Elijah McClain: Five officials charged in black man's death

Three US police officers and two paramedics have been charged over the death of a black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with ketamine.

Elijah McClain, 23, was stopped by police in 2019 in Aurora, Colorado.

His case was among several to receive renewed attention following the death of George Floyd last year.

No one initially faced charges over his death but following public pressure Colorado's governor opened a fresh investigation.

Reacting to the charges, McClain's mother Sheneen told the Denver Post: "It's been a two-year battle just to get to this point. It's huge to know they're indicted. But I know it's not over. We still have to go to trial."

The unarmed 23-year-old was walking alone in the Denver suburb of Aurora on 24 August 2019 when he was stopped by three white police officers.

A district attorney report later said there had been an emergency call about a "suspicious person" matching his description.

There was a struggle after McClain resisted contact with the officers, who wanted to search him to see if he was armed, the report says.

On body cam footage McClain can be heard saying, "I'm an introvert, please respect my boundaries that I am speaking".

One of the officers then says "he is going for your gun" and they wrestle him to the ground and put him in a chokehold.

The report says McClain lost consciousness, was released from the chokehold and began to struggle again.

McClain's family has alleged that the officers used excessive force for about 15 minutes as McClain vomited, begged for them to stop and repeatedly told them he could not breathe. The officers also threatened to set a police dog on him, the family said.

The officers called for assistance, with fire fighters and an ambulance responding. A fire medic injected McClain with 500mg of the drug ketamine to sedate him.

McClain was then put in "soft restraints" on a stretcher and put inside the ambulance. The medic who had administered the drug then noticed that McClain's chest "was not rising on its own, and he did not have a pulse".

He was declared brain dead on 27 August.

Family and friends have described McClain as an "angel among humans". A massage therapist by trade, he reportedly played his violin to animals at a shelter that were waiting to be adopted "so they wouldn't be lonely".

Correction 1 November 2023: A reference to Elijah McClain being autistic has been removed, after a representative for the McClain family told the BBC he did not have autism.