Colorado governor announces review of Elijah McClain's death in police custody

AP
Kit Heren25 June 2020

Colorado is set to re-examine the death of a young black man in police custody after growing outrage and a petition was signed by more than two million people.

Elijah McClain, 23, died in 2019 after being put in a chokehold and injected with ketamine by emergency services in Denver, the state's capital.

Colorado's Governor Jared Polis said that maintaining trust in the police was "incredibly important now more than ever" as he announced on Thursday that a review of the incident would be launched.

Mr McClain's case has gained more attention along with a raft of other incidences of perceived racial injustice following the death of George Floyd and the worldwide protests against police brutality on black people.

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Mr Polis said on Twitter that he had heard from many Colorado residents who had "expressed concerns" with the investigation into Mr McClain's death."

He added: "A fair and objective process free from real or perceived bias for investigating officer-involved killings is critical," he said.

He later said he had appointed Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser "to investigate and, if the facts support prosecution, criminally prosecute any individuals whose actions caused the death of Elijah McClain."

Mr McClain was walking around Aurora, a Denver suburb, on 24 August 2019 when three white police officers arrived following reports of a "suspicious person" matching his description.

He resisted contact with the officers, and can be heard on body cam footage telling them to respect his "boundaries" as he is an introvert.

One of the officers can be heard saying "he is going for your gun", before the three men wrestled Mr McClain to the ground.

They released him after he lost consciousness, according to a later report by the district attorney.

Mr McClain then began to struggle again, before police called for help, with an ambulance and the fire brigade then arriving at the scene.

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A fire department medic injected him with the powerful sedative ketamine. He was put on a stretcher before the medic saw that Mr McClain's chest "was not rising on its own, and he did not have a pulse". He was declared brain dead three days later.

The coroner's report found that the cause of death was undetermined.

Mr McClain's family have said that the police officers used excessive force for around 15 minutes, while Mr McClain vomited, told them he couldn't breathe and pleaded for them to stop.

Their lawyer Mari Newman said the footage showed that "the police were nothing short of sadistic, brutalizing and terrorising a gentle, peaceful man as he lay there begging."

Mr McClain's mother Sheneen McClain wrote that her son "brought joy to everyone who met him. The world is a darker place without him".

She added that he was "changing this world, one by one, wherever he went with acceptance of ourselves and what makes us happy", she said.

District Attorney Dave Young has said he would not charge the officers, with "no reasonable likelihood of success of proving any state crimes".

The city of Aurora has said it is reviewing the case and is "considering a panel of experts from across the country."

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