Petition demanding justice for Elijah McClain reaches 2.5 million signatures

25 June 2020, 11:30

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Woodrow Whyte

By Woodrow Whyte

The petition is calling for the officers to be taken off duty and an in-depth investigation into what happened. T/W: Police brutality.

A petition calling for justice for 23-year-old Elijah McClain, who died on his way home from buying tea at a local convenience store after he was placed in a chokehold and injected with ketamine while being arrested by police officers, has now reached a 2.6 million signatures. Click here to sign the petition.

Elijah died on August 24th 2019, and is one of several cases that are receiving renewed attention following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans.

According to the petition, Elijah was walking home after buying some tea at a local convenience store. According to Elijah's family, Elijah, who was anaemic, preferred to wear a ski mask to keep his face warm while he was walking. The Aurora Police Department received a call of a "suspicious man" in a ski mask who was "acting weird" by "waving his arms around."

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Elijah McClain
Elijah McClain. Picture: Change.org

Buzzfeed News reports that the officers stopped McClain, told him he was "being suspicious," and attempted to pat him down. Body camera footage shows McClain frantically asked police to let him go and one of the three officers accused him of reaching for another officer's gun. One of the officers then placed McClain in a chokehold. McClain passed out in the hold, prompting the officers to call for medical assistance.

Paramedics arrived on the scene and injected McClain with ketamine to sedate him. The body cam footage shows McClain begged for his life as he cried, struggled for air, and vomited in the chokehold, repeatedly telling police that he couldn't breathe.

Soon after the ketamine injection, paramedics noticed that McClain was no longer breathing. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died three days later on Aug. 27, at 23-years-old from a heart attack. According to the local paper, The Sentinel, after being place on administrative leave immediately after their interaction with McClain, the officers at the scene will not face any criminal charges and have returned to work.

Now, prominent politicians, activists and celebrities are calling for justice for Elijah.

District Attorney Dave Young, who announced that no criminal charges would be brought against the officers or medics involved in the arrest, has said he does not intend to re-examine the case, The Sentinel reported. Let's hope that when the petition reaches its target of 3 million signatures, he will be forced to reopen the case.

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