A police officer charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain has testified that he put the 23-year-old Black man in a neck hold because he feared for his life
November 01, 2023 at 9:19 pm EDTFILE - Aurora, Colo., Police Officer Nathan Woodyard, center, is flanked by his lawyers, Andrew Ho, left, and Megan Downing, right, during an arraignment after being charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain at the Adams County Justice Center, Jan. 20, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. Woodyard testified Wednesday, Nov.
"I was expecting to get shot, and I thought I’d never see my wife again,” Aurora officer Nathan Woodyard said on the stand, his voice shaking a bit, in his trial in McClain's death. His death became a rallying cry at social justice protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Woodyard, the first police officer to testify in his defense, said he and two other officers, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema, had McClain up against a wall when he heard McClain say, “I intend to take my power back” and then heard Roedema say, “He just grabbed your gun, dude." Both statements can be heard on the visually unclear footage.
Woodyard testified that, soon after the neck hold, he heard McClain say he could not breathe, so he took off his mask. He believed McClain was able to breathe after that, laying on his side in what police call the recovery position, as opposed to face down on his stomach. Woodyard then left to talk to his supervisor who arrived on the scene. He said he was so shaken up by what happened that she suggested he take a break.
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