Plain Old Justice

Almost a year before George Floyd's murder, 3 Aurora, Colorado, cops and 2 paramedics killed 23–year–old Elijah McClain.  Local officials took no actions against the perpetrators.

However, protests by the public prompted action at the state level.  In 2020, the Colorado legislature enacted a law banning the use of choke holds, restricting law enforcement's use of the sedative Ketamine, and not allowing police to assert qualified immunity when sued for misconduct.

The Colorado attorney general began an investigation.  Now, two years after McClain's death, a grand jury has indicted Aurora police officers Randy Roedema, Nathan Woodyard and Jason Rosenblatt and paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper.  Each faces charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault.
 
In the past two decades, the city of Aurora has been sued at least 16 times by plaintiffs alleging police misconduct directed towards minorities.  The city has paid more than 4.5 million dollars to settle a number of these lawsuits.  The death of Elijah McClain sheds some light on what's wrong with the Aurora police department.

The following brief summary of what happened to McClain can only hint at the senselessness and horror of the young man's death.  On the evening of August 24, 2019, McClain was walking home from a grocery store, where he had bought iced tea.  He was wearing a jacket and ski mask even though it was summer.  His family later explained that he had anemia, which caused him to feel cold.

McClain appeared suspicious to someone, who called the police.  In fact, a bodycam recorded one officer telling McClain, "I have a right to stop you because you're being suspicious."

Two of the now-indicted officers had served in the Marine Corps.  Roedema had spent 8 years and Woodyard 5 years on active duty.  In contrast, McClain was a massage therapist who weighed 143 pounds, was a vegetarian, played the violin and liked cats.  Another difference: McClain was Black.

The grand jury's indictment stated that Officer Woodyard arrived first and told McClain to stop.  The indictment continues:

WOODYARD did not see Mr. McClain with any weapons, but he noted a grocery bag and that, in his opinion, Mr. McClain was 'suspicious.'  Immediately after WOODYARD contacted Mr. McClain, ROSENBLATT joined WOODYARD and the stop quickly turned physical.  ROEDEMA later told investigators that in Aurora, as opposed to other police departments, they tended to 'take control of an individual, whether that be, you know, a[n] escort position, a twist lock, whatever it may be, we tend to control it before it needs to be controlled.'

Roedma's words shed light on why so many people have filed lawsuits against the city for police misconduct.  Aurora police, unlike those in other departments, "tend to control it before it needs to be controlled."  Translation: These cops get physical when there is no need.

So, 3 bullies, two of them ex-Marines, don't like the looks of this little guy and decide to do something about it.  But these bullies also had guns and badges.  The indictment continues:

The officers grabbed Mr. McClain's arms then forcibly moved Mr. McClain over to a grassy area near where the officers first contacted Mr. McClain and pushed him up against the exterior wall of a nearby apartment building.  ROEDEMA grabbed the grocery bag out of Mr. McClain's hands and threw it to the ground.  He didn't examine the bag's contents.  The bag contained cans of iced tea.

It appears that McClain reacted to this abuse by fighting back.  That proved to be a fatal mistake.

The cops applied "carotid controls," often called "choke holds," twice.  The first didn't work but the second rendered McClain temporarily unconscious.

While officers held McClain down, the paramedics injected him with the anesthetic Ketamine, but they gave him too much.  McClain's heart stopped in the ambulance.  The paramedics managed to restore a pulse but he never regained consciousness.

A Toxic Culture

Preventing a repetition of this tragedy will require a change in police culture.  How some officers reacted to McClain's death, and the resulting public outcry, reveals a very unhealthy attitude.

A couple of months after McClain's death, 3 cops went to a memorial near the location where he had been stopped.  These officers did not take part in the events lading to his death and 2 of them weren't even at the scene.  But as a joke, they smiled for a picture while one of them pretended to perform the "carotid hold."  Then, they sent the picture to a group chat where other cops could see it.

In the past, this action likely would not have gotten the officers in trouble.  For almost 2 decades, people had been suing the police department and the city had been paying money to settle the cases, but little else had changed.  However, things did start to change when Vanessa Wilson became police chief.

The new chief did not learn about the photo immediately, but when she did, she discharged two of the officers in the picture.  She would have fired the third but he resigned.

One of the officers now facing manslaughter charges had seen the picture and had replied "haha."  The chief fired him, too.  The chief also announced that if any officer considered the photo to be acceptable, "I will gladly accept your resignation today."

The fact that police officers would mock the death of a young man - and do so at a memorial to him near where he was fatally harmed - indicates more than a lapse of manners.  It is a symptom that they have become so tribal, so wrapped up in themselves, they have forgotten duty.  Choking a little guy is not the way to serve and protect.

A statement by the police officers union also reflects such an insular culture.  When outrage over McClain's death resulted in public protests, the police officers union responded that the cops had done no wrong.

That comment might well be expected from a union.  It's job, after all, is to represent and defend its members.  But the union went beyond denying that the officers were not culpable.  It denigrated the protesters, claiming that they were harming the police department.

That response reflects a seriously misplaced loyalty, a fealty to tribe stronger than duty to the public.  Have these cops forgotten that the job of the police is to protect life, not take it?

The pull of tribalism has replaced honor.  But can this culture of aggressive entitlement be changed?  Will the indictments and the discharges be enough?

Clearly, it won't change on its own.  In July of this year - well before the announcement of the indictments in the McClain case - another Aurora cop, John Haubert, made a violent arrest.  He now faces felony charges and is on leave without pay.

The new Colorado law requires an officer to intervene when another cop acts unlawfully.  Officer Francine Martinez was with Haubert but did not try to stop him.  She has been charged with a misdemeanor.

How many indictments will it take?  That remains to be seen, but one thing is clear.  Colorado state officials and Aurora Police Chief Wilson are setting a good example which other states and police departments should follow.