Elijah McClain indictments

Discussion in 'Ethics, Morality, & Justice' started by billvon, Sep 1, 2021.

  1. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Elijah McClain was a massage therapist who lived in Aurora, CO. He played guitar and loved music; he would often play his guitar to dogs at a nearby shelter. He also listened to music quite often and would 'dance' as he walked. He was black, weighted 140 pounds and was 5' 6". He was anemic and often wore sweaters and hats even when it was warm out.

    On Aug 24 2019 he was walking home. A neighbor called the police, saying that a man was wearing a ski mask and "waving his arms" but he did not look like a threat and they did not see any weapons. Police responded.

    When police approached him, they pushed him face first into a wall. The police report claims that he was reaching for an officer's gun. However, the audio captured by the police body cameras recorded the officer saying that he did not remember feeling that.

    At that point two of the police body cameras had "fallen off" the police, and the third one did not record any useful video (although all three continued to record audio.) When the two police realized that the third officer still had his camera on, they asked him to move the camera. It then "fell off" as well.

    They then moved him to the ground and applied a carotid control hold. Elijah said several times that he could not breathe. They continued the hold. At one point all three police officers were on top of him. He vomited and then apologized, saying "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to do that. I just can't breathe correctly."

    Paramedics arrived and, at request of police, injected him with 500mg of ketamine to sedate him. (The safe dose would have been 320mg for his body weight.) They did this because police said he was "acting crazy" he was "definitely on something" and he had "incredible, crazy strength." However, he was already handcuffed and was face-down on the ground when paramedics arrived.

    When they moved him to the ambulance a few minutes later they realized that he was not breathing. He was pronounced brain dead three days later and died three days after that.

    The police initially did nothing. They investigated the incident and cleared all three officers.

    In June of 2020, almost a year later, 820,000 people signed a petition to investigate the death again and remove the three officers from duty. The police response was that they "don't open up investigations based on petitions." They moved the officers to a less public facing role to try to tamp down the public furor.

    At the end of June three officers re-enacted what they did to Elijah and took a picture. They posted the picture, and one of the officers posted "haha." The police chief said that he was "trying to cheer up a friend" with that comment on the picture.

    In 2021 the City Council launched its own investigation. They determined that "police and paramedics made substantial errors at nearly every stage" and they "stretched the truth to exonerate the officers involved." They also pointed out that the audio (and small amount of video) contradicted the officer's story.

    Over two years after his death, a Colorado grand jury returned a 32-count indictment against the two paramedics and three officers. They are charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
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  3. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    a bout time.
     
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  5. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    In the police officers defence... the proof that they ment no disrespect an was just tryin to cheer up a frind is that they chose the most fun part to reenact of what they did to that black guy who had unbeleivable strength

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  7. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    And a fun time was had by all.
     
  8. origin Heading towards oblivion Valued Senior Member

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    Agreed! A sad situation all around.
     
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  9. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Trying to predict the right wing response. My predictions:

    "The autopsy was inconclusive! Sure, it documented injury to his neck. But he might have just had a bad reaction to that much ketamine! Could happen to anyone."
    "He was asking for it. He was walking with a hoodie, armed with a bottle he could have broken and used as a weapon."
    "He launched himself from the wall to the curb by himself. Once he did that, they had no responsibility to save his life."
    "He's no choir boy! He's black, and a lot of black people in that area shoplift. How could the cops know he wasn't a criminal?"
    "The police feared for their lives. I'd rather have three police alive than a black thug alive."
     
  10. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Good ponts all... an the prollem for non-cops is not understandin what resisting" means.!!!


    Definition of "Resisting" :::

    1. Beggin for air

    2. An involuntary flinch after bein punched... kicked... or havin you'r arm twisted to near the brakin point
     
  11. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    I’m surprised you know who hasn’t shown up to tell us why the officers were justified and why this poor kid deserved to die. But yeah I wonder what bs excse it will be this time
     
  12. C C Consular Corps - "the backbone of diplomacy" Valued Senior Member

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    Technical mishap post here. (I.e., this statement being preferable to the blank spot it was before.)
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2021
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  13. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    This lady was 120 pounds of wildcat... well... about as wild as she coud muster consideren she was 73 wit dementia an just kept repeatin that she was goin home.!!!

    The cop warned her to quit squirmin when he had her arm bent behin her... she kept tryin to get loose for some reason... an then when the cop gave a quick shove on her elbow her shoulder popped an it was a succesful dislocation... an wit the help of anuther officer they finaly wrestled the cuffs on her... but she still kept repeatin that she was goin home... "im goin home".!!!

    In ther defence... when they got her to jail they gave her medical treetment... after 6 houres.!!!

    One of the officers got some mud on his elbow but it wasnt a total loss... later on 3 officers was watchin the body cam video an laffed an laffed... especialy when they herd the pop of her shoulder dislocatin... one of 'em said they loved watchin body-cam video.!!!

    https://www.reporterherald.com/2021...hts-lawsuit-over-arrest-of-73-year-old-woman/

     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2021
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  14. foghorn Valued Senior Member

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    That woman cop doesn't t understand why a 73 year old lady can't stand up after being pressed then shoved against the car.

    The woman is against the car (time tag 1.40)

    The female cops comes round and takes hold of the woman's cuffed arm and pulls it backwards away from the car (time tag 1.43). The old woman follows that pull but is then shoved back against the car (time tag 1.46). Female cop then wonders why old woman can't stand up?
     
  15. C C Consular Corps - "the backbone of diplomacy" Valued Senior Member

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    Hopefully no technical glitches this time around.

    Elijah McClain: He had never been arrested or charged with a crime. Friends and family described him as a "spiritual seeker, pacifist, oddball, vegetarian, athlete, and peacemaker who was exceedingly gentle".

    A very small protest was held in November 2019 in response to the District Attorney's decision not to file charges. McClain's mother Sheneen was scheduled to take part but was in too much grief to appear and speak.

    A second event for McClain was held on June 6, 2020, after the murder of George Floyd led to the formation of a nationwide protest movement in the United States. One of the event organizers remarked that the McClain family must have felt that the death of their loved one had been in vain when they saw the streets of Denver filled with protesters showing support for George Floyd while their loved one seemed to have been all but forgotten.

    Superficially or musingly, it might then seem understandable (from their warped perspective) why these cops would seize the opportunity to dispense harsh treatment to a saint like EM, not the least to still be employed long enough for a cruel photo exploit.

    Since it appears to take much longer to work up non-local or national interest (if ever) for an angel's death. In contrast to someone with a "supposed" bad apple history [see footnote] receiving the figurative 2019-2020 Social Justice Icon and Martyr Award. (Jesse James even had heroic and empathetic ballads written about him.)

    But the actual source of [public concern] difference between the two victims MIGHT be that non-police videos (even when minus the body cams that "accidentally" fall off factor) are often, but not always, still essential to generating widespread interest: Body Cameras Haven't Stopped Police Brutality. Here's Why

    Body cam impotence was especially illustrated by your vid of the two cops roughing up the elderly white woman who had cognitive issues (if indeed nothing ever came of the incident): http://sciforums.com/threads/elijah-mcclain-indictments.164698/#post-3683026

    However, as much as the USA desires a derogatory monopoly for it, police brutality certainly isn't limited to North America. And at the global level wallows in the whole spectrum of causes and biases (including the age or generational gap hypothesis below in Nigeria).

    Which is to say, worldwide it transcends the narrowed down to "systemic racism existing in the 21st-century" theory entertained in the US (progessophobia? or alternatively, "still harvesting the old mine"?); but not necessarily the broad category of class struggle slash class conflict thought orientation that's meanderingly descended from the French Revolution.

    That is, if we convert and refine that original fixation with feudal and 19th-century social strata to contemporary population groups and their heterogeneous array of distinctiveness; and their many specialized frictions, detrimental interactions, reciprocal grievances, historic grudges, beliefs, accusations, and misunderstandings.

    A more inclusive conceptual focus shift that tentatively began with the political expediency of the New Left back in the '60s and '70s, but took a while to bloom into total recognition of the 10,000 kinds of disparities preventing fulfillment of ideocracy's ever-elusive Utopia.
    - - - - - - -

    Police Brutality in Nigeria and the #EndSARS Movement
    https://hir.harvard.edu/police-brutality-in-nigeria-and-the-endsars-movement/

    INTRO: Daniel Chibuike was a 20-year-old aspiring musician when he was shot dead on October 5, 2020 by police officers serving in the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force. Chibuike’s death was the last straw for Nigeria’s youth, who had already taken to the streets in 2017 to demand the abolishment of SARS.

    The Nigerian government, in a desperate attempt to calm down the protesters, promised in 2017 that the authority of SARS units would be significantly reduced, but this promise remained unkept, with SARS units continuing their violent and unlawful practices towards young adults in Nigeria.

    At first glance, the controversy surrounding SARS appears to be an issue of police brutality that many suffer from in countries around the world, and it certainly is. Yet, the brutality of SARS is disproportionately aimed at young males who choose to wear certain types of clothes, drive certain types of cars, and use a particular brand of smartphone.

    So, the cruel practices of SARS appear to be combined with social profiling that is based on the personal choices of young adults. Using a laptop, owning the newest iPhone, driving a brand-new sports car or wearing ripped jeans are all reasons why a Nigerian young adult can be detained by SARS units.

    Often, those who “fit the description” are quickly accused of being thieves, with SARS units assuming that young adults must have stolen the cars they drive and the smartphones they use. Despite the absurdity of SARS’ logic, practices like this have led to countless unlawful arrests of young people in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, the central theme of the issue is police brutality, but this brutality seems to be fueled by the major generational and ideological gap that exists in Nigerian society.


    - - - footnote - - -

    George Floyd: Between 1997 and 2005, Floyd served eight jail terms on various charges, including drug possession, theft, and trespass. In one of these cases the arresting officer was later investigated for a pattern of falsifying evidence, related to the Pecan Park raid, leading the District Attorney of Harris County, Texas to request a posthumous pardon for Floyd in 2021.

    In 2007, Floyd faced charges for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon; according to investigators, he had entered an apartment by impersonating a water department worker and barging in with five other men, then held a pistol to a woman's stomach and searched for items to steal. Floyd was arrested three months later during a traffic stop and a 7-year-old victim of the robbery identified him from a photo array.

    In 2009, he was sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea deal and was paroled in January 2013. After Floyd's release, he became more involved with Resurrection Houston, a Christian church and ministry, where he mentored young men and posted anti-violence videos to social media. [...] A friend of Floyd acknowledged that Floyd "had made some mistakes that cost him some years of his life," but that he had been turning his life around through religion.

    In 2014, Floyd moved to Minneapolis to help rebuild his life and find work. [...] Floyd continued to battle drug addiction and went through periods of use and sobriety.

    In May 2019, Floyd was detained by Minneapolis police when an unlicensed car he was a passenger in was pulled over in a traffic stop. Floyd was found with a bottle of pain pills. Officers handcuffed Floyd and took him to the city's third police precinct station. Floyd told police he did not sell the pills and that they were related to his own addiction. When Floyd appeared agitated, officers encouraged him to relax and helped calm him down, and they later called an ambulance as they grew worried about his condition. No charges were filed in connection with the incident.


    Excess text/excerpt below added as commiserating balance to the above.

    Murder of George Floyd: At 8:17, Chauvin and Thao arrived in a third police car joining Kueng and Lane with Chauvin assuming command. He asked if Floyd was going to jail, and Kueng replied that he was arrested for forgery.

    [...] While Floyd lay on his chest with his cheek to the ground, Chauvin knelt on his neck. ... Floyd can be heard repeatedly saying "I can't breathe", "Please", and "Mama"; Lane then asked for an ambulance for Floyd, "for one bleeding from the mouth".

    Floyd repeated at least 16 times that he could not breathe. At one point a witness said: "You got him down. Let him breathe." After Floyd said, "I'm about to die", Chauvin told him to "relax". An officer asked Floyd, "What do you want?"; Floyd answered, "Please, the knee in my neck, I can't breathe."

    [...] Fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use may have increased the likelihood of death. Other significant conditions were arteriosclerotic heart disease and hypertensive heart disease, including an enlarged heart, one artery 90% blocked, and two others 75% narrowed. The report states that on April 3 Floyd had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but does not list it as a fatal or other significant condition.
     
  16. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Yeah i agree that George Floyds shady past an poor health is irrelivant to the fact that the cops are guilty as charged.!!!

    In the case of Elijah McClain an the elderly lady... it apears that cops are attemptin to impress each other wit ther unnecessary brutality to score "laffs" among themselfs as they torture... mame an murder.!!!

    An yes... the rotten cops stem from the top down.!!!

    A good beginin woud be to "defund the police".!!!
     
  17. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Elijah McClain: Law Enforcement Struggles to Protect Cops

    Adams County Coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan has issued an amended autopsy report↱ regarding the murder of Elijah McClain. The, revised document declares the Cause of Death to be, "Complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint"; the Manner of Death is listed, "Undetermined".

    Colorado Public Radio↱ reports:

    In the amended autopsy report made public on Friday, Dr. Stephen Cina, who performs autopsies for Adams County, wrote that he received new information in the grand jury probe, including extensive body camera footage, witness statements and additional records. He said he requested those back when he performed the original autopsy in 2019, but didn’t get everything.

    Cina noted that the large dose of ketamine McClain received by paramedics was the biggest culprit in his death.

    “Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose … I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine.”

    Cina also goes on to mostly take the blame off of law enforcement officers for McClain’s death and noted that the carotid control chokehold McClain received by police likely would not have left any lasting damage to McClain’s health.

    “This type of hold is often used in the martial arts with no lasting adverse consequences,” he wrote. “There were no findings in the neck indicative of traumatic asphyxiation … I have seen no evidence that injuries inflicted by the police contributed to death.”

    It's a very interesting way of taking the blame off law enforcement; the coroner refuses to list a manner of death because he perceives his options are either "homicide" or "accident", and he does not wish to list homicide as manner of death in a police killing. Or, as CPR recalls, "the then-local district attorney, Dave Young, declined to file charges against anyone in connection to McClain’s death, mostly citing the lack of a 'homicide' ruling on McClain’s death certificate as the reason."

    Instead, the July, 2021 autopsy report makes a point of clearing carotid control from consideration. It is a very interesting thing to say, "this tragic fatality is most likely the result of ketamine toxicity", before going on to explain that he is listing the manner of death as "undetermined" even if other forensic pathologists "may have developed their own philosophies regarding deaths in custody, and that they may consider the manner of death in this type of case to be either HOMICIDE or ACCIDENT".

    Think about how this goes: First the police withhold evidence. Then another law enforcer issues an incorrect document, i.e., inconclusive cause of death. In correcting the document, as such, however, Cina has delivered a report that continues to protect the police. Remember that despite the prior revised autopsy report, three officers and two paramedics were indicted for manslaughter and reckless homicide. The revised report sets up the paramedics, Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, to take the fall: The police, apparently, didn't have anything to do with it.

    †​

    Dr. Stephen Cina should be indicted as a conspirator in the murder of Elijah McClain.

    The thing is, this is a medical report, so certain questions are supposed to be beyond its purview. That's why the manner of death is important. We might observe that the revised autopsy spends several paragraphs eliminating police violence as a contributing cause, i.e., no specific injury inflicted by police handling of McClain caused or contributed his death.

    While it is not inherently an investigation of certain circumstances, such as the relationship between police action and the fatal ketamine dose, those factors are relevant in determining the manner of death. Dr. Stephen Cina apparently learned a philosophy in which the factors contributing to manner of death are somehow irrelevant to determining the manner of death.

    Remember all the other circumstances in which one need not actually kill someone in order to be charged with a murder. In American jurisprudence, many are charged with murder when they never killed anyone; the way it works is to simply blame all deaths related to a crime as murder. There was even one where a news pilot entered restricted airspace and collided with another aircraft while trying to cover a police chase; they charged the driver with those deaths. And while that might seem an extreme case, we also used those laws to send a lot of black boys to prison after deciding to try them as adults.

    But these were police officers, assaulting a Black man for no legitimate reasson, and we have a recording of his voice as he begged for his life, and then he was deliberately overdosed with ketamine. And because these were police officers, nothing about the law that other people witness and experience and are subject to in their own lives applies.

    The line about philosophy makes clear this is a political document intended to exonerate police. Three cops and two paramedics are charged despite—or, perhaps, because of—the prior autopsy finding, and the way Cina wrote this, culpability falls to the paramedics, but they will have some cover in responding to police advice. Philosophically speaking, the revised autopsy report seems intended to exonerate the police, who were committing a crime at the time the overdose was delivered. It's just that Cina's prior autopsy report, also intended to exonerate police, was untenable.

    Elijah McCain was murdered; the manner of death is homicide.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Cina, Stephen J. "Amended Report". Adams & Broomfield Counties Office of the Coroner. 1 July 2021. OfficeOfTheCoroner.com. 24 September 2022. https://bit.ly/3dAxg0R

    Sherry, Allison. "Elijah McClain's autopsy report changed to death by ketamine". CPR News. 23 September 2022. SPR.org. 24 September 2022. https://bit.ly/3fkD1QN
     

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