The Two Elijahs... · Elijah McClain

Note: I had originally written this article in late 2019 and had an associated domain for the content.

I can’t emphasize enough that although the Colorado 17th District Attorney is insistent that ...the force applied during the altercation was within policy and consistent with training; at some point there was a failure of their adherence to policy or procedure since a defenseless & innocent young man died from their physical handling of him. There was one officer at the scene (for instance) that didn’t do anything but sit in a car until after Elijah was attacked and it seems like that one could have placed herself in front of him so their intent to stop him would be more obvious. If they had an officer directly in front of him to shine a light in his eyes he would have had to stop; that seems cruel in itself but would’ve better than immediately grabbing him. They should have also verbally announced to Elijah that they were city police and weren’t arresting him at that point but needed him to stop so they could verify his identification. In that way they were prejudice because they obviously assumed that he would be experienced enough with police to know that they wouldn’t just let him continue walking once they insisted that he stop. They seemed to have an expedient (yet uncoordinated & arrogant) attitude about it but then of course they physically escalated to outright violence in order to overpower him.

There is another detail to the police stop that is important to address and that is the fact that the items he had in the bag were store bought food and so would’ve noticeably not been stolen goods of any kind from a burglary. The actual contents of the bag wouldn’t coincide with him being "sketchy", is the word used by a caller. At that point the police (should have) had more understanding of his behavior and had a period of time to reconsider their suspicion and actions but instead continued to careen forward indifferent of the contradictory information that they had available to them that the caller did not have. It becomes apparent that they were convinced that they could somehow justify their ongoing onslaught like there’s always some way out. The county coroner finished their cover-up by providing the "undiagnosed mental illness" label in her report which amounts to what’s equivalent to a throw-down gun to blame him. (Here is a copy of Elijah McClain’s Autopsy Report.) Most people may not be aware that using the label of mentally ill to describe anyone is controversial and contested even among prominent sociologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists worldwide. If the Adams County Coroner wants to maintain her opinion on the issue then I would point out that studies have revealed that people with mental disorders are more often victims of crime than perpetrators and so Elijah’s case is validation of that when considering the violent crime committed against him by the police.

He could have been wearing the mask because of a disfigurement or skin condition but none of those officers (out of all of them that were involved) didn’t make any mention of that which reflects lack of experience and adequate oversight. He was also "flailing his arms about" but it was a summer evening and there can be swarms of gnats or mosquitoes around. The call(s) that the police received were about Elijah looking suspicious but they didn’t stay objective and instead got caught up in cultural hysteria.

From my experience in the military I know that men of African descent can have difficulties with Pseudofolliculitis barbae and I would personally first assume that wearing the mask was part of Elijah’s personal treatment. With that in mind it’s easy to discern that he did take steps to minimize the oddity of wearing the mask in the summer by being out in the late evening, and in relatively cooler weather, to do an errand. The street he was walking along is also in the vicinity of a freeway corridor so it could get dusty in that area. The district attorney didn’t impart any contradictory evidence in his press announcement exonerating the police so facts were obscured that could potentially sway public opinion.

In a densely populated area there will occasionally be someone out & about that looks a bit strange and Elijah may have been aware of that but knew that the only real (legal) reason he could be stopped by the police is if he happened to match a description of someone who committed a crime in the area which would be very coincidental. If the police announced to him that was the case he might’ve stopped (but of course we’ll never know) but my point is this: people don’t understand that when a man is in a situation like that he can have a basic understanding of what exactly his rights are and so the announcement that "he was being suspicious" did not qualify for the reasonable suspicion standard so he did not immediately comply. It was that lack of immediate compliance which cost him his life but was based on misinformation from the officer ("I have a right to stop you...") which would be confusing. It was disrespectful & unreasonable of the officer to expect to be able to infringe on Elijah’s natural right to his liberty without one moment’s hesitation. From a sociology standpoint, it was the police who ultimately had control of the situation but were obviously complacent and so were relying on Elijah to accommodate them by compromising his equality which was guaranteed him by the U.S. Constitution.

Note: I am also aware of the events with the paramedics and other medical personnel which, of course, is beyond my expertise. I would like to point out that from my own experience, knowledge, & research that when a person is inebriated it can be easier for them to relax their muscles than it is for someone who is sober (which is the reason drunk people will often sustain relatively less physical injury in car accidents); and in Elijah’s case it very well could have been impossible for him to relax his muscles under the circumstances, especially once his adrenaline increased. When the officer said "... relax or I’m going to have to change this situation" what he obviously meant was that he was going to take control of the scene; so in other words, it was an admittance (parapraxis) that they didn’t have control previously. An innocent man died in police custody and people commenting on the event in social media often used forms of the word "arrest" which reveals just how misinformed people in the general public are. The point then becomes about how Elijah could’ve been expected to know exactly what to do when there isn’t any consistent, mandatory education regarding police contacts as a pedestrian. It’s clear that the Colorado 17th District Attorney in office at the time, Dave Young needs to be brought up on federal criminal charges for his dereliction and neglect while relying on the current public opinion.

Maybe I’ll point out too that police get college degrees to help them advance into supervisor positions and the courses would inevitably include some form of social science or cultural studies education. That kind of material would’ve been introduced as a result of past police reform movements for diversity training and cultural sensitivity (doing an internet search on that topic yields myriad scholarly articles) but it’s up to police officers themselves to apply the information in their job. The juxtaposition of Elijah wearing a ski mask but carrying the white shopping bag is something that should’ve been taken into account. The deliberate misinterpretation and/or exaggeration of someone’s noncriminal behavior that doesn’t conform to what is considered cultural norm is an issue that has affected people in the mental & behavioral health community for decades. There is sometimes the point (as in Elijah’s tradegy) where a number of people collude to outright deny the fact that although it was admitted that he committed no crime he was still treated that way; not because he was suspicious but because he looked suspicious. > There is a subtle difference there but the way I can explain it is that there became a mission to teach him that his lack of conformity was irritating to some people. I would hope that anyone who personally knew him that may see this association that I’ve introduced here will not consider it demeaning to the young man. There are many people in the trauma informed community who are very compassionate and there are even some prodigies.

Elijah’s last words ...
"I can’t breathe. I have my ID right here. My name is Elijah McClain. That’s my house. I was just going home. I’m an introvert. I’m just different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies! I don’t eat meat! But I don’t judge people, I don’t judge people who do eat meat. Forgive me. All I was trying to do was become better. I will do it. I will do anything. Sacrifice my identity, I’ll do it. You all are phenomenal. You are beautiful and I love you. Try to forgive me. I’m a mood Gemini. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Ow, that really hurt! You are all very strong. Teamwork makes the dream work. Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to do that. I just can’t breathe correctly."

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The Two Elijahs... · Elijah McClain

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