An autopsy for an Obama for America campaign staffer who died after collapsing in the Chicago headquarters was inconclusive Saturday.
Alex Okrent, a 29-year-old Wesleyan University graduate, collapsed at the Obama headquarters in the Prudential Building on Friday, authorities said. Paramedics gave him emergency treatment before taking him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
The autopsy requires further studies before a cause of death can be determined, according to the medical examiner’s office.
President Barack Obama called his family to offer his condolences. Obama later consoled campaign staffers in a dial-in conference call on Friday afternoon.
Okrent worked in the campaign’s paid media department, which handled advertising for Obama’s re-election bid. He was a staffer for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and worked on his 2004 race for an Illinois Senate seat. Okrent also worked on a variety of other campaigns.
Okrent graduated from Wesleyan's College of Social Studies in 2005, according to a Wesleyan University Web site, the weslying, and played rugby.
