[Elijah] McClain worked as a massage therapist, and taught himself to play both the guitar and the violin. According to the Sentinel, he often spent his lunch breaks at local animal shelters, putting on concerts for cats and dogs because he believed music would help soothe their anxiety. Those who knew him describe him as gentle: “I don’t even think he would set a mouse trap if there was a rodent problem,” his friend, Eric Behrens, told the Sentinel.
He often developed friendships with his massage clients, like April Young, who told the Sentinel: “He had a child-like spirit … He lived in his own little world. He was never into, like, fitting in. He just was who he was.”
“He was the sweetest, purest person I have ever met,” another of his friends and former clients, Marna Arnett, added. “He was definitely a light in a whole lot of darkness.” Arnett believes that, in addition to helping manage a chronic chill that McClain attributed to his anemia, wearing a mask helped him manage his social anxiety. “He would hide behind that mask,” Arnett said. “It was protection for him, too. It made him more comfortable being in the outside world.”
Speaking to CBSN Denver, his mother, Sheneen McClain, described her son as incredibly determined. “I thank God that he was my son because just him being born brought life into my world, you know what I mean?” she said. “I know he was giving life to other people too” (Lampen 5).
Just after 10:30 p.m. on August 24, 2019, the Aurora Police Department received a call about a “suspicious person” wearing a mask and waving his hands. They dispatched three officers — Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt, and Randy Roedema — who subsequently said McClain “resisted contact” and continued down the street.
According to McClain’s family, the 23-year-old had made a quick trip to the convenience store to pick up an iced tea for his brother. 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 say “a struggle ensued.” One officer accused McClain of reaching for his gun, and one put him in a carotid hold, which involves an officer applying pressure to the side of a person’s neck in order to temporarily cut off blood flow to the brain. “Due to the level of physical force applied while restraining the subject and his agitated mental state,” officers then called Aurora First Responders, who “administered life-saving measures,” according to a local NBC affiliate. Paramedics injected McClain with what they said was a “therapeutic” amount of ketamine to sedate him, while officers held him down.
McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, and was taken off life support on August 30. His family said at the time that he was brain dead, and covered in bruises.
Body cam footage of the arrest does exist, although the ADP did not release it to the public until late November 2019, months after McClain’s death. In the footage, an officer can be heard admitting McClain had done nothing illegal prior to his arrest; another accuses McClain of reaching for one of their guns. McClain, meanwhile, can be heard asking the officers to stop, explaining that they started to arrest him as he was “stopping [his] music to listen.” He gasps that he cannot breathe. He tells them his name, says he has ID but no gun, and pleads that his house is “right there.” He sobs, and vomits, and apologizes: “I wasn’t trying to do that,” he says. “I just can't breathe correctly.” One of the officers can also be heard threatening to set his dog on McClain if he “keep[s] messing around,” and claiming he exhibited an extreme show of strength when officers tried to pin back his arms.
Very little of the officers’ protocol can be seen, however, because all of their body cams allegedly fell off during the arrest. But if you watch the video from about the 15-minute mark (warning: it contains violent and upsetting content), you’ll see someone pick up the body camera and point it toward McClain and one of the officers, before dropping it back into the grass. Around 15:34, one of the officers seems to say, “Leave your camera there” (Lampen 3-4).
More officers arrived after Mr. McClain was restrained. While talking with one another, officers said that Mr. McClain was “acting crazy,” that he was “definitely on something,” and that he had attacked officers when they tried to restrain him. They also said that he had “incredible, crazy strength,” and that at one point three officers were on top of him.
... he vomited several times, for which he apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to do that, I can’t breathe correctly.”
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 (Tompkins 3).
McClain’s autopsy also raised questions. The Adams County Coroner announced in early November 2019 that it wasn’t clear whether his death had been an accident, or carotid hold–related homicide, or the result of natural causes. The coroner listed McClain’s cause of death as “undetermined,” but points to hemorrhaging in his neck and abrasions on different parts of his body. Noting that “an idiosyncratic drug reaction (an unexpected reaction to a drug even at a therapeutic level) cannot be ruled out” in reference to the ketamine dosage, the report’s wording seemed to pin responsibility on McClain himself.
“The decedent was violently struggling with officers who were attempting to restrain him,” it said, according to Denver 7 ABC. “Most likely the decedent’s physical exertion contributed to death. It is unclear if the officer’s action contributed as well” (Lampen 5).
In the report, it was also noted that Mr. McClain had chronic asthma.
In response to the autopsy report, Mari Newman, the lawyer representing Mr. McClain’s family, told Denver7 ABC, “Whatever the report says, it’s clear that if the police had not attacked Elijah McClain, he would be alive today.”
“They immediately went hands on and tackled him,” she said. “And of course the fact that all three of their body cameras fell off is something that we should all be pretty suspicious about. It makes it awfully easy for them to say whatever they want, but what we know is that they attacked him for no reason whatsoever. It was excessive force and it led to his death” (Tompkins 4).
The APD placed Woodyard, Rosenblatt, and Roedema on paid administrative leave in the incident’s immediate aftermath. On November 22, 2019, Adams County prosecutors announced that they would not bring charges against the trio, who then returned to normal duty. According to the Sentinel, District Attorney Dave Young informed Aurora police chief Nick Metz in a letter that, “Based on the investigation presented and the applicable Colorado law, there is no reasonable likelihood of success of proving any state crimes beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Therefore, no state criminal charges will be filed as a result of this incident.”
Metz subsequently called the officers’ threats to McClain “unprofessional,” and said that the comment had “been addressed with that officer through a written corrective action.” Newman, meanwhile, told the Sentinel: “If Aurora thinks this is appropriate policing, the community should be petrified. We are disappointed, but not surprised that once again, members of law enforcement will not [be] held criminally accountable for killing an unarmed Black man.”
On June 13, the APD quietly reassigned Woodyard and Rosenblatt to “non-enforcement duties,” with Roedema following on June 20. The APD did not reply to the Cut’s request for comment, but a spokesperson intimated to Fox 31 Denver that concern for the officers’ safety motivated the decision. Rosenblatt would be let go on July 3, but not for his involvement in McClain’s death. Interim police chief Wilson fired him, along with two other officers who appeared in photos taken at a memorial for McClain in October 2019.
In the images, another officer — Jaron Jones, who resigned — posed with his arm wrapped around officer Kyle Dittrich’s neck, a mocking imitation of the hold used on McClain. Both officers were smiling, while officer Erica Marrero grinned over their shoulders. Rosenblatt did not participate in the photograph, but he did text back “haha” when someone sent it to him, according to the New York Times. Announcing the termination, Wilson said that Rosenblatt was “being fired for his … utter inability to do the right thing here,” while Dittrich and Marrero showed “a lack of moral values and integrity.”
Over the summer, a surge in support fueled by social media campaigns and demonstrations translated to thousands of emails and calls to D.A. Young’s office, plus hundreds of complaints filed with the police department. On June 9, City Manager Jim Twombly agreed to undertake an independent investigation of McClain’s death, pursuant to Aurora lawmakers’ request. …
…
On February 22, the independent investigators released the results of their months-long inquest that combined body cam footage, videotaped interviews with the responding officers and their follow-up reports, notes from the scene, the 911 call and the dispatch record, the autopsy report, medical records, and more … (Lampen 5-6).
Police officers in Aurora, Colorado, did not have a legal basis to stop, frisk and use a chokehold on Elijah McClain, … an independent investigation has found.
According to a report published on Monday, “body worn camera audio, limited video and … interviews with the officers tell two contrasting stories. The officers’ statements on the scene and in subsequent recorded interviews suggest a violent and relentless struggle.”
The report added: “The limited video, and the audio from the body worn cameras, reveal Mr McClain surrounded by officers, all larger than he, crying out in pain, apologizing, explaining himself and pleading with the officers.”
… He was not suspected of any crime. Police had been called about a person wearing a ski mask and waving his arms. McClain was listening to music. His family said he wore the mask because he had a blood condition that caused him to get cold easily.
Police said he refused to stop and fought back when confronted. Body-camera video showed McClain telling officers: “Let go of me. I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking.”
But one officer attempted twice to put him in a specialized hold, pressing against his carotid artery and cutting off blood to the brain, a practice since banned in several places.
He was held down for 15 minutes, then given 500mg of ketamine, a sedative. …
The report released on Monday found that paramedics failed to properly examine McClain before injecting him with a dose based on a “grossly inaccurate” estimation of his weight. [They injected him with enough ketamine to sedate a person weighing 190 pounds. McClain weighed about 140 pounds.]
Body camera footage showed officer Nathan Woodyard making first contact with McClain, telling him, “I have a right to stop you because you’re being suspicious.” Video showed Woodyear grabbing McClain within 10 seconds of exiting his patrol car.
In a presentation of the report, Jonathan Smith, the executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs who led the investigation, said under case law, officers must have “reasonable, objective grounds” to justify an investigatory stop. Their reasoning – that he was acting suspicious by wearing a mask and waving his arms, and that he was in an area with a high crime rate – did not hold water, first in that it was not an area of high crime but also in that wearing a mask is not enough to be linked to criminal activity.
When another officer asserted that McClain’s refusal to stop was consistent with someone who “either just committed a crime” or someone who is “concealing something whether it be a weapon or drugs”, Smith pointed out that McClain was free to go. “Declining to submit to a consensual stop cannot serve as the basis of reasonable suspicion,” the report states.
At any rate, Smith noted, “Any threat or perceived threat would have dissipated quickly once Mr McClain was taken to the ground by Woodyear.” Yet “officers continued to use pain compliance techniques”, Smith said. “These appeared to be in response to any form of movement on Mr McClain’s part.”
The report recommended the Aurora police department conduct several reviews, including of how officers are trained to decide if they have a legal reason to stop, frisk and arrest people, and urged the city to consider overhauling how it reviews incidents.
It said department investigators who questioned the three officers who stopped and arrested McClain “failed to ask basic, critical questions” about their use of force needed by any prosecutor to determine if their use of force was legally justified (Staff 1-3).
“This case is a textbook example of law enforcement’s disparate and racist treatment of Black men,” McClain’s family members and their legal team said in a joint statement on February 22, per ABC. “Aurora’s continued failure to acknowledge the wrongdoing of its employees only exacerbates the problem.”
Despite local media coverage and some smaller rallies, McClain’s death did not initially receive widespread attention in the press — not until the killing of George Floyd sparked widespread protests against racially motivated police brutality over the summer (Lampen 2-3).
Aurora police officers Nathan Woodyard and Randy Roedema and former officer Jason Rosenblatt were never prosecuted for McClains's death.
[Aurora Police Department Interim Chief Vanessa] Wilson said she has made changes in officer training to emphasize de-escalation techniques and recognizing implicit bias. She also said protocols have been changed requiring officers to not solely rely on a 911 caller's description of a subject as acting suspiciously.
She declined to comment on why Woodyard and Roedema have not been disciplined and remain members of the police force, citing the ongoing criminal investigation by the state attorney general.
Wilson fired Rosenblatt last year after failing to report photos of officers mocking a carotid hold at a makeshift memorial for McClain and for responding "haha" when he was texted the images, the chief said. Rosenblatt filed a lawsuit against Wilson and the city asking for an independent review board hearing. His termination was upheld by the Aurora Civil Service Commission earlier this month (Hutchinson 2-3).
McClain’s family filed a lawsuit against Aurora on August 11, alleging that the city’s “unconstitutional conduct on the night of August 24, 2019, is part of a larger custom, policy, and practice of racism and brutality, as reflected by its conduct both before and after its murder of Elijah McClain, a young Black man,” according to CNN.
The suit lists members of the police department, including the officers involved in McClain’s death and those involved in the photo incident, and Aurora Fire Rescue, as defendants. It argues that there was no need to restrain McClain, who had not been accused of a crime, as aggressively as the officers did, and no need to inject him with a “massive dose of ketamine.” The suit suggests that McClain’s detention was a product of racial bias, which it says is reinforced by the city’s failure to “discipline” the parties responsible for his death. Further, the lawsuit points to recent, combative police response to peaceful protesters.
Mari Newman, the family’s attorney, said she intends the lawsuit “to hold accountable the Aurora officials, police officers, and paramedics responsible for [McClain’s] murder, and to force the City of Aurora to change it longstanding pattern of brutal and racist policing” (Lampen 8).
Over the last decade, Colorado prosecutors took at least 10 cases involving police killing people while on duty to grand juries, but only secured indictments in two of them — and none of those officers was convicted of the crime
That’s not good news for Elijah McClain’s mother and the thousands of community members who repeatedly have demanded that the Aurora police officers involved in the 23-year-old massage therapist’s death be charged and convicted of crimes.
Aurora city leaders on Monday released the damning results of an independent investigation into McClain’s 2019 death, but the city-commissioned investigators were not tasked with deciding whether police or paramedics committed crimes the night they detained, choked and sedated McClain.
That task is up to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has opened a grand jury investigation in the case. Gov. Jared Polis appointed Weiser special prosecutor in the case in June and Weiser has promised a thorough investigation and said the grand jury would act as an “investigative tool” because it can compel testimony and the production of evidence.
Prosecutors in the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office previously declined to charge the officers involved.
But Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, said she’s not happy the case is going to a grand jury. Her attorney, Qusair Mohamedbhai, said there is little transparency and few rules regarding how prosecutors conduct grand juries. Prosecutors have control over the narrative of the incident and can choose to present potential defenses for the accused, he said.
“The grand jury has traditionally been used as a political cover-up,” Mohamedbhai said.
Several local district attorneys have used grand juries in recent years in police shootings and said they are an important tool for complex cases or when prosecutors need to use the grand jury’s unique powers to force testimony.
“It can serve an incredibly valuable function,” Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said (Schmelzer 1-2).
[Paste the following using Google to view a videotape of Elijah McClain’s arrest]
“Elijah McClain's Final Words to the Police were Heart Breaking”
Works cited:
Hutchinson, Bill. “Police Chief Responds to Report on Elijah McClain's Death: 'I'm Extremely Sorry'.” ABC News, February 23, 2021. Net. https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-chief-responds-report-elijah-mcclains-death-im/story?id=76062930
Lampen, Claire. “What We Know about the Killing of Elijah McClain.” The Cut, February 22, 2021. Net. https://www.thecut.com/2021/02/the-killing-of-elijah-mcclain-everything-we-know.html
Guardian Staff, “lijah McClain Death: Colorado Police Had No Legal Basis To Restrain Man, Report Finds.” The Guardian, February 22, 2021. Net. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/22/elijah-mcclain-independent-investigation-police-colorado
Schmelzer, Elise. “Elijah McClain Case: Recent Colorado History Shows Few Examples of Police Indictments.” Denver Post, February 25, 2021. Net. https://www.denverpost.com/2021/02/25/elijah-mcclain-aurora-police-grand-jury/
Tompkins, Lucy. “Here’s What You Need To Know about Elijah McClain’s Death.” The New York Times, February 23, 2021. Net. https://www.nytimes.com/article/who-was-elijah-mcclain.html
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