Elijah McClain’s family files lawsuit against Colorado police, medical officials over his death

The family of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died in police custody in August of last year, is suing Aurora, Colo., police and medical officials over his death. 

“We have filed this civil rights lawsuit to demand justice for Elijah McClain, to hold accountable the Aurora officials, police officers, and paramedics responsible for his murder, and to force the City of Aurora to change it longstanding pattern of brutal and racist policing,” Sheneen McClain and Lawayne Mosley said in a statement released by their attorney obtained by The Hill. 

Elijah McClain was walking home when he was stopped by police, restrained and then injected with ketamine by paramedics in an attempt to calm him. He went into cardiac arrest and later died at the hospital.

His case regained steam this year after the death of George Floyd, a Black man whose May 25 death at the hands of Minneapolis police launched a nationwide reckoning against police violence. 

Last month the Aurora City Council unanimously passed a resolution that approved an “independent, unbiased” investigation into McClain’s death after an internal review board cleared the three responding officers — Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema — of any wrongdoing. 

In July, the police department fired three officers and a fourth resigned after an internal investigation found they had taken and shared photos mocking the chokehold used on McClain at the site of his memorial.

This report was updated at 3:06 p.m.