The Aurora Police Department is reintegrating one of the officers involved in the arrest (and subsequent death) of Elijah McClain into its force.
After a two-year suspension without pay, the officer will not only be restored to the suburban Denver department but also receive over $200,000 in back pay.
City officials announced that after a jury found him not guilty of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, Officer Nathan Woodyard will be permitted to serve and protect despite the deadly result of the 2019 interaction with McClain.
Woodyard and two other officers were charged in relation to McClain’s death, resulting in his suspension without pay. The Aurora City Charter indicates that all officers found facing felony charges must be suspended without pay until the completion of the trial. It also notes that if the officer is acquitted, as in the case of Woodyard, they must be allowed to come back to the Colorado city’s department.
During a highly publicized two-week criminal trial, it was asserted that the officers’ use of a choke hold and excessive force, as highlighted by the local coroner’s office, played a crucial role in the man’s death. The coroner’s report suggests that when combined with the administration of a potentially lethal dose of ketamine by an emergency response team, these factors contributed to the tragic demise of the 23-year-old.
Woodyard was the first officer to approach McClain on Aug. 24, 2019, after receiving a call that he was acting “suspicious.” Though McClain was not breaking any laws and was unarmed, the young Black man was wearing a ski mask on his face as he walked home from a convenience store. Within seconds of engaging McClain, he got into a physical altercation with the police, resulting in him being placed in a carotid choke hold at least twice and vomiting in his mask before telling officers he could not breathe.
Following the forceful detention, paramedics injected McClain…
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