Jakarta - The story of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd triggered the massive #BlackLivesMatter movement. Rows of stories of injustice against other black races also unfold. One of them is the story of Elijah McClain that happened last year.

Racism cases are being investigated again one by one. Petitions and demonstrations are being held everywhere. Yesterday, Saturday in Aurora, Colorado, United States, thousands of people gathered to commemorate Elijah McClain. He was a 23-year-old man who died on August 30, 2019. The tragedy this time involved the Aurora police.

This vigil event was peaceful. People sit with their relatives and families in Aurora Park while listening to the performers' violins. This is done because Elijah is known to often play the violin to entertain the animals in the shelter during lunch break.

The beauty of the atmosphere was dispersed by the police who suddenly came together to Aurora Park. They were equipped with riot equipment and distributed pepper spray to the visitors there. Even though this activity cannot even be said to be a protest or demonstration, even though they still want justice for Elijah.

For those who don't know Elijah McClain, he is known to be a very gentle massage therapist. He is said to have neither eaten meat nor killed flies. This case of unwarranted murder has returned to be accounted for.

Through its official Twitter account, the Aurora Police Department admitted that their members did not use tear gas to deal with community groups that day. They said the use of pepper spray was only done when a small group gathered wood and stones and refused to back down. However, other Twitter users who claimed to be at the scene that day said this was not true and they were lying. This is exacerbated by the disabling of Aurora PD's reply to official tweets. People shouted again that the police couldn't be trusted.

On June 26, the Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis specifically ordered Attorney General Phil Weiser to investigate this case. Jared said he was moved by stories from Elijah's mother, family and friends that portray Elijah as responsible, gentle, and bringing peace. He said Elijah should be alive today and we owe it to his family to take this step and get justice.

Prosecutor Dave Young also expressed his support for this independent investigation. He said Elijah's death was tragic and unnecessary, but that his job required compelling evidence to convict a criminal sentence.

Unfortunately all of this happened only 10 months after the tragedy. This independent investigation was only possible after many petitions were signed, protests were everywhere, and got the attention of the world's citizens. Where it should be no matter who, where, or whatever the story is, the guilty of law enforcement is obliged to take responsibility.

Siniar VOI this time will retell the Elijah McClain murder case that occurred a year ago. Hit the listen button and we'll tell the story for you.


The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)