Interim Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said officers Erica Marrero, Kyle Dittrich, and Jason Rosenblatt were terminated on Friday. A fourth officer, Jaron Jones, had resigned on Tuesday before a pre-disciplinary hearing.

The photos were taken on October 20, 2019, at the site of the August 24, 2019, incident involving McClain, who later died after struggling with officers. Marrero, Dittrich and Jones are in the photograph, which was taken while the three were on duty and had just completed a call, according to the department's investigation.

Rosenblatt was sent the photo in a text but failed to notify a supervisor, Wilson said in a news conference. According to Wilson, when Rosenblatt received the photo, he replied, "ha ha"

"To even think about doing such a thing is beyond, it's beyond comprehension. It is reprehensible," Wilson said. "It shows a lack of morals, values, and integrity, and a judgment that I can no longer trust to allow them to wear this badge."

Wilson said one of the photos show the officers smiling while reenacting the way Elijah McClain was held by the police officers in a chokehold last year. She called it "a crime against humanity and decency."

"They're actually reenacting a carotid control hold," Wilson said.

Wilson says she was made aware of the photographs last week after an uninvolved officer saw the photo and reported it to a sergeant, who immediately notified her.

The union for the police officers, the Aurora Police Association, said the investigation into the photos was done in "an unprecedented fashion."

"This internal investigation was conducted in an unprecedented fashion. All of the officers involved were ordered to give interview on very short notice, without proper preparation, outside of their normal work hours, had their phones confiscated and downloaded," the association said in a statement.

The statement criticized Wilson and said the probe violated the officer's right to due process. "This investigation is a rush to judgment," according to the statement.

In their interviews with internal affairs investigators, the officers said the photos were an attempt to cheer up another officer who was involved in the incident with McClain.

"Myself and two other officers were in the area on a call and observed the memorial and took a photograph in front of it for the sole purpose to try to cheer up one of the members that was involved in the initial Elijah McClain incident," said Jones in his interview with internal affairs investigators.

Dittrich also told investigators that the photo was an attempt to cheer up the other officer and that it was his idea to have Jones put his arm around his neck. It was not his intent to make fun of McClain's death, he said.

"I realized afterwards that this was in incredibly, to say it was incredibly poor taste is an understatement," he said.

Marrero told investigators that it was an attempt to cheer up another officer, but it was not appreciated by the officer.

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