In 2019, the case of Elijah McClain became a rallying cry for racially targeted police injustices. Less than a year before the murder of George Floyd, police received a call describing a Black man walking in the Denver suburbs looking ‘sketchy’. The police arrived, instantly putting McClain in carotid holds, not bothering to question or physically examine the man. Unarmed, breaking no laws, a lethal dose of ketamine was administered to an innocent McClain, eventually killing him.
Jeremy Cooper, an Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic, watched for around 6 minutes as Mclain, 23, called out for help. Two officers stood on top of him. Aurora fire personnel arrived a few minutes later after being called for backup. The arriving team was unaware that McClain had been subjected to multiple carotid holds, nor that McClain had temporarily lost consciousness. Without questioning or examining McClain, the paramedics decided he was suffering from ‘excited delirium.’ The term ‘excited delirium’ has since been heavily debated. It is typically not recognized as a legitimate medical condition, and many states like Colorado have banned it as a valid reason for medical diagnosis.
Upon confirming the amount of medication to inject, Cooper administered the ketamine into the 5 ft, 6 in., 140-pound body of McClain. The amount administered was powerful enough to subdue someone almost 80 pounds heavier than McClain. Police reported McClain was hyper-aggressive and resisting arrest. However, the body cam footage showed otherwise. McClain was not trying to fight or flee. He didn’t move at all for the entire minute before he was administered the ketamine. He was pronounced dead three days later.
This was back in 2019. Prosecutors initially declined to press charges, but Colorado Governor Jared Polis reopened the case in 2020. He eventually signed a law in 2021 preventing the use of ketamine as a chemical restraint. The law explicitly stated that excited delirium was not a medical emergency. It also added new directives for officers, prohibiting them from influencing, directly or not, an EMS provider to administer ketamine. The deaths of McClain and Floyd also caused a wave of state legislation to pass bans on the practice of carotid holds.
It wasn’t until 2022 that the cause of death was publicly amended to be a ketamine complication following forcible restraint. Further investigations into Aurora Fire paramedics found that the illegal and excessive administration of ketamine was recurrent. Investigators concluded that Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics “had a pattern and practice of using ketamine in violation of the law” and that Cooper was not in compliance with EMS Education Standards because he didn’t examine McClain before giving him the fatal dose. In addition, there was frequent lack of detail found on patient reports. Multiple instances of documentation lacking patient’s weights, yet administration of maximum dose was permitted. Some reported weights did not match the records, nor were enough to justify dosages. In some instances, police officers requested administration without paramedic consultation. The administration of excessive Ketamine dosages has been a problem across the country.
McClain’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against the officers and paramedics present at the scene of his death. They settled with the city for $15 million. It was not until 2021 that five of the men were indicted for manslaughter and other lesser charges. In October 2023, officer Roedema was found guilty and sentenced to 14 months of jail time, four years’ probation. Officers Woodyard and Rosenblatt were acquitted of all charges. Paramedic Cichuniec was given a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison on March 1, 2024. Finally, at the end of April 2024, Cooper’s fate was determined. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail with work leave and probation. The program allows Cooper to leave and return to jail at night and on weekends.
It is disheartening that this young man, a massage therapist and son, has come to emulate the impunity of those working in the justice system. It is dire that proper training is provided for officers to prevent inaccurate and unsafe instances like this. Had the BLM movement not shed light on criminal injustice and the disproportionate impact this has on people of color, it is sadly unlikely these officers and paramedics would have been charged at all. The lack of oversight and medical officiation depicted by the Aurora police and fire staff should serve as an example of the need for safe, fair, and legal assessment and treatment for all people of any race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and everything in between.
Featured image by Katrin Bolovtsova, Courtesy of Pexels.
