The family of a young Black man who died after police in Aurora, Colo., Put him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with ketamine, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Tuesday.
Three White officers responding to reports of a suspected person wearing a ski mask, stopped Elijah McClain, 23, in August 2019. McClain was unarmed and apparently wore a ski mask because his anemia sometimes made him cold felt. The officers put him in a chokehold and pounded him with the carotid grip to the ground – applying some pressure to the side of a person’s neck, and cutting temporary blood flow to the brain. During the incident, McClain cried, saying he could not breathe and play.
Paramedics later injected him with about 500 milligrams of ketamine. The anesthetic is also known as ‘Special K’ when used illegally.
McClain went to the hospital in a heartbeat. A few days later, he was pronounced brain dead and life support was taken away.
FILE – In this June 27 photo, protesters carry a giant poster during a rally and march over the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain outside the police department in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski, File)
We have filed this civil rights lawsuit to demand justice for Elijah McClain, to hold Aurora officials, police and paramedics accountable for his murder, and to force the City of Aurora to change its years-long pattern of brutal and racist police, ”the family said in a statement released through their attorney.
3 COLORADO POLICE AFFICERS LINKED TO PHOTOS ON ELIJAH MCCLAIN MEMORIAL ARE FIRED: REPORTS
The lawsuit alleges that one of the officers McClain nodded his arm “with the sole purpose of inflicting pain by forcibly separating Elizah’s bicep and triceps muscles.”
The city of Aurora has bodycam footage and the 911 call that preceded the incident.
In parts of it, McClain denies in a sobbing voice that he did something wrong. He tells officers he is “just different”, and, “I can not breathe, please stop.”
‘When we got up, he was wearing a ski mask,’ one might say.
An autopsy ruled the cause of McClain’s death “not determined”, but said “intense physical exertion and a narrow left coronary artery” were contributing factors.
“Perhaps most likely the decedent’s physical effort contributed to the death,” the medical researcher found. “It is unclear if the actions of the officers also contributed.”
AURORA POLICE IN COLORADO PHRASE USING POWER DURING ELIJAH MCCLAIN PROTEST: REPORT
An internal review found that “respondents’ actions were consistent and consistent with established protocols established by physicians outside the city,” officials said.
The case received renewed attention after the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May. Floyd, who was also black, was apprehended by several officers, including one who held his knee for nearly nine minutes.
Sheneen McClain, right, is being cared for by family attorney Mari Newman at the memorial across the street from where McClain’s 23-year-old son, Elijah, was stopped by Aurora, Colo., Police department officers , while walking home as family members at a July 3 news conference in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski)
State authorities initially denied charges against the officers as the paramedics involved in the incident – but Gov. Jared Polis later appointed a special prosecutor to investigate. The city opened another independent investigation in late July.
And three Aurora police officers were fired and another fired in July after they were linked to photos taken near the site of a memorial to McClain, one of which showed officers re-deploying for the chokehold that was used on McClain
The Justice Department and FBI said in late June that they were considering their own possible civil rights investigation into the young man’s death.
McClain worked as a massage therapist, loved animals and taught himself how to play multiple instruments, according to the Colorado newspaper The Sentinel. He would play his violin for abandoned pets at animal shelters and was vegetarian.
CLICK HERE TO CLICK THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News’s Dom Calicchio and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
