Officers Erica Marrero, Kyle Dittrich and Jaron Jones imitated the suffocation. (Reuters)
Washington:
Two American police officers were dismissed after a photo appeared showing them reconstructing a strangulation used on a black man before his death on a site commemorating his death, said Colorado police in a statement.
Elijah McClain, 23, died last August in Aurora, three days after police placed him in a strangulation, received an injection of ketamine to sedate him, and suffered cardiac arrest.
Police ordered a special investigation into his death this week, which was made public after the police murder of George Floyd in May, which sparked nationwide anger and protests.
Officers Erica Marrero, Kyle Dittrich and Jaron Jones mimicked the choking used to subdue McClain in October of last year.
In an online statement, Aurora’s acting police chief Vanessa Wilson confirmed on Friday that Marrero and Dittrich had been dismissed.
The third officer photographed, Jones, resigned on Tuesday, she said.
She added that she understood “the devastating impact that this incident had on the relations between the community and the Department”.
A fourth officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was also fired on Friday.
The photo was sent to him by one of the three and said “haha,” local American media reported.
