Colorado police and paramedics who stopped Elijah McClain made a series of crucial mistakes that culminated in the young man’s death in 2019, discoveries from an independent investigation revealed on Monday.
Aurora police had no justification for stopping or using force to arrest McClain, and paramedics in response sedated him with ketamine “doing nothing but a brief visual observation” of the 23-year-old black man, according to a panel of medical and legal experts appointed by the City Council, who commissioned the report.
McClain was stopped on August 24, 2019 in Aurora by police officers who responded to a call reporting a suspected person in the area.
McClain’s initial stop was questionable, as “none of the officers pleaded a crime that they thought Mr. McClain had committed, was committing or was about to commit,” the report concluded.
“This decision had ramifications for the rest of the meeting,” according to the conclusions.
A choke was used during the confrontation and he was injected with ketamine, with authorities believing he was in a state of excited delusion and posing a threat to the police, officials said.
“Based on the record available to the panel, we were unable to identify sufficient evidence that Mr. McClain was armed and was dangerous to warrant a shredded search,” said the report. “The panel also notes that an official’s explanation that Aurora officers are trained to ‘act before it increases’ does not meet the constitutional requirement of reasonable suspicion of conduct (a stop or search).”
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound McClain received ketamine that would be suitable for a 190-pound man, according to the panel’s findings.
“Aurora Fire appears to have accepted the police officers’ impression that Mr. McClain excited the delusion without corroborating that impression through significant observations or diagnostic tests from Mr. McClain,” the report said.
“In addition, EMS administered a ketamine dosage based on a grossly inaccurate and inflated estimate of Mr. McClain’s size. Higher doses may carry a greater risk of sedation complications, for which this team was clearly not prepared ”.
McClain lost consciousness and was removed from life support on August 30.
The young man’s death gained national interest over the summer due to the assassination of George Floyd in Minneapolis, when millions of Americans took to the streets protesting police brutality and systemic racism.
Monday’s report, however, failed to blame “implicit bias” for McClain’s death.
“In examining this single incident, the panel does not have enough information to determine what role, if any, prejudice played in meeting Aurora police and EMS staff with McClain,” according to city-commissioned experts.
“However, research indicates that factors such as increased perceived threat, perceived extraordinary strength, perceived greater tolerance for pain and erroneous perceptions of age and size may be indicative of prejudice.”
Over the summer, however, Colorado became the first state to end so-called “qualified immunity,” a legal principle that generally protects police and other government officials from being personally held accountable in civil courts.
Earlier, firefighters and emergency medical personnel in Aurora said a preliminary review concluded that doctors’ actions on the night the police detained McClain were “consistent and in line with our established protocols”.
A spokesman for the Aurora Police Department declined to comment on Monday, while a fire department representative could not be reached immediately.
Union representatives of police and fire officials were also not immediately available for comment.
Aurora City Council is due to meet at 5 pm (MST) to discuss the findings. Aurora city manager Jim Twombly said city officials were still digesting the report on Monday morning.
This is a developing story, update here to get updates.
