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​Elijah McClain played violin for lonely kittens. His last words to police are devastating.

A petition to re-open an investigation into his death received more than 2.2 million signatures.

Padma Lakshmi/Twitter

This article originally appeared on 6.24.20


Elijah McClain was a massage therapist who played violin for shelter kittens on his lunch break in his hometown of Aurora, Colorado, because he thought the animals were lonely. If that detail alone doesn't conjure up a picture of a gentle soul, Colorado Music described McClain as a young man who was "quirky, a pacifist, a vegetarian, enjoyed running, and known to put a smile on everyone's face."

According to The Cut, McClain's sister says he sometimes wore a ski/runner's mask because he was anemic and would often get cold. One night last August, he was walking home from the convenience store with his mask on when the police approached him, responding to a call about "a suspicious man" in the area. What ensued was "a struggle" according to police, which was only partially caught on body camera, as all of the officers' body cameras allegedly fell off during the incident.

McClain was held in a carotid hold, a controversial restraint technique banned in some cities for its potential danger, and was also given a shot of ketamine by paramedics. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital and died there three days later, after having been declared brain dead.

He was unarmed. He was only 23. And his last words as the officers held him down are heartbreaking.

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The full body camera footage of the entire evening's events was posted on YouTube by the Aurora Police Department in November, three months after McClain's death. (Discretion is advised.)

Body Worn Camera Regarding the In-Custody Death of Elijah McClainwww.youtube.com

After the body camera footage was released, according to the Sentinel, District Attorney Dave Young sent a letter to Aurora police chief Nick Metz stating, "Based on the investigation presented and the applicable Colorado law, there is no reasonable likelihood of success of proving any state crimes beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Therefore, no state criminal charges will be filed as a result of this incident."

The officers were cleared of all wrongdoing.

However, the public outcry over the case has grown into a tsunami of calls for accountability. More than 2.2 million people have signed a Change.org petition calling for a more in-depth investigation into McClain's death.

On June 9, City Manager Jim Twombly agreed to an independent investigation of McClain's death. But even that investigation has hit snags, as the initial attorney commissioned to lead the investigation was a former police officer who specialized in defending police departments in liability cases.

"Unfortunately, an attorney with a long career in law enforcement that specializes in defending municipal police departments from liability claims doesn't qualify, in our minds, as a neutral review," the Aurora city council said in a statement.

Some policy changes have taken effect in Aurora this month. According to CBS Local in Denver, Interim Police Chief Vanessa Wilson has announced that officers can no longer use the carotid hold, they must give warnings before shooting, must intervene if they see an offer using excessive force, and relieve other officers when a use-of-force incident occurs. They will also be trained to not assume a person is suspicious based off of a 911 call.

Victims of police brutality don't need to be angels. What's wrong is wrong. But when a demonstrably tender and sweet soul like Elijah McClain is killed from a police encounter and no wrongdoing is found, it's long past time to examine the rules that govern the entire system. No one in their right mind can say this young man shouldn't be alive right now, playing violin for lonely kittens on his lunch hour.

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The Derek Chauvin verdict was historic. But is it truly a turning point for America?

Clay Banks on Unsplash

When Black Lives Matter protests arose around the country following the murder of George Floyd last year, many people wondered if the U.S. had crossed a threshold. Though protests over police brutality and racial bias in our criminal justice system had been happening for decades, the movement had never been so widespread or supported by so many. George Floyd's murder being caught on film on the heels of Ahmad Arbery's killing, Breonna Taylor's killing, in addition so many others, led to the largest civil rights movement since the 1960s.

The prior movement, which culminated with the passing of the Civil Rights Act, brought changes to our laws—a vital step toward liberty and justice for all. Despite considerable backlash at the time, that act cut the visible weed of government-sanctioned racism off at the surface and ultimately changed the social acceptance of legal racial discrimination.

Jim Crow laws that blatantly protected and defended racial oppression seem archaic and wrong to most Americans now—but it's important to remember that that change of heart was hard-won by civil rights activists at the expense of their own safety, security, and in some cases, their lives. It's also important to acknowledge that while the Civil Rights Act marked an important turning point in this country, it didn't fix the problem at its root.

The roots of racism run deep, and digging up any root system is messy, back-breaking work. And that work is made even more difficult when a good percentage of the country says, "I don't see it" simply because the visible part of the weed was cut down when the Civil Rights Act passed.

George Floyd's murder brought the issue of police brutality against Black Americans into the light of day for all the world to see. And Derek Chauvin's guilty verdicts offer a glimmer of hope that maybe—maybe—we finally have a chance at starting to dismantle part of that root system.

"This day in history is a turning point," said Brandon Williams, the nephew of George Floyd, in remarks following the verdict. Many prominent voices, from civil rights leaders to politicians, used that same hopeful phrase.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s daughter, Bernice King, wrote on Twitter, "God knew just how much we could bear. This is a turning point. Let's continue to correct everything that stands against love. That is true #justice."

Former Ohio state senator Nina Turner wrote, "This needs to be a turning point for America. It does not end here—far from it, but it's a damn good feeling to exhale and feel that some semblance of justice was served. My heart is with the Floyd family."

Then she added, "If you ever doubt the power of movements, please remember today."

Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock issued a statement that included the phrase as well. "As a voice for Georgians in the Senate, and as a Black man, I hope today's verdict is the beginning of a turning point in our country where people who have seen this trauma over and over again will know it is possible to have equal protection under the law," he wrote.

Ben Crump, the attorney for the Floyd family as well as other Black Americans killed by the police, and who has won over 200 cases involving police brutality, added to the chorus.

"Painfully earned justice has finally arrived for George Floyd's family," he wrote on Twitter. "This verdict is a turning point in history and sends a clear message on the need for accountability of law enforcement. Justice for Black America is justice for all of America!"

Vice President Kamala Harris offered a similar message as she spoke before President Biden about what the verdict means for the direction of our country.

"Because of smartphones, so many Americans have now seen the racial injustice that black Americans have known for generations, the racial injustice that we have fought for generations, that my parents protested in the 1960s, that millions of us— Americans of every race—protested last summer," she said.

"Here's the truth about racial injustice. It is not just a Black America problem or a people of color problem. It is a problem for every American. It is keeping us from fulfilling the promise of liberty and justice for all, and it is holding our nation back from realizing our full potential."

President Biden spoke at length about the reality of racism in America, the need for accountability in policing, and the trauma that has been inflicted for far too long on communities of color. Speaking of George Floyd's murder and the jury's verdict, he said:

"Nothing can ever bring their brother or their father back, but this can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America. Let's also be clear, that such a verdict is also much too rare. For so many people, it seems like it took a unique and extraordinary convergence of factors, a brave young woman with a smartphone camera, a crowd that was traumatized, traumatized witnesses, a murder that lasts almost 10 in broad daylight for ultimately the whole world to see, officers stay standing up and testifying against a fellow officer instead of just closing ranks, which should it be commended. A jury who heard the evidence, carried out their civic duty in the midst of an extraordinary moment, under extraordinary pressure. For so many, it feels like it took all of that for the judicial system to deliver a just, just basic accountability...

"No one should be above the law and today's verdict sends that message, but it's not enough. We can't stop here. In order to deliver real change and reform we can, and we must do more to reduce the likelihood that tragedy like this will ever happen to occur again."

Biden called for the passage of the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, which would ban chokeholds and carotid holds at the federal level, ban no-knock warrants for federal drug cases, end qualified immunity, make it easier for police accused of misconduct to be prosecuted, prohibit discriminatory profiling, create a national police misconduct registry, improve police training, invest in community programs designed to promote equitable policies, and more.

Biden said:

"The battle for soul of this nation has been a constant push and pull for more than 240 years, a tug of war between the American ideal that we're all created equal, and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart. At our best, the American ideal wins out. So, we can't leave this moment or look away thinking our work is done. We have to look at it. We have to look at it as we did for those nine minutes and 29 seconds. We have to listen.

'I can't breathe. I can't breathe.' Those were George Floyd's last words. We can't let those words die with him. We have to keep hearing those words. We must not turn away. We can't turn away. We have a chance to begin to change the trajectory in this country. That's my hope and prayer that we live up to the legacy."

Whether the George Floyd verdict will truly serve as a turning point for the U.S. remains to be seen, but it's also not something that's out of our control. This is a choice we have to make, individually and collectively. We the people have to decide that enough truly is enough, raise our voices in myriad ways calling for change that will lead us closer to true liberty and justice for all, and dedicate ourselves to the long, hard work of uprooting racism once and for all.

The only question is, will we?

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Elijah McClain's mom releases a powerful statement on police wrongdoing in her son's death

Denver7News/Twitter

Elijah McClain was a kind, unique, and gentle soul, according to those who knew him. He was a vegetarian and a pacifist who worked as a massage therapist. He played his violin for shelter kittens during his lunch break because he thought the animals were lonely.

One evening two summers ago, McClain was walking home from a convenience store, waving his arms to music he was listening to on his headphones, when Aurora police approached him after getting a call about a "suspicious" man in the area. McClain was wearing a ski/runner's mask, which his sister said he often did because he tended to get cold easily. Police tackled him to the ground and held him in a carotid hold—a restraint technique banned in some cities for its potential danger. He was given a shot of ketamine by paramedics. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital and died there three days later.

He was a 23-year-old Black man. He was unarmed. He wasn't a suspect in any crime. And his last words to the police were absolutely devastating.

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The Aurora Police Department's own investigation into the incident found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers involved—a determination that caused an outcry for justice in light of the body camera evidence. Millions of people signed a Change.org petition demanding a more in-depth investigation.

The city did launch an independent investigation last July, and the results have been released. You can read the full report here, but the gist of the findings is that the police had no legal basis to stop, frisk, or place McClain in a chokehold to begin with. The ketamine dose administered by paramedics was also based on a gross overestimate of McClain's size. (He was given a dose for a 190-pound person, when he actually weighed around 140.)

Investigators also found that the investigation done by the police department's Major Crimes Unit was deeply flawed, failing to ask even basic investigative questions of the officers involved.

"It is hard to imagine any other persons involved in a fatal incident being interviewed as these officers were," investigators wrote.

"The body worn camera audio, limited video, and Major Crime's interviews with the officers tell two contrasting stories," the report states. "The officers' statements on the scene and in subsequent recorded interviews suggest a violent and relentless struggle. The limited video, and the audio from the body worn cameras, reveal Mr. McClain surrounded by officers, all larger than he, crying out in pain, apologizing, explaining himself, and pleading with the officers."

One of the officers involved in McClain's, Jason Rosenblatt, was fired in July for replying "haha" to a text containing photos three other officers took, mockingly reanacting the chokehold at the site of McClain's memorial. Interim police chief Vanessa Williams called the text exchange "a crime against humanity and decency."

McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, released a statement through her attorney in light of the investigation's findings, noting that Elijah would be turning 25 in three says and saying she is "relieved that the truth surrounding the death of her son is finally coming to light."

"The independent investigation that was commissioned and paid for by Aurora makes clear what was already known," the statement reads. "Elijah should never have been stopped by the police, never have been arrested, never have been subjected to extreme force by the police and should never have been forcibly injected with ketamine by Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics. Aurora is responsible for Elijah's tragic death by virtue of its employees' unlawful and unconscionable actions."

"We applaud the independent review panel's objective, studious, and comprehensive investigation into the events of August 24, 2019. At every step of the way -- from their initial stop of Elijah through the involuntary injection of an extremely dangerous drug for no medical reason -- Aurora officials indisputably violated Mr. McClain's constitutional rights."

After detailing some of the reports specific findings, the statement makes the point that investigators came to their conclusions using the information and evidence the department always had.

"Notably, this Report – with its stark and unequivocal indictment of Aurora officials' conduct – is not based on new, revelatory evidence," it reads. "It is based on evidence that Aurora has had in its possession all along. Yet, at every stage, Aurora has defended its officials for their blatantly unlawful actions and refused to discipline anyone involved in Elijah's death."

The statement also describes the "sham investigation" the police conducted "in order to exonerate its employees and hide their wrongdoing."

Sheneen McClain wants Aurora to hold its employees accountable. "The Aurora officials who contributed to Elijah's death must be immediately terminated," the statement reads. "Ms. McClain continues to call for the criminal prosecution of those responsible for Elijah's death. Elijah committed no crime on the day of his death, but those who are responsible for Elijah's death certainly did."

Ms. McClain's statement also acknowledges that Elijah's wrongful death at the hands of police is part of a larger story.

"Elijah's family recognizes that Elijah is but one person on an ever-growing list of unarmed victims of police-related killings," it states. "The problem of police abuse continues to plague minority communities throughout the country. This case is a textbook example of law enforcement's disparate and racist treatment of Black men. Aurora's continued failure to acknowledge the wrongdoing of its employees only exacerbates the problem."

Finally, a quote from Sheneen McClain sums it all up.

"Elijah believed in humanity and that humanity mattered," she said. "Inhumane humans are a problem and we must stop unjust laws."

Let's hope this independent investigation leads to justice and real change.

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20-yr-old KJ Brooks named and shamed every official at a Kansas City police commissioner meeting

@Seytoven/Twitter

After years of advocating for racial justice and calling out police brutality and seeing little change in law enforcement and our justice system, some people are rightfully fed up. When complaints are met with inaction, protests are met with inaction, and direct action is met with inaction, maybe it's time to get specific in who needs to be held accountable for issues in law enforcement.

That's exactly what Keiajah (KJ) Brooks did at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting in her hometown of Kansas City this week. The 20-year-old used her approximately four minutes with the microphone—and with the commissioners' undivided attention—to unequivocally lay out her position to each and every one of the officials in that room.

"Fair warning, I'm not nice and I don't seek to be respectable," she began. "I'm not asking y'all for anything because y'all can't and won't be both my savior and my oppressor. I don't want reform. I want to turn this building into luxury low-cost housing. These would make some really nice apartments."

"Firstly, stop using Black children as photo opportunities, 'cause they're cute now, but in 10 years, they're Black male suspects in red shirts and khaki shorts," she said. "Eating cookies and drinking milk with children does not absolve you of your complicity in their oppression and denigration..." she added, before looking directly at the police chief and pointedly calling him out by name, "...Rick Smith."

She pointed out that Kansas City spends more on the police than on education, "and then try to encourage children to feast with their oppressors."

"Y'all are really weird," she added.

"It's asinine to be called radical or a homegrown terrorist for not wanting government employees to kill people in any instance," she went on. "So, I'm not here begging anything of soulless white folks and self-preserving Black folks. You get one life, and you all in this room have chosen profits over people. And that's pathetic. So, I'm going to spend the next two minutes reading y'all for filth, something I'm sure nobody has ever done."

And that's exactly what she did. One by one, Ms. Brooks named and shamed each member of the Board of Police Commissioners, in a dragging for the ages.

She addressed the "former FBI Agent who exudes white privilege and is the epitome of mediocrity" who "spent most of this meeting looking away and holding his head in his hands." She called out "another rich, and white, and out of touch, and disconnected old white person with nothing but pure apathy seeping through the bulging veins of his paper colored skin," adding, "You age like trash when you are racist and subject others to violence." She even took a pastor who preaches "a message of hope and faith through God's Holy word in the building" while "subjecting Black people to terrorism and un-Christ-like behavior at the hands of KCPD outside of the building" to church.

Ms. Brooks did not come to play.

Finally, to Police Chief Rick Smith, Brooks said, "I don't even care enough about you to start, but you will have to spend overtime in a chapel at the end of your life. You have blood on your hands, and while these idiots hold you on a pedestal, God does not honor injustice and murder."

After she finished with the individual verbal takedowns, Brooks left the board—whom she referred to as "soulless, profit-driven, avaricious, greedy, God-forsaken humans"—with a Bible verse. Claiming that Jesus himself was an "unarmed Black man murdered by authorities," she quoted Mark 8:36: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"

Well then.

Whether you agree with everything Ms. Brooks said or not, it takes a great deal of courage to speak truth to power. It's impressive to see a young woman speak her mind so clearly and boldly, not just publicly, but to the faces of the people she's addressing. Ms. Brooks has obviously done her homework on the individuals she's calling out, and while her speech may come across as harsh to some, her passion for and dedication to justice is palpable.

A video shared on Brooks' Instagram shows the reactions of the commissioners as she was speaking, if you want to see it from another angle.

The video of her speech has been viewed more than seven million times on social media and has been met with resounding virtual applause from people who are tired of seeing calls for justice and action met with continuing injustice and inaction.

You can't change what you don't acknowledge, and Ms. Brooks is making sure acknowledgement is crystal clear.

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