Colorado Politics

Independent report to be released on death of Elijah McClain after police encounter

A year and a half after Elijah McClain was killed in police custody, Aurora officials and activists are awaiting Monday’s release of a third-party external review of the case.

The city announced Friday that it expects the report to be publicly released Monday morning.

The investigation team will then present their findings to Aurora’s City Council on Monday at 5 p.m.

McClain, a Black man, was 23 years old when he was killed in Aurora after being placed in a chokehold by police and sedated by fire rescue paramedics on Aug. 24, 2019, officials have said.

Officers from the Aurora Police Department were responding to a 911 call in which a passerby said McClain looked “suspicious” while he walked home from a convenience store.

Officers say they demanded he stop, which McClain refused. They then put McClain in a now-banned chokehold and knelt on his body until he vomited and lost consciousness, investigations have found.

When Aurora Fire and Rescue personnel arrived, paramedics diagnosed McClain with excited delirium and gave him 500 mg of ketamine, a sedative, reports have found.

While McClain was being prepared for transport in the ambulance, paramedics noticed he was not breathing and didn’t have a pulse. He never regained consciousness.

McClain was pronounced brain dead on Aug. 27 and taken off life support on Aug. 30. During the altercation, McClain was unarmed and had committed no crime, reports found.

McClain’s death inspired national protests against police brutality and racial profiling, including several Black Lives Matter protests and marches in Denver in recent months.

Police and Aurora Fire Rescue have denied any wrongdoing in McClain’s death and officers have not been charged or fired for the incident. However, three Aurora officers who mocked McClain’s death in a selfie were fired.

In July, the Aurora City Council ordered an external investigation into the McClain case.

Attorney General Phil Weiser announced last month he was opening a grand jury investigation into McClain’s death.

“Our investigation will be thorough, guided by the facts and law, and worthy of the public’s trust,” Weiser said in a release. “In order to maintain the impartiality and integrity of the process, we have no further comment at this time.”

McClain’s family is also pursuing a civil lawsuit against Aurora for his death. A federal court ruled that lawsuit will continue amid a grand jury investigation.

The public can watch the investigation team’s presentation on Monday on AuroraTV.org or Comcast Channels 8/880.

Elijan McClain in a ski mask pays for cans of tea before he left the convenience store and encountered Aurora police nearby on Aug. 24, 2020.
JoeyBunch, Colorado Politicsjoey.bunch@coloradopolitics.comhttps://www.coloradopolitics.com/content/tncms/avatars/6/70/8cf/6708cfca-eabc-11e8-9a46-bf7a51d49447.afaf41e1b93ded859377d9abf86ee22e.png
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