On Friday, July 3rd, three Aurora Police Officers were fired and one stepped down after a picture of them mocking the chokehold that was used on Elijah McClain surfaced online.
Jaron James, Erica Marrero, and Kyle Dittrich were seen in the photo smiling at the memorial site for McClain, while Jones had Dittrich in a chokehold. The fourth cop, Jason Rosenblatt, stepped down after commenting “haha” in a text message.
Rosenblatt was one of the police officers who stopped McClain in August 2019 after a call went out saying that he was being suspicious and wearing a ski mask.
Vanessa Wilson, Interim Aurora Police Chief, held a press conference about the cops and the photo saying “There is absolutely nothing about this.”
—ELIJAH McCLAIN CASE—
Interim #Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson holds up the photo of her former officers smiling while mimicking the choke hold #ElijahMcClain was placed in before his death.
The photos were taken near memorial
“There is absolutely nothing funny about this,” https://t.co/TEoz0grKaU pic.twitter.com/JvNr6OjEX0
— Dillon Thomas (@DillonMThomas) July 3, 2020
McClain was put in a chokehold after being stopped, and tackled by the police. Paramedics would arrive on the scene and give him a large dose of ketamine to sedate him. McClain was declared brain-dead and died three days after being in the hospital.