Elijah McClain's Mother Speaks On Her Son's Death & Excited Delirium Issue

The police killed Elijah McClain and every officer involved should be in prison.

Source: Boston Globe / Getty

Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, made a gut-wrenching appearance on 60 Minutes last night to talk about her son’s death, the use of ketamine, and a police-protecting “medical condition” called “excited delirium.” According to CBS News, the condition is mentioned in the police reports of both Elijah and George Floyd. The term describes a suspect who exhibits uncontrollable behavior and abnormal strength when being apprehended by officers. Often, this dubious condition is used to justify injecting someone with ketamine to induce calm.

The dosage of ketamine given to Elijah was for someone TWICE his 140-pound weight according to the lawsuit filed by his family. McClain already complained that he couldn’t breathe, the injection sent him into respiratory and cardiac arrest. He died 3 days later.

Adams County District Attorney Dave Young contorted himself into a mayo-based pretzel in an attempt to justify the police use of force against Elijah. We’re going to warn you right now, this exchange with interviewer John Dickerson is as insane as it is infuriating.

Dave Young: Now, if the officers came right out and shot Mr. McClain, it would be an easy decision for me, okay?

John Dickerson: If that’s the bar, that seems like an extremely high bar–

Dave Young: Well, if it was the carotid hold, and the pathologist came in and said, “He died from strangulation.” And then I would have to look and say, “What the heck is goin’ on here? Why did they have to use that amount of force under these circumstances?”

John Dickerson: Let me borrow that sentence from you. What the heck is going on here that they had to use that amount of ketamine? Why isn’t that the same thing?

Dave Young: They have a policy in the city of Aurora that says, “Paramedics do this when you have these circumstances.” And they follow that policy.

This is why “defund the police” is a helluva lot more than a “snappy slogan”. Anyone who doesn’t understand it is willfully obtuse. F**k 12. Period.

Rest in peace.