Thousands protest for 23 yr old Black Man Elijah Mcclain who died in police custody

Lashaun Turner
2 min readJun 28, 2020

--

Thousands protest for 23 yr old Black Man Elijah Mcclain who died in police custody

The death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain a Black man who died in police custody was the focus of a protest that shut down Highway 225 in Aurora Colorado Saturday. The demonstrations was organized by the Denver chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and consisted of a march, and rally, followed by a youth-led protest and vigil.

Elijah McClain was taken off life support on Aug. 30, 2019-six days after he was confronted by police in the Denver suburb of Aurora, as officers answered a call reporting a suspicious person in the area. McClain had been out running errands.

“I have a right to stop you because you’re being suspicious,” an officer is heard on a body camera recording telling McClain. Officers applied a choke hold during the confrontation to subdue him. When the paramedics came they administered a sedative to calm McClain down. McClain suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead. He was taken off life support less than a week later. The officers involved were never prosecuted and returned to their jobs.

Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement on Wednesday, I am hearing from many Coloradans who have expressed concerns with the investigation of Elijah McClain’s death, as a result, he said he has asked legal counsel “what the state can do and we are assessing next steps.” The following day he ordered the investigation to be reopened.

Sign up to discover human stories that deepen your understanding of the world.

Free

Distraction-free reading. No ads.

Organize your knowledge with lists and highlights.

Tell your story. Find your audience.

Membership

Read member-only stories

Support writers you read most

Earn money for your writing

Listen to audio narrations

Read offline with the Medium app

--

--

Lashaun Turner
Lashaun Turner

Written by Lashaun Turner

JADED: Journalism with a Touch of Shade is Lashaun’s views and opinions on trending topics. Lashaun is a Journalist, Reporter, and Viral Content Creator

No responses yet

Write a response