Member-only story
The Anything-But-Race Movement
When the main problem is never the problem.
Last year in Colorado, police approached 23-year-old Elijah McClain, who was on his way back home after picking up an iced tea for his brother. Three officers approached McClain, and African American man, for “being a suspicious person.”
What exactly constitutes a “suspicious person?” Police will say it was because McClain was wearing a ski mask, but McClain would often get cold — a side effect of his anemia.
McClain was a massage therapist and an animal lover, as well as an auto-didactic guitar and violin player. He would often play his violin for the neighborhood cats. He thought it soothed them.
Officers approached McClain, who was unarmed. “I have a right to stop you because you’re being suspicious,” one officer is heard saying.
“I am an introvert, please respect the boundaries that I am speaking,” McClain responded. Then, without questioning McClain, the officer immediately subdued him.
All three officers had body cameras, but they conveniently fell off during their interaction with McClain. At one point, 15 and a half minutes into the raw footage, an officer picks a fallen camera off the ground to point at McClain before another officer instructs him to “leave your camera there.”
