means of a deadly weapon (ketamine); and one count of second-degree assault for a purpose other than lawful medical or therapeutic treatment. In addition to McClain, just a few of the police murders of Black people with health conditions or a disabilityinclude: The three Aurora, Colorado, police officers involved in McClains murder identified on social media Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema reported that McClain resisted officer contact, at which point they engaged in a struggle with McClain. The case will continue following the defendants arraignment on August 12. And I dont use the word torture lightly. It is unclear if the officers action contributed as well., As Mari Newman, an attorney for McClains family, said at the time, though, Whatever the report says, its clear that if the police had not attacked Elijah McClain, he would be alive today., The APD placed Woodyard, Rosenblatt, and Roedema on paid administrative leave in the incidents immediate aftermath. Police body-camera video shows an officer getting out of his car, approaching McClain on the. 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