Last summer, a 23-year-old Black man named Elijah McClain went to pick up iced tea for his brother in Aurora, Colorado, but he never made it home. On that walk, he was arrested and died, and the troubling circumstances of his death at the hands of the police will now be further be investigated following a directive by Colorado’s governor. Based on statements from McClain’s family, on August 24, 2019, the unarmed young man walked to a local convenience store. A 911 call reported a suspicious man in a ski mask waving his hands, but also acknowledged the man was unarmed and had not committed a crime. Following the call, McClain was stopped and questioned by police. Body-cam footage captures audio of McClain’s interactions with the officers, including pleas by McClain that he couldn’t breathe during the physical altercation of his arrest. Nonetheless, one of the police officers reportedly applied a carotid hold on McClain – a police maneuver that temporarily cuts off blood to the subject’s brain. Following his arrest, the police officers called first responders, who treated McClain with life saving measures. McClain reportedly went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. He was taken off life support and died on August 30. But while he was detained, Mr. McClain was clearly in distress. After officers restrained him on the ground, he vomited several times, for which he apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to do that, I can’t breathe correctly.”