/PG/ Aurora, Colorado (Signal High) —– Elijah McClain was just 23 years old and, by all accounts, a young, well-liked, self-described “introvert” – a black man who was simply walking home from the store, listening to music, minding his own business. Until he was confronted by Aurora police.
Police concede that McClain was not suspected of a crime. They claim that McClain ignored police orders to stop, that he was wearing a full-face balaclava and that there were complaints about “a sketchy person” in the area. It was later revealed that McClain was wearing headphones, and the balaclava was to protect him from chronic chills brought on by anaemia, a bona fide medical condition that many Americans suffer from.
The interaction between police and McClain isn’t disputed. Three police officers grabbed him and pinned him against a wall. One of the officers said “He just grabbed your gun, dude.” (oddly enough, there was no video evidence to support the gun grabbing claim). McClain, who’s hands were up in surrender, pleaded with the officers not to hurt him. Again, none of this seemed to matter to police. He was beaten, thrown to the ground, pinned to the concrete and held in a chokehold. When paramedics arrived, they skipped the essential medical assessments they are supposed to perform. They simply pulled up and injected McClain with the maximum permissible dosage of ketamine, a powerful sedative. One of the contributing factors for this was that one of the police officers, Randy Roedema, told them McClain was “definitely on something.”
McClain lost consciousness. He never woke up.
Three police officers and two paramedics were indicted. Police officers Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard were acquitted late in 2023. Police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, and was sentenced today to fourteen months in prison. In court, Roedema testified that he “responded in the way we were trained to do.” Judge Mark Werner said he was “shocked by what appeared to be, really, indifference to Elijah McClain’s suffering […] McClain was handcuffed and really wasn’t much of a threat to anybody.”
In December, 2023, paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Cichuniec was also convicted of second-degree assault, but Cooper was cleared of that charge. It was determined that the two failed to conduct basic medical checks on McClain before they injected the maximum dose of ketamine, that they left him lying on the ground making it difficult to breathe, and that they failed to monitor his condition. McClain died when he was removed from life support three days later. The two could face years in prison.
In 2021, the City of Aurora agreed to pay a $15 million settlement.
Signal High News Corporation will continue to monitor.
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