Elijah McClain's Family Demands More Action After Aurora Police Officers Fired Over Photo Scandal
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- Elijah McClain's family is demanding more action after three police officers were fired and one resigned in connection to a photo scandal. One photo shows the officers reenacting the chokehold used on Elijah, who later died.
Elijah's mother, surrounded by her friends, family, attorney, and community leaders at the community memorial, demanded further action into the investigation surrounding her son's death last year. She remained silent, but the family's attorney delivered the message.
"Because they finally stand up and fire officers who are brutal, who are racist and who are reenacting that racism, we know that we've got a police department and a police association that is rotten to the core," said McClain attorney Mari Newman.
Friends of Sheneen Mcclain, Elijah's mother, said she did not want to speak until the officers who apprehended her son were sent to prison.
They acknowledged that the release of the photos is a step forward in the case, but not enough.
Jaron Jones, in the center of the photos, resigned. His record will show that he was going to be terminated and he will not be allowed to be a police officer anywhere in Colorado.
Erica Marrero and Kyle Dittrich, also seen in the photos, were fired.
Jason Rosenblatt, one of the three Aurora police officers involved in the encounter with McClain was also fired Friday. The interim chief confirmed Rosenblatt had no part in the taking or distribution of the photos, but they were sent to him, and he replied with an inappropriate response.
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On Friday evening, hundreds of protesters gathered at the community memorial where the family appeared earlier in the day.
They marched to the Aurora Police District 1 building and surrounded it, vowing to stay there until the other two officers involved in Elijah's death were fired.
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McClain was walking home from a store where he purchased tea for his brother in August 2019. A passerby called 911 and reported McClain was acting odd. McClain was not armed, and had not committed a crime.
Three officers responded to the call, and located McClain walking northbound near Interstate 225, he was wearing a mask.
McClain didn't stop when officers told him to, later telling them he had his music on and couldn't hear them. One officer grabs McClain, who asks the officer to respect his boundaries.
The officers claim McClain resisted arrest, and that he attempted to take one of their guns. Body camera footage does not capture evidence of McClain reaching for their guns.
McClain was placed in a chokehold, and tackled to the ground. Eventually he was given ketamine, a sedative, by an Aurora Fire Department paramedic. He died three days later.
