Here’s What You Need to Know About Elijah McClain’s Death

Mr. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to a hospital. He died a few days later.

Who was Elijah McClain?

Mr. McClain was a massage therapist who is said to have loved animals and who taught himself to play the guitar and the violin, according to The Cut. A photograph of Mr. McClain playing the violin for stray cats, which he believed helped soothe them, has gone viral.

A GoFundMe page created by Sheneen McClain, Mr. McClain’s mother, had raised nearly $1.5 million by Thursday afternoon, and more than 3 million people have signed an online petition demanding that the officers involved be taken off duty and that there be an in-depth investigation of the encounter.

How did he die?

It is unclear what exactly caused Mr. McClain to go into cardiac arrest.

An autopsy report by the Adams County coroner said that the cause of death was “undetermined,” and that it could have been a result of natural causes, a homicide related to the carotid hold, or an accident.

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.”

An officer said in the body camera footage that officers had “put him out” with a carotid hold twice, “at least once successfully,” meaning Mr. McClain had lost consciousness.