Calls for Justice After Elijah McClain's Death Resurfaces
Photo of Elijah McClain published on CBSN Denver.
Recent Black Lives Matters protests are calling for justice after news of Elijah McClain’s death resurfaced following his encounter with police in Aurora, Colorado on Aug. 24, 2019.
The night of his apprehension, the 23-year-old was walking home after buying iced tea for his brother from a local convenience store, according to an article published on ABC News.
A person then called 911 at about 10:30 p.m. after witnessing McClain walk home. The caller said McClain appeared sketchy and was wearing a ski-mask but was unarmed, reports ABC News. According to his surviving family’s attorney Mari Newman, McClain was wearing a ski-mask that night because he was cold
Officers from the Aurora Police Department approached McClain and later put him in a carotid control hold, which restricts blood flow to the brain from the carotid arteries, the ABC News article said.
"I was just going home," McClain can be heard saying in the police body camera footage published on the ABC News article. "I don't do that stuff. I don't do any fighting."
Paramedics from the Aurora Fire Department then administered an anesthetic called ketamine to tranquilize McClain. He was placed in an ambulance and suffered from cardiac arrest, according to the ABC News article.
McClain died at a hospital a couple days later on Aug. 30, 2019. His family said he was brain dead and covered in bruises, according to an article published on the Cut.
“[McClain's death is] one of the many, many examples... of an innocent young person who was absolutely minding his own business and was doing nothing wrong and was murdered by law enforcement," Newman said in the ABC News article.
On June 27, 2020, a vigil was organized in Aurora, Colorado for McClain. A group of violinists and cellists played classical pieces together to commemorate McClain during the vigil–after videos of McClain playing his violin at animal shelters to comfort kittens have gone viral on social media, according to an article published on the Cut.
People have also voiced on social media that McClain might have been on the autism spectrum because of how he spoke while being detained by police and how he wore a ski-mask possibly to calm himself.
Sherri Shepherd, a co-host on “The View,” posted a video on Instagram describing how McClain behaved similarly to her own son who has autism.
"My son is like Elijah," Shepherd said in the video. "Elijah died because nobody got to know the beauty. The cops, you didn’t take the time to see what Elijah said–that he was different.”
A petition titled “Justice for Elijah McClain” has gathered about 3.9 million signatures as of yet on Change.org. A fundraiser started by his mother has gathered about $2 million on GoFundMe.
To prepare your loved ones on the autism spectrum to safely interact with law enforcement, read our blog post here.