Elijah McClain’s death is subject to investigation by the grand jury

Elijah McClain’s death is subject to investigation by the grand jury

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“Pursuant to the Governor’s executive order, the Attorney General’s Office is conducting an independent investigation into the events of August 24, 2019 involving Elijah McClain and his subsequent death,” the statement said.

“The grand jury is an investigative tool that has the power to enforce witnesses and require documents and other relevant information,” the statement said.

“Our investigation will be thorough, guided by the facts and legislation and worthy of public trust. To maintain the impartiality and integrity of the process,” the statement said.

McClain’s deaths attracted renewed attention last summer following the murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. As protests escalated nationwide, McClain and his family emphasized their monthly call for justice in protests in the Denver suburb.

On the night of August 24, 2019, McClain was walking home with an iced tea from a convenience store when he was confronted by three police officers in Aurora, Colorado.

Officers stopped him after a 911 caller hit a suspicious person with a ski mask walking along Billings Street in Aurora, according to a police statement. The report says McClain “resisted” contact with officers before a fight broke out.

“I’m an introvert,” McClain heard in police camera footage after officers confronted him. “Please respect the boundaries I speak.”

“Relax,” an officer said at one point, “or I’ll have to change this situation.”

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Before an officer wrestles him to the ground, McClain is heard telling officers he is trying to stop his music so he can listen to it.

During the fight, one officer is heard saying, “He just grabbed your gun, dude.” One officer tells McClain that he “will take out my dog ​​and he will bite you” if McClain continues to “spill.”

A letter from the Adams County District Attorney states that an officer placed McClain in a necklace, restricting blood flow to the brain. McClain briefly lost consciousness, the letter reads, but still struggled after officers released the space.

The DA’s letter said paramedics showed up and administered ketamine, a powerful anesthetic. McClain was taken to a hospital but had a heart attack along the way. He was declared brain dead three days later, on August 27, the letter reads.

The autopsy performed by the coroner did not determine the cause of death, but an intense physical exertion and a narrow left coronary artery were a contributing factor.

The report takes into account McClain’s history of asthma and throat disease, although the autopsy did not determine whether it contributed to McClain’s death. The concentration of ketamine in his system was at a ‘therapeutic level’, according to the report.

Eventually, McClain’s death could be an accident, the result of natural causes or a homicide, the autopsy concluded.

McClain’s family lawyer, Mari Newman, called the autopsy “very strange.” She said it “ignores the most obvious factor, namely that a perfectly healthy young man with a bottle of iced tea in a bag walks home from the pharmacy and he is dead.”

Three officers involved were initially placed on administrative leave, but were later reinstated when prosecutors refused to file the criminal complaint.
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In a November 2019 letter to Aurora’s then Chief of Police, District Attorney Dave Young writes that his office does not find enough evidence to prove that officers are violating Colorado law or that their use of force is unfair. A police investigative board said in February that the use of force, including neck disease, was within policy and in line with training.
Young stood by his decision not to charge the officers, but said McClain’s death was “tragic and unnecessary” and had earlier told CNN that he did not approve of the officers’ actions.
“In fact, I do not agree with what they did on the night of August 24, 2019,” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in June. But referring to the autopsy, he said: “I can not take a case to the jury where I do not know the cause of death in a case of murder.”

But amid recent police and race brutality scandals, some felt McClain’s death deserved a second look, and by June, more than two million people had signed an online petition asking for a new investigation .

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In late June, the Colorado government approached Jared Polis, Colorado’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, to conduct an independent investigation into McClain’s death and file criminal charges if necessary.

“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 nationwide cause,” Polis said in a statement at the time.

In August, Weiser confirmed that he was conducting a separate investigation into the police department and whether its “patterns and practices” were unconstitutional. Furthermore, the city of Aurora commissioned its own investigation into the police department and hired an external consultant to conduct a “comprehensive investigation”.

CNN’s Leslie Perrot, Madeline Holcombe, Brad Parks, Amir Vera, Caroline Kelly and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

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