DENVER — Community leaders continue to react to the Colorado Court of Appeals decision to reverse the convictions of two former Aurora paramedics involved in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.
“There was just like a ton of bricks that hit my stomach, and immediately I thought about Sheneen (McClain) and Lawayne (Mosley, Elijah's father) and all of Elijah's siblings and his very close friends,” said community activist Candice Bailey. "I just think about this judge...You do this every day, all day long. I don't know what would lead you to not direct a jury correctly."
▶️ WATCH: Community activist Candice Bailey talks with Denver7's Micah Smith about the appeals court decision
Bailey helped organize some of the very first protests in McClain’s honor. She said the appeals court’s decision brings up past feelings.
“Initially there was only eight of us for months that were talking about what was happening in reference to Elijah's homicide," said Bailey. "I thought about the damning effects on our community. How deeply this tore the city of Aurora apart. How deeply it got people to wake up and recognize some of the things that were happening. It wasn't an instantaneous thought. It was just a feeling of sickness,” Bailey said.
For Bailey, McClain’s death was deeply personal.
“There was this intimacy for me that many people did not know about because my own child had received ketamine to stop seizures because he has a brain condition, and so I actually know these two gentlemen personally," said Bailey. They had saved my son's life hundreds of times, literally, and I knew the stringent conversations that we had to have prior to administering ketamine, and in (McClain's) case, there was no conversation,” Bailey said.
Bailey said she became passionate about justice for McClain and changing systems she felt were failing community members, but her activism came at a high price.
“I have severe PTSD. I have had death threats, I have gone through a lot as a result of caring about what happens in my community, about standing up for Elijah McClain,” Bailey said.
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After learning this week that the City of Denver approved another round of settlements for the Denver Police Department's actions against protesters during the 2020 protests inspired by the police killing of George Floyd and the death of Elijah McClain, Bailey said she’s still concerned about taxpayer dollars being used for these settlements.
“We have watched our state and city budgets be annihilated. We do not have funding, and so, how do we have funding to pay for DPD's wrongful acts? (For) APD's wrongful acts?," said Bailey. "No matter whose acts it is, why is it now that the citizens are carrying the brunt of that, and we're still scratching each other's eyes out over the red and blue, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat?"
Bailey’s friend and fellow protester was a recipient of one of those settlements.
“I immediately thought of Lindsay Minter… during that time she was shot in the face with a rubber bullet, and she has a permanent physical scars. She had to have oral surgery to remove teeth, and I thought about her immediately, because some of us have internal scars, but Lindsay carries a very different scar, and immediately we talked, and we cried," Bailey said. "We cried a lot. There's not a day that we're not thinking about Elijah. We both...— our lives were changed significantly. It changed who we were. It changed how we viewed the world,” Bailey said.
But Bailey said she remains hopeful about the future.
“Elijah really was the catalyst for SB-217, the only police accountability legislation across the nation. We now have STAR programs across the nation that deal with people in mental health crises. Elijah has been so impactful to the country,” Bailey said. “Elijah’s work is not done.”
