One of the three white officers who stopped Elijah McClain last year has been fired. After colleagues texted him photos mimicking the chokehold used on the Black man before he died, the officer replied, 'haha,' police say.
This photo released by the Aurora Police Department, in Colorado, shows Officers Erica Marrero, from left, Jaron Jones and Kyle Dittrich. Jason Rosenblatt, one of three white officers who stopped Elijah McClain, has been fired over the photos showing colleagues reenacting the chokehold used before the Black man died in August 2019, according to documents from prosecutors. The officers shown in the photo have either been fired or have resigned, according to officials.
“We are ashamed, we are sickened, and we are angry,” Wilson said. The officers may not have committed a crime, but the photographs are “a crime against humanity and decency,” she added.After an internal investigation, Wilson fired Rosenblatt and two officers who appeared in the photos, Kyle Dittrich and Erica Marrero, for conduct unbecoming of an officer. Jaron Jones, the officer pictured reenacting the chokehold, resigned this week.
Word of the photos emerged soon after Polis’ announcement. Aurora police launched an investigation last week after another officer reported the photos. “Rosenblatt got fired not for killing Elijah, not for murdering Elijah, but for making fun of Elijah,” said Terrence Roberts, a community organizer and family friend. “That is the culture that we’re fighting, where a police officer can murder a black man, a black child, and keep his job and stay on the force so he can go make fun of this child.”
A prosecutor said he didn’t pursue criminal charges against the officers because the pathologist wasn’t able to determine if their actions caused McClain’s death. District Attorney Dave Young recently called the young man’s death “tragic and unnecessary” but defended his decision.
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