A supporter holds up a shirt to call attention to the death of Elijah McClain in August 2019 in Aurora, Colo., during a news conference on the west steps of the State Capitol after Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a broad police accountability bill Friday, June 19, 2020, in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A watercolor of Elijah McClain by artist Matty Miller. 
Hundreds of protestors turned out to Aurora City Hall Saturday June 6, 2020, focusing on the death of Aurora blacks at the hands of local police. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Mari Newman, the McClain’s family attorney, holds Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, as the address the hundreds of protestors which turned out to Aurora City Hall Saturday June 6, 2020, focusing on the death of Aurora blacks at the hands of local police. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
A mural of Elijah McClain was painted by Thomas “Detour” Evans on June 8, 2020 in the River North Art District in north Denver. Evans tweeted that he hopes to paint one in Aurora soon. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Candice Bailey energizes protestors June 2, 2020, during a peaceful protest at the Aurora Municipal Center. In addressing the crowd, Bailey told younger protestors that she would happily teach them the steps necessary to have a civic impact. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Protestors and police, including Chief Vanessa Wilson, center, kneel together for eight minutes and 46 seconds, June 2, 2020, during a peaceful protest against police brutality, following the death of George Floyd. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson and Jay B. speak to one another as protestors marched north on South Chambers Road, June 2, 2020 peaceful protest against police brutality following the death of George Floyd. The protestors marched from Gateway High School to the Aurora Municipal Center. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Protestors and police, including Chief Vanessa Wilson, center, kneel together for eight minutes and 46 seconds, June 2, 2020, during a peaceful protest against police brutality, following the death of George Floyd. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Community members work in break out groups at a community forum, to discuss the death of Elijah McClain, Dec. 10 at Restoration Christian Fellowship. The effort has led to city council agreeing to create a task force charged with how best to create some kind of independent review of Aurora police, as well as how to handle other controversies. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
April Young speaks to those in attendance at a community forum where Aurora community members gathered to discuss the death of Elijah McClain, Dec. 10 at Restoration Christian Fellowship. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Nicole Johnston addresses those in attendance at a community forum where Aurora community members gathered to discuss the death of Elijah McClain, Dec. 10 at Restoration Christian Fellowship. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
McClain family friend and advocate Candace Bailey, right, comforts Elijah McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, right, hugs Elijah McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, left, and Sheneen McClain during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, speaks to the media during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. CIty officials are looking at a policy task force that could lead to independent review of such cases. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, speaks to the media during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Protestors gathered for a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. The case has been a major driver for the push for independent review of controversial police cases. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, speaks to the media during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Protestors gathered for a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain 
Elijah McClain at a convenience store in Aurora shortly before encountering police while walking home. Witnesses inside the store told family members they were not alarmed by the mask Elijah wore while buying iced tea. Family members said Elijah wore the mask frequently. PHOTO SUPPLIED 
Elijah McClain, a few weeks before his death. His friends and family said he was somewhat odd but a notably peaceful person who loved his career as a massage therapist. PHOTO SUPPLIED 
Elijah McClain in the hospital after his encounter with the Aurora Police Department Photo courtesy of Sheneen McClain 
Elijah McClain Photo courtesy of Sheneen McClain 
Elijah McClain in the hospital after his encounter with the Aurora Police Department Photo courtesy of Sheneen McClain 
Elijah McClain in the hospital after his encounter with the Aurora Police Department Photo courtesy of Sheneen McClain 
Elijah McCalin in an intensive care unit shortly before his family disconnected him from life support. McClain encountered Aurora police one night last month, was subdued and drugged during the encounter. He suffered cardiac arrest during the encounter and never regained consciousness, his family said. PHOTO SUPPLIED 
From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
From left to right, the father of Elijah McClain, LaWayne Mosley, their lawyer, Mari Newman, and Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain. From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Father of Elijah McClain, LaWayne Mosley. From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Samara McClain, 16, sister of Elijah McClain. From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Father of Elijah McClain. From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado
AURORA | A cascade of calls to reinvestigate the death of Elijah McClain spattered social media Wednesday after a steady flood of missives — tens of thousands of them — from across the country bombarded state and local leaders’ inboxes.
A new investigation is set to happen, but the details are still being ironed out, now with the Aurora mayor, city council public safety committee and governor all eyeing different avenues for the independent review.
Gov. Jared Polis tweeted Wednesday he would look at intervening in the case. “I am hearing from many Coloradans who have expressed concerns with the investigation of Elijah McClain’s death. As a result, I have instructed my legal council to examine what the state can do and we are assessing next steps,” he said in the post.
Polis could order the Colorado Attorney General’s office to pick up the case. 17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young, who cleared the three police officers who detained McClain of any wrongdoing in November, said he will not reopen the case unless new evidence is presented.
It’s still unclear what steps Polis may take in the coming days and weeks. Local Aurora lawmakers had already been planning a renewed independent investigation after nixing a contract with a Connecticut-based attorney and former police officer who was hired to further examine the events that led to and followed the death of 23-year-old McClain last summer.
McClain died about a week after a trio of Aurora police officers stopped him in the 1900 block of Billings Street while he was walking home from a nearby convenience store. A person named Juan had called 911 and described McClain as “sketchy” because he was wearing a mask.
The interaction between officers and McClain quickly grew violent and ended in an officer placing McClain in a carotid control hold, a recently outlawed maneuver that cut off blood flow to McClain’s brain and caused him to briefly faint. He repeatedly vomited before paramedics with Aurora Fire Rescue injected him with ketamine and loaded him into an ambulance, where he went into cardiac arrest en route to a nearby hospital. He never regained consciousness. Life support was discontinued after he was declared to be brain dead.
Calls to further investigate McClain’s death were frequent in the months after his death last August, but have exponentially mushroomed following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky this spring.
Members of the Aurora City Council public safety committee — Allison Hiltz, Curtis Gardner and Angela Lawson — asked city manager Jim Twombly to terminate the contract with the previous investigator tasked with looking into McClain’s death, Eric Daigle, June 11. The same group of city lawmakers then announced early Wednesday afternoon that the body was preparing to discuss investigator recommendations at its July 16 meeting.
“At the conclusion of that meeting, we’d like for your final recommendation to be on the agenda for the next regular meeting of the Aurora City Council for a formal vote,” the trio of lawmakers wrote to Twombly in a letter.
A few hours later, that timeline was scrambled by Mayor Mike Coffman, who said he was calling a for a vote on July 6, where all council members would take formal action on whether to move forward with a third-party investigation, although city rules don’t require a council vote for such an investigation. There was no vote when Twombly announced former U.S. Attorney John Walsh would review an incident involving an intoxicated Aurora police officer last year.
Coffman told the Sentinel he feels the scope of the investigation should be discussed by the full city council and voted upon. If the triad of city council members want to discuss the investigation in a public safety meeting setting, Coffman suggested Hiltz, the committee chairperson, should call a special meeting as he has of the city council.
While council members on the public safety committee said staff seemed comfortable with their timeline of presenting recommendations on July 16, Coffman said he’s confident that city management, working with the public safety committee, could be ready to bring forth investigation recommendations to the full council by the next meeting on July 20.
Coffman said he was set to announce his new timeline on discussing the investigation when Polis called him around 2 p.m. Wednesday about the statement he was about to release.
The two leaders didn’t make any formal agreement about how the state would become involved.
Those details may come later, and could potentially include the attorney general’s office looking at whether any new evidence comes to light. That could allow charges to be made against the officers.
“The governor and I left it at that we seem to be in agreement that whatever the attorney general does will be complementary to the actions that the city takes,” Coffman said. “I welcome that.”
Full Aurora Police body cam video: