Colorado reopens inquiry into Elijah McClain's 2019 death
Source: AP
By PATTY NIEBERG and THOMAS PEIPERT
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado governor told the state’s top prosecutor Thursday to reopen the investigation into the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man put into a chokehold by police who stopped him on the street in suburban Denver last year.
Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order directing state Attorney General Phil Weiser to investigate McClain’s death and possibly prosecute the three white officers involved. McClain’s name has become a rallying cry during the national reckoning over racism and police brutality following the deaths of George Floyd and others.
“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,” Polis said in a statement.
He said he had spoken with McClain’s mother and was moved by her description of her son as a “responsible and curious child ... who could inspire the darkest soul.”
File-In this Nov. 23, 2019, file photo, demonstrators gather for a press conference at the Aurora Municipal Center after the police department released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain, who died after being stopped by three Aurora officers in August 2019. (Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado via AP,File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/a1bdd8520088016cafe5a26c29146e84
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Classical Music FeaturesJun 25, 2020
Elijah McClain plays violin for shelter cats. Mari Newman
Among the victims of police brutality coming to light over the past month — in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis — is the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old black man who died after being detained by police in Aurora, Colo., last year.
A petition has garnered more than 2 million signatures in just over three weeks, as reported by CBS News.
Along with demands for justice, people have been sharing stories of McClain's life, telling of his kindness and compassion. He was a violinist and would play music to cats at shelters so they wouldn't be lonely.
According to the petition at Change.org:
August 24th, 2019, 23-year-old Elijah McClain was walking home after buying some tea at a local convenience store. According to Elijah's family, Elijah, who was anemic, preferred to wear a ski mask to keep his face warm while he was walking. The Aurora Police Department received a call of a "suspicious man". This call resulted in Elijah's death. After the McClain family requested the bodycam footage from the officers on scene it was reported that in the footage,
"He is laying on the ground vomiting, he is begging, he is saying, 'I can't breathe.' One of the officers says, 'Don't move again. If you move again, I'm calling in a dog to bite you,'" -Mari Newman (the McClain's lawyer)
More:
https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2020/06/25/elijah-mcclain
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Colorado governor reopens investigation into the death of Elijah McClain, 23, who died after being placed in a chokehold by cops and being sedated with ketamine on his way home from convenience store
More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8460547/Colorado-governor-calls-investigation-death-black-man-Elijah-McClain.html
Thank you, Omaha Steve, for this information. What a shame it is that it got so little attention in the first place, and justice was averted.
