Officers, Medical Personnel Indicted in Death of Elijah McClain

Elijah McClain

Justice is neither guaranteed in this life nor is it always swift — but if you're patient enough sometimes it comes. 

The family of Elijah McClain, an unarmed black man killed in an encounter with police officers in Aurora, Colorado two years ago, is more hopeful than ever that is the case in the death of their son, after Colorado Attorney General  Phil Weiser announced Wednesday that the three police offices and two paramedics involved were indicted by a grand jury. 

BREAKING: Colorado AG Phil Weiser announces the grand jury returned a 32 count indictment against Aurora police officers involved in Elijah McClain’s death almost exactly two years ago. https://t.co/vlkV4uq3lr pic.twitter.com/LQKnMdPp5c

— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 1, 2021

"Late last Thursday, after careful and thoughtful deliberation, the grand jury returned a 32-count indictment against Aurora police officers Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard, former Aurora Police officer Jason Rosenblatt, and Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec for their alleged conduct on the night of August 24, 2019, that resulted in Mr. McClain’s death," said Weiser at a press conference announcing the results of the lengthy investigation. "Each of the five defendants face one count of manslaughter and one count of criminally negligent homicide. Officers Roedema and Rosenblatt also each face a count of second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury and caused serious bodily injury to Mr. McClain. Both also face one count of a crime of violence related to the second-degree assault (bodily injury) charge."

Weiser added that in addition to the manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges, paramedics Cooper and Cichuniec, who are alleged to have administered a lethal dose of ketamine which prosecutors believe may have killed McClain also face:

• One count second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury and caused serious bodily injury,
• One count second-degree assault for recklessly causing serious bodily injury by means of a deadly weapon (Ketamine), and
• One count second-degree assault for a purpose other than lawful medical or therapeutic treatment, intentionally causing stupor, unconsciousness, or other physical or mental impairment or injury to Mr. McClain, by administering a drug (Ketamine) without consent.

Cooper and Cichuniec also face two counts of crimes of violence for each of the assault charges.

"Nothing will bring back my son, but I am thankful that his killers will finally be held accountable," said LaWayne Mosley, McClain's father, in a statement provided by his attorney.

It's something the family had trouble believing two years ago when the 23-year-old massage therapist and violin player died after Aurora police and medics, responding to a 911 call that he wore a face mask into a convenience store to buy iced tea — eventually forced him to the ground, placed him into a now-banned type of chokehold (carotid artery) and injected him with the tranquilizer Ketamine. No crime was reported by the caller. McClain was not armed.

“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe please. I can’t. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe, please stop," McClain — who according to his family choked on his own vomit, had a heart attack and never recovered —pleaded with officers before drawing his last breath in footage from the officer's bodycam footage.

ESPN Duped by Fake Football Team

Did the self-described “worldwide leader in sports” get duped into airing a football game between one of
the top high school football squads in the nation and an online academy with a dubious pedigree, a head coach with an active warrant and several players that may not have been eligible to play in the game?

Bishop Sycamore head coach Roy Johnson was fired Tuesday. 

Well, there’s no disputing the fact that defending high school national champion IMG Academy — a perennial gridiron powerhouse from Florida — faced off with Ohio-based school Bishop Sycamore Sunday in the Geico High School Football Kickoff on ESPN, beating the cleats off the Centurions, 58-0. 

The game, which was supposed to put two of the nation’s best teams on national display, was such a mismatch that the network’s own announcers began to question the legitimacy of Bishop Sycamore during the broadcast.

ESPN’s commendations WENT IN on Bishop Sycamore 💀 pic.twitter.com/RCJv46gOA3

— BuckeyeScoop.com (@kirk_barton) August 29, 2021

Shortly following the game other details began to emerge that put the whole affair in question. It was discovered that the contest was the team’s second in three days, putting player safety into question. Then it was reported that the school was 0-6 last year and didn’t seem to exist prior to last season.

By Tuesday things had really gone off the rails. Bishop Sycamore head coach Roy Johnson was fired for “a lot of things,” school director Andre Peterson told Chris Bumbaca of USA Today. One of which was the fact that he has an active bench warrant for failure to appear in a domestic violence case, which was eventually dropped to a criminal mischief charge, issued July 2 by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office. He is also facing a pending fraud charge for defaulting on a $100,000 loan issued in April 2018 that was never repaid to First Merchants Bank, and a 2019 civil lawsuit filed by ARN Hospitality, says Johnson owes a balance of $110,685 to the group which owns a hotel he is alleged to have housed players at for a night in 2018. 

Add to that the fact that several players, parents and other associates of the team brought some pretty damming stories to light in the aftermath of the contest, it sure seems like ESPN should have been wary of ever approving the squad to be spotlighted on the national stage.

I talked to Aaron Boyd, a former Bishop Sycamore player and he exposed all their dark secrets.

It’s scary what they’re doing over there.

Article: https://t.co/xEIP9pOoWo pic.twitter.com/QEEC1pAiwL

— Zion 🇳🇬 (@ZionOlojede) August 31, 2021

For its part, the network tried to take the focus for the black off itself, issuing a statement Monday that threw Paragon Marketing Group — responsible for arranging the schedule for the Geico event — under the bus:

 We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling. They have ensured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward.

Whether or not that was enough to convince the world, that a network that prides itself on getting the facts and getting them first and employs hundreds of reporters across various mediums couldn’t figure out something it took less than a half for its own announcers to see remains to be seen. 

Black Remake of ‘the Wonder Years’ Set for fall Debut

Courtesy ABC

When times are tough people turn to the past for comfort.

So, it should come as no surprise that this fall’s upcoming primetime lineup is leaning on it to bring in viewers — and among the reboots and reimaginings slated to premier in 2021 is an effort to put a relevant racial spin on an all-time classic.

ABC’s “The Wonder Years” exchanges the white family from the original coming-of-age sitcom that ran from 1988 to 1993 with a black one in what the series creators call “a nostalgic look at a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama, through the point of view of imaginative 12-year-old Dean.”

Fred Savage who starred in the original series, set in the late 60s and early 70s, as its young protagonist Kevin (Danie Stern served as narrator/adult Kevin), serves as an executive producer on the project alongside creator Saladin K. Patterson, Lee Daniels and Marc Velez.

Saladin who wrote the pilot and grew up in Montgomery — Savage handles directing duties — told the Montgomery Advertiser the series will be “be a love letter to Montgomery, about Montgomery and the people of Montgomery.”

Up-and-comer Elisha “EJ” Williams anchors the cast as 12-year-old Dean Williams, with renowned actor Don Cheadle taking on the roles of narrator and adult Dean. Montgomery, a key location during the United States civil rights movement will also play an important role.

“We want to really take the opportunity to show a part of Black, middle-class life that had not been seen before. Usually, when you talk about the late ’60s, it’s talking about the struggle in the civil rights movement and things like that, that are very valid and a part of our story as well,” said Patterson during the show’s Television Critics Association press tour panel on Aug. 26. “The difference between now and the late ’90s, early 2000s does not seem to be as different as when the original came out and you were looking from ’88 to ’68. And so, we really gravitated towards sticking to the universe — ‘The Wonder Years’ universe — and sticking to that original time, really looking at this Black, middle-class perspective during that time because we haven’t really seen that represented on TV and film before,” he continued.

The show is set to debut on September 22nd, and as a lead-up to the premiere stars of the original, including Savage and Danica McKellar (who played his love interest Winnie Cooper) will make guest appearances across some of ABC’s biggest hits including “The Goldbergs” and “The Conners.”