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Two police officers who took smiling selfies at a memorial site for Elijah McClain, a black man who died in police custody last year, were fired and a third resigned before he could be terminated.
A fourth officer who saw the picture and replied “haha” in a text message also lost his job,聽Interim Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson announced Friday.
“There is absolutely nothing funny about this,” she told reporters at a press conference.
Wilson said photographs taken by the officers showed them smiling at McClain’s memorial. One showed them reenacting a chokehold that officers used on McClain, who died several days after he was taken into custody.
“I am disgusted to my core,” the police chief said.
Erica Marrero and Kyle Dittrich were fired for being in the photographs. Jaren Jones resigned before he could be fired, officials said. Jason Rosenblatt,聽one of the officers who stopped McClain last year, was terminated for receiving the picture and responding with a laugh.
Aurora Police Department Interim Chief Vanessa Wilson discusses the actions of police officers who reenacted the chokehold used on Elijah McClain before his death, at the site of the incident during a press conference in Aurora, Colo., on July 3, 2020. (Philip B. Poston/The Aurora Sentinel via AP)
(L-R) Officers Erica Marrero, Jaron Jones, and Kyle Dittrich in Aurora, Colo. (Aurora Police Department via AP)All four were found in violation of conduct unbecoming of an officer.
The photographs were taken on Oct. 20, 2019, about two months after McClain perished. His death is under investigation by the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the state attorney general’s office.
A fifth officer who was sent one of the pictures spent months struggling with what to do before deciding to send it to higher-ups.
Wilson learned of the photographs on June 25 and immediately ordered an internal affairs investigation. The officers were placed on paid administrative leave as an expedited probe took place.
The officers were fired on Friday. They defended themselves by saying they were trying to cheer up a friend by sending the photographs, according to the police chief.
The officers didn’t submit any information to the chief for her consideration before she officially terminated them after the mandated 72-hour waiting period. They requested an investigative review board look at the case but Wilson denied that request.
“Nothing was going to change my mind on termination, therefore I denied their right to an investigative review board, and I am legally able to do so,” Wilson said.
Wilson described the pictures as “very disturbing” and paused throughout the press conference to gather her emotions. She said she delayed speaking about the case because she wanted to meet with McClain’s mother to show her the pictures, a meeting that took place earlier Friday.
Wilson apologized to the McClain family and law enforcement agencies across the nation, highlighting how one officer came forward with the photographs.
“We know that there are cops that have integrity. They understand duty and they understand honor. These four don’t get it,” she said.
Sheneen McClain speaks during a rally and march over the death of her 23-year-old son Elijah McClain, outside the police department in Aurora, Colo., on聽June 27, 2020. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)
A makeshift memorial stands at a site across the street from where Elijah McClain was stopped by Aurora Police Department officers while walking home, in Aurora, Colo., on July 3, 2020. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)If any officer disagrees with the decision to fire the officers, she added, she will gladly accept their resignations.
The Aurora Police Association Board of Directors said the internal investigation was conducted “in an unprecedented fashion,” with officers ordered to give interviews on short notice, making it difficult to properly prepare.
Officers’ phones were also confiscated and the file review process was abbreviated and defective, the board of the police union said in a statement, calling the probe a violation of officers’ due process rights.
“A standard internal affairs case takes several months. This case took nine days. This investigation is a rush to judgement,” the board said, calling for Wilson to be dropped from consideration for being the permanent police chief.
Asked about the criticism, Wilson told reporters, “It is my prerogative, and the public outcry and demand for justice for Elijah, and just the absolute鈥攖hey don’t deserve to wear a badge anymore.”
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