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'TWO DIFFERENT AMERICAS'

Where was Elijah McClain killed in 2019?

ELIJAH McClain died on August 30, 2019, after being placed in a chokehold by an Aurora police officer and being sedated by paramedics.

The officer who put McClain in a chokehold, Jason Rosenblatt, along with two other officers were fired from the department in July 2020.

Elijah McClain
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Elijah McClainCredit: Reuters

Where was Elijah McClain killed in 2019?

McClain, 23, was killed in Aurora, , about 40 minutes from Boulder, Colorado - the site where a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle stormed through a supermarket killing 10 on March 22, 2021.

On August 24, 2019, an Aurora citizen reported to police that McClain was wearing a ski mask and looked "sketchy," although the caller also indicated that he did not believe anyone was in danger.

In the call, the individuals also said he believed McClain was unarmed.

Three police officers responded to the scene, Nathan Woodyard, Rosenblatt, and Randy Roedema.

The three cops said their body cameras were knocked off during a struggle with McClain.

The 23-year-old was forcibly held to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, after which an officer applied a chokehold and paramedics administered ketamine to McClain to sedate him.

While being transported to the hospital McClain went into cardiac arrest.

Three days after arriving at the hospital, he was declared brain dead and was removed from life support on August 30.

Despite calls for the three officers involved to be arrested, two - Woodyard and Roedema - were reinstated following a short period of temporary leave and no charges were brought.

Rosenblatt was fired in July 2020 after two of his colleagues mocked and reenacted the killing in a photo near to McClain's memorial, sent him the picture and he replied "HaHa".

As of September 25, 2022, McClain's cause of death was updated from “undetermined” to “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint,” as .

McCain went into cardiac arrest after paramedics administered ketamine to sedate him
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McCain went into cardiac arrest after paramedics administered ketamine to sedate himCredit: Reuters

Has the McClain family received a settlement?

The McClain family received a $15million settlement from Aurora, according to three anonymous sources.

CBS Denver reported on the settlement and said this is a historic settlement exceeding the 2015 settlement of $2.6million for wrongful death by police lawsuit.

Aurora previously had a cap of $10million for lawsuit settlements, but in this case, the $5million over the limit will come from Aurora's general fund.

Denver CBS said the settlement won't largely impact residents' taxes because sales taxes have increased.

Why did people compare McClain's death to the March 2021 shooting in Boulder?

People on social media were quick to compare the arrest of the supermarket gunman in Boulder, Colorado earlier this year to McClain's 2019 arrest.

One spectator tweeted in March, "A white man walked into a grocery store in Boulder, killed 10 people, and was apprehended by the police and walked out of the building completely unharmed.

"Right down the road, police killed Elijah McClain while he apologized for not doing anything wrong. Two different Americas."

Another individual said, "This Boulder, Colorado terrorist allegedly killed 10 people and was apprehended and taken into custody.

"In the SAME state, Elijah McClain was stopped because he 'looked sketchy', and was killed by police. He did not walk into a grocery store and kill anyone, he just existed."

What happened during the shooting?

On March 22, 2021, a gunman stormed into the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder with a Ruger AR-556 semi-automatic pistol, killing 10 people.

Police officer Eric Talley, 51, was one of the first on the scene and was gunned down as he raced inside to tackle the killer minutes after the rampage began at 2.30pm.

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Witnesses said a man, later revealed as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, was in tactical gear and did not say a word as he started shooting people in the parking lot before moving inside the store.

Alissa was charged with 10 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. As of November 2021, he has not received a court date.

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