What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain

[tulc]

What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain

Last August, police officers in Aurora, Colorado, approached 23-year-old Elijah McClain as he walked home from a convenience store. The Aurora Police Department later said that a 911 caller had reported a “suspicious person” in a ski mask, and that when officers confronted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any kind of crime — he “resisted arrest.” In the 15 minutes that followed, the officers tackled McClain to the ground, put him in a carotid hold, and called first responders, who injected him with ketamine. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital, and died days later, after he was declared brain dead.

tulc( )

 

[redleghunter]

Lord have Mercy.

 

[jgarden]

What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain

Young black males grow up hearing a litany of these stories that the police are not their friends - in the 21stC where these confrontations are now being recorded on video, the traditional resisting arrest excuses just don't stand up to scrutiny!

 

[sunshineforJesus]

This story is so sad.

 

[disciple Clint]

What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain

tulc( )

From the subject article:
cleared of wrongdoing apparently on the basis of questionable body-camera footage and an allegedly inconclusive autopsy. (opinionated statement)
the deadly tactics that police often deploy against Black people. (opinionated statement)
“Whatever the report says, it’s clear that if the police had not attacked Elijah McClain, he would be alive today.” (opinionated statement)
We are disappointed, but not surprised that once again, members of law enforcement will not [be] held criminally accountable for killing an unarmed Black man.” (opinionated statement)
Arnett believes that, in addition to helping manage a chronic chill that McClain attributed to his anemia, wearing a mask helped him manage his social anxiety. “He would hide behind that mask,” Arnett said. “It was protection for him, too. It made him more comfortable being in the outside world.”( had a ski mask on in August)
“The decedent was violently struggling with officers who were attempting to restrain him,” (resisting) “therapeutic” amount of ketamine to sedate him, while officers held him down.(resisting)

 

[hislegacy]

What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain

tulc( )

what a different story it would’ve been if he had just stopped and talk to the officers.

 

[tulc]

what a different story it would’ve been if he had just stopped and talk to the officers.

It wouldn't have been a story at all if they hadn't choked him, dog piled on him, drugged him and killed him.
tulc(just thought that should be pointed out)

 

[hislegacy]

It wouldn't have been a story at all if they hadn't choked him, dog piled on him, drugged him and killed him.
tulc(just thought that should be pointed out)

The body cameras footage was the reason why the officers were not charged.

Thought I would point that out.

 

[hislegacy]

Quote from the link in the OP

The Aurora Police Department later said that a 911 caller had reported a “suspicious person” in a ski mask, and that when officers confronted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any kind of crime — he “resisted arrest.”
​

let’s see, summertime and he is walking down the street with a ski mask. Nothing unusual there.

The officers try to stop him and he doesn’t comply.

Don’t misinterpret me, his death is sad, but had he stopped and complied with their lawful orders, he would most likely be still alive today.

Also from the same link:

who subsequently said McClain “resisted contact” and continued down the street.​

In other words he ingnored the police and kept on moving.

Due to the level of physical force applied while restraining the subject and his agitated mental state,” officers then called Aurora First Responders,
​

That is another way of saying he was out of control. Which is why they used a sedative.

if we are going to intellectually honest, we have to look at both sides of what happened.

 

[tulc]

The body cameras footage was the reason why the officers were not charged.

Thought I would point that out.

You mean these body cams?

Very little of the officers’ protocol can be seen, however, because all of their body cams allegedly fell off during the arrest. (emph.added)

and

Body-cam footage of the arrest does exist, although the ADP did not release it to the public until late November, months after McClain’s death. In the footage, an officer can be heard admitting McClain had done nothing illegal prior to his arrest;

followed, of course by, the ever popular police refrain:

another accuses McClain of reaching for one of their guns.

this one has footage from the arrest:
Friends, Family Of Elijah McClain Demand Accountability With Aurora Police
tulc( )

 

[tulc]

hmmm...interesting phrase "agitated state", you mean like three people are attacking you (after admitting you weren't doing anything illegal), threatening to set a dog on you, choking you and you can't breath, agitated?
tulc(suspects most of us would be agitated in that situation)

 

[hislegacy]

hmmm...interesting phrase "agitated state", you mean like three people are attacking you (after admitting you weren't doing anything illegal), threatening to set a dog on you, choking you and you can't breath, agitated?
tulc(suspects most of us would be agitated in that situation)

You mean after they gave you a lawful order to stop and you didn’t?


We might not see eye to eye on everything, but if you can’t see if he had just complied with their instructions it would not have escalated. There is no balance.

A man is walking down the street in the summer with a ski mask on. A person calls the police about the man wearing a ski mask in the summer. The police response to that call and the man ignores them and attempts to walk off.

what should the police have done at that point?

 

[hislegacy]

Ok officer @tulc you are a police officer on patrol and receive a call about a suspicious man wearing a ski mask in summer. You respond to the call and find the man.

you pull you patrol car over and exit, asking or ordering the man to stop. He completely ignores you and keeps walking.

what do you do next?

hislegacy. (Hopes to get a reply that isn’t It wouldn’t.... but instead what he would do.

 

[tulc]

You mean after they gave you a lawful order to stop and you didn’t?

The thing that comes to my mind is:
The first thing I would have done was make sure he heard me, he was wearing a ski mask which means they couldn't see his ears and since one way most people who deal with social anxiety is to listen to music he probably didn't hear them yelling at him in the first place remember what he said:

... stopping my music to listen,

So he had the music on and than he reached to turn it down at which point they choked someone who had trouble breathing. Then they complained because he got "agitated".

(snip) but if you can’t see if he had just complied with their instructions it would not have escalated.

He was just carrying his groceries home, so really the only people escalating this situation were the police officers.

There is no balance.

hmmm...people screaming, can't breathe, being choked and and dealing with obvious mental health issues. And the person who is expected to have "balance" is the one who ended up dead.

A man is walking down the street in the summer with a ski mask on. A person calls the police about the man wearing a ski mask in the summer. The police response to that call and the man ignores them and attempts to walk off.

what should the police have done at that point?

Sat across the street, watch him and assess the situation to see if there was any need to deal with it in the first place. Since you ask, that's what I would have done.
tulc(is going to need more coffee soon)

 

[hislegacy]

Sat across the street, watch him and assess the situation to see if there was any need to deal with it in the first place. Since you ask, that's what I would have done.
tulc(is going to need more coffee soon)

I thank God you are not a cop. Just sit back and watch him, ignore the need already presented to ‘deal with it’ in the first place.

I hope you are never in need and a cop that fits that description responds to you.

 

[tulc]

I thank God you are not a cop. Just sit back and watch him, ignore the need already presented to ‘deal with it’ in the first place.

He'd still be alive today if they'd done what I suggested.

I hope you are never in need and a cop that fits that description responds to you.

I also would survive an encounter with the police if they watched to see if I was a threat before acting.
tulc(in fact has encountered just that sort of reaction from the police and has never seen anything bad come from them just taking a second to assess before acting)

 

[hislegacy]

He'd still be alive today if they'd done what I suggested.

Ditto: He would still be alive if he had done what I suggested.

 

[tulc]

Ditto: He would still be alive if he had done what I suggested.

Sure, if he'd initiated contact with the police. He didn't. All he did was walk to a store, buy some groceries and then tried to walk home. Instead it ended up with him dying at the hands of the very people who were ostensibly sworn to protect people who get cold when other people think they shouldn't be.
tulc( )

 

[Hank77]

hmmm...people screaming, can't breathe, being choked and and dealing with obvious mental health issues. And the person who is expected to have "balance" is the one who ended up dead.

When I was a kid I was shopping with my mom when I saw a woman walking down the street. It was summer but she was bundled up as if it were winter, all you could see were her eyes. My mother told me that she was mentally ill, there is a name for it but I don't remember what it is. She said that it made the woman feel safe.

I think you had a good solution. The 911 call didn't say that the person was doing anything wrong. You would think that big-city police would have some kind of training to deal with unusual situations like this.
But even so, why would they stop someone who isn't doing anything wrong? Do we have a dress code now? If you don't dress like the police think you should dress they can just interfere in your life?

 

[disciple Clint]

When I was a kid I was shopping with my mom when I saw a woman walking down the street. It was summer but she was bundled up as if it were winter, all you could see were her eyes. My mother told me that she was mentally ill, there is a name for it but I don't remember what it is. She said that it made the woman feel safe.

I think you had a good solution. The 911 call didn't say that the person was doing anything wrong. You would think that big-city police would have some kind of training to deal with unusual situations like this.
But even so, why would they stop someone who isn't doing anything wrong? Do we have a dress code now? If you don't dress like the police think you should dress they can just interfere in your life?

well if you just got dispatched to respond to a complaint about someone acting strange who had on a ski mask in August and you then see a person matching that description would you not approach that individual and see what is going on, could be that the person is having a mental health issue and needs help.