A white American police officer was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Friday due to his involvement in the death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who was subjected to choking and injection with a sedative ketamine during his arrest in 2019, according to the French Press Agency.
The judge who pronounced the sentence expressed “shock at the indifference shown” by the officer towards the “suffering” of McClain, who “was handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone.”
Among the three officers pursued in this case, Randy Roedema was the only one convicted of involuntary manslaughter in October. The other two officers were acquitted.
Roedema was sentenced to four years in prison with a suspended sentence.
Initially, the death of McClain (23 years old) in Aurora, Colorado, did not attract media attention, but it gained prominence after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020.
McClain died of a heart attack three days after his arrest. During his arrest, the officers restrained him and forcibly injected him with a powerful sedative.
The paramedics involved were separately charged with involuntary manslaughter in December, and they are awaiting sentencing.
Roedema stated before the judge on Friday, “We acted based on our training.”
The case had been initially closed, but Colorado Governor Jared Polis requested a reopening of the investigation in June 2020 after speaking to McClain’s family.
