A police officer charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain testified Wednesday that he put the 23-year-old Black man in a neck hold because he feared for his life after another officer said McClain grabbed for one of their guns.
Prosecutors have refuted that McClain ever tried to grab an officer’s gun, and it can’t be seen in body camera footage, which is shaky and dark before all the cameras fall off during the ensuing struggle. Lawyers for two other officers tried earlier in McClain's death also raised the alleged gun grab as part of their defense.
