Elijah McClain’s mom President Biden’s guest for executive policing bill signing

When President Biden signs his executive order on police reform at the White House on Wednesday, Elijah McClain’s mother will be on the stage with him along with relatives of George Floyd.

May 25, 2022 is the second anniversary of Floyd’s death.

Sheneen McClain’s son, Elijah, died nine months before Floyd, but his death got little attention until racial protests erupted in Denver during the summer of 2020. Sheneen McClain was heard telling a crowd of protesters on the West steps of Denver’s capitol that it took the death of another man in another state for people to pay attention to the death of her son.

McClain, 23, was put into a chokehold and injected with ketamine after being stopped by Aurora police officers while walking home from a convenience store. He was unarmed but wearing a ski mask, which a 911 caller said looked “sketchy.” McClain later died at the hospital.

Biden’s executive order reportedly would require federal law enforcement to review and revise policies on use of force, and it would restrict the flow of surplus military equipment to local police.

In addition, the order would encourage limitations on chokeholds and no-knock warrants by attaching strings to federal funding.

The White House called Sunday night to invite Sheneen McClain to stand beside the president and Floyd’s family. She was on a plane with one of her attorneys, Qusair Mohamedbhai, Tuesday afternoon.

“Sheneen is excited and humbled to meet President Biden,” Mohamedbhai wrote in a text from the airplane. “She looks forward to discussing Elijah, Colorado and supporting his national police reform plans.”

McClain has never met Floyd’s relatives nor has she ever been to Washington D.C. “Sheneen doesn’t accept all of the offers which come her way. She is still grieving the death of her son, but when the President calls, you go,” said attorney Siddhartha Rathod.

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