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After the death of African-American Elijah McClain in the US state of Colorado, a paramedic was sentenced to five years in prison. The verdict against the man for manslaughter by negligence and unlawful use of medicine was announced on Friday.

The 51-year-old paramedic and a colleague administered excessive doses of the anesthetic and painkiller ketamine to McClain during a police operation in August 2019. The 23-year-old black man, who was held in a chokehold by police officers, subsequently suffered a heart attack. He died three days after the incident in the city of Aurora, near Denver.

At the time, police responded to a call that a “suspicious” black man with a balaclava over his face was behaving “strangely” on the street. A police officer said McClain reached for another officer’s service weapon during an argument. But he couldn’t prove that. According to his family, McClain went to buy iced tea and wore a ski mask to protect himself from the cold.

Rare indictment

The two paramedics were found guilty in December. The verdict against the second paramedic is expected to be announced in April. In the United States, paramedics are very rarely charged and convicted after the death of someone they treated.

The paramedics’ lawyers argued at the hearing that their clients had simply followed the instructions when administering ketamine. The drug is approved in Colorado for people in an “agitated state.”

However, prosecutor Shannon Stevenson said there was no medical reason for the government. The defendants also administered the drug to McClain without obtaining his consent — “and no reasonable person would agree to overdose on a drug he does not need.”

Police officer sentenced to 14 months

Two of the police officers involved in the operation were acquitted. A third officer was sentenced to 14 months in prison in January.

After no charges were initially filed against the police officers and paramedics in the McClain case, Colorado Governor Jared Polis launched an investigation in June 2020 amid enormous public pressure. More than three million people, including numerous celebrities such as former host Ellen DeGeneres, had called for an investigation into McClain’s death in an online petition.

A few weeks earlier, the death of African-American George Floyd during a brutal police operation in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests and brought police brutality against black people into the spotlight. In the US, deadly police operations against unarmed African Americans repeatedly spark outrage. (sda/afp)