The trial of two police officers charged in the killing of Elijah McClain began on Wednesday in Brighton, Colorado. McClain, a Black man, was stopped by police in Aurora while walking home from a convenience store in 2019. The officers put him in a neck hold and injected him with a powerful sedative, leading to his death.
The trial will be the first of several related to McClain’s death, which sparked nationwide protests and led to police reform in Colorado. Both sides are expected to present contrasting accounts of the deadly encounter between the officers and the 23-year-old massage therapist.
One key question for the jury will be whether it was lawful for the officers to detain and use force against McClain, who was reported as suspicious by a 911 caller. If prosecutors can show that the stop was unjustified, it would undermine the argument that McClain’s injuries were a result of the officers merely doing their jobs.
The use of ketamine, a sedative administered to McClain, played a significant role in his death, according to officials. The incident prompted renewed scrutiny of the use of ketamine and led to limitations on its use by emergency workers in Colorado. The state also banned the use of neck holds by police in 2020.
The trial is expected to last about a month, and the jury is predominantly white. Defense attorneys requested the removal of potential jurors who had experiences related to racial profiling or had concerns about police conduct. The officers involved in McClain’s death are charged with criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, and assault. They have pleaded not guilty.
Charges in the case were not brought until two years after McClain’s death, by which time his case had gained outrage and brought attention to racial injustice in policing following the murder of George Floyd. A revised coroner’s report in 2021 found that McClain’s death was a result of complications from the ketamine and that he received a higher dose than recommended for someone of his size.
The encounter between McClain and the officers quickly escalated, with the officers pinning him to the ground and applying a neck hold. Paramedics then injected him with ketamine, and he went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. He was pronounced dead three days later.
The trial will shed further light on the events leading to McClain’s death and will play a significant role in shaping the ongoing conversations about police conduct and racial injustice.
