Choking death pic officers sacked
Three US police officers have been fired over photos re- enacting a chokehold used on a 23-year-old black man who later died.
The sickening snaps, showing the cops smiling and placing each other in a chokehold, were taken two months after Elijah McClain’s death.
They were sent to Jason Rosenblatt – one of the cops who stopped him in Aurora, Colorado, last August. He responded with a text saying: “Haha”.
He was sacked along with Kyle Dittrich and Erica Marrero, two officers in the pictures. The third, Jaron Jones, resigned.
Aurora interim police chief Vanessa Wilson said they sent the photos, which were taken near a memorial for McClain, to “cheer up a friend”.
She said: “We are ashamed, sickened and angry. The photos are a crime against humanity and decency.”
Family attorney Mari Newman said McClain’s mother Sheneen was left devastated by the photos, which only came to light last month.
She added: “This shows the department is rotten to the core.”
Cop Nathan Woodyard, who put McClain in the chokehold, got the photos but was not disciplined as he did not respond. The two other officers who stopped McClain are still on the force after being cleared.
Governor Jared Pol is last week ordered that the case be reopened.