Officer involved in taking pictures mocking Elijah McClain resigns

An Aurora, Colo., police officer who was involved in taking pictures reenacting the police chokehold used on Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died three days after the encounter, has resigned from the force.

“In response to inquiries by the press, Jaron Jones, hired October 31, 2016, tendered his resignation,” the Aurora Police Department tweeted Thursday. “Jones was one of the employees involved and depicted in the photograph investigation related to #ElijahMcClain. We will continue to update w/developments as we proceed.”

Multiple officers were suspended over the photos, which police said show officers posing inappropriately near a memorial to McClain and reenacting the carotid hold. The department has said the photographs were taken in October.

In response to inquiries by the press, Jaron Jones, hired October 31, 2016, tendered his resignation. Jones was one of the employees involved and depicted in the photograph investigation related to #ElijahMcClain. We will continue to update w/developments as we proceed.

— Aurora Police Dept. (@AuroraPD) July 2, 2020

The department did not say whether any other officers had been fired or resigned over the incident. The Hill has reached out to the department for clarification.

FBI investigators are reportedly investigating the photographs and “gathering further information about that incident to determine whether a federal civil rights investigation is warranted,” FBI officials told a Denver-area CBS affiliate.

McClain was stopped by police in August while walking home from a convenience store. McClain was wearing a ski mask, which his family members have said he wore to keep him warm due to anemia and to soothe his social anxiety.

Dave Young, the original district attorney assigned to the case, said McClain ignored police requests to stop, while his family has said he did not hear them because he was listening to music. Police held him in a chokehold until he vomited, and later injected him with ketamine, which led to a heart attack. McClain was pronounced dead three days later.

“Let me go, no, let me go, I am an introvert, please respect my boundaries that I am speaking,” McClain can be heard saying in body camera footage.

Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced state Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) will serve as a special prosecutor and reinvestigate the case, which McClain’s mother has described as a murder.