Our occasional correspondent Allen Saul, whom we met in 2021, follows the trials of police killings around the nation, and frequently sends me his thoughts on (usually) the continuing injustices. He sent me so many observations about the trials regarding the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain by law enforcement and paramedics in Aurora, Colorado, that I got him to condense them into this story here. Vern. Here’s Allen:
Now that the Justice system has weighed in on who bears responsibility for the murder of Elijah McClain via three jury verdicts for five individuals indicted for their roles, only the small detail of sentencing for the three who were convicted remains. January for one. March for the other two. The very notion that a person convicted of criminally negligent homicide and assault could get probation for that offense is profoundly offensive to the memory of the victim here.
But the miscarriage of justice was apparent on both sides. As guilty as I believe the one Police officer convicted of this horrific crime was, the videos captured on Police bodycams convincingly show a well-orchestrated conspiracy among every public employee present to abuse an innocent victim and cover it up. Unfortunately, the zeal of that unruly mob to physically subdue Mr. McClain was only exceeded by its confidently held faith in the assumption that he was a dangerous criminal, and by the lack of integrity of every G-jobber on scene.
The failure of any of the accused to take responsibility for their role in the murder and the acquitals combine to minimize the seriousness of all of the defendants’ actions. A split verdict is an obviously imperfect result given the facts clearly seen in video evidence, but there is no way to deduce on which side jurors erred. Blatant CYA by the defendants seeking to reinvent this as a tragic series of misunderstandings and more CYA by a Prosecution that took years to even acknowledge that there was a problem were both trumped by the eventual entrenchment of the status quo. Police can continue to bully citizens they don’t like, up to and including murdering them, and their paramedic conspirators can continue to provide zero medical aid with only an inconsequential risk of blame if their patient dies and none at all if they happen to survive.
The fundamental injustice remains unaddressed.
These facts serve as a warning that neither of these institutions can be trusted to distinguish between the medically necessary and the frivolous administration of ketamine. That is why the Colorado legislature stepped in to remove the tired old diagnosis of “excited delirium” as an excuse to practice anesthesiology without a license.
The deeper question about the legality of the sick game of bullying random, innocent citizens by assaulting them for no reason and then interpreting their struggle to breathe as an assault on law enforcement is left unanswered. The basic question of whether the actions and inaction of paramedics here was within protocol is still obscured by the distraction of the involvement of ketamine.
The post-trial Colorado legislation seems to say that but for the mistake of allowing paramedics to prescribe and inject ketamine, the paramedics did everything else right, which is complete bullshit. Called to the scene purportedly to render aid to someone in Police custody, they never attempted to do anything beyond complying with a request to inject a deadly anesthetic, from someone with absolutely no authority to do that. They never spoke to their patient. They never even observed their patient, despite the many desperate, failed attempts to lie their way out of those accusations. And they never took any vital signs until after he had stopped breathing, some six minutes after they had given him an overdose of ketamine. Additionally, these lying creeps noticed that Elijah had vomited but never made any attempt to clear his airway prior to injection.
One of the effects of this drug, well known to any paramedic certified to administer ketamine, is the loss of the gag reflex. So any fluid that happens to be in the patient’s mouth can be involuntarily aspirated into the lungs. It also elevates secretion of saliva, which means that the patient’s airway must be protected prior to injection and continuously monitored until it wears off. Beyond these precautions, and a few others, it is a very safe anesthetic with a wide margin of safety between a therapeutic and a toxic dose.
But ignoring those precautions because “it’s good enough for who it’s for” is no different than waterboarding a detainee. None of the First Responders, indicted or unindicted, had any authority to torture Elijah McClain or to ignore such treatment by their colleagues. They not only intentionally overlooked the crimes of law enforcement, but participated in them.
Excited delirium. Super-human strength. Suicide by cop. A history of (fill in blank).
Therefore: they feared for their safety, even though they’re always saying how dangerous their job is.
And then there’s famous rejoinder to criticism: “You better hope they show up when you need them.”
Of course chances are 99% they’ll show up, if they show up, to take a report.
Yeah I put that phrase in bold just for you.
Analyzing the verbiage I’ve read elsewhere from apologists for the gangsters that murdered Elijah McClain, the common thread seems to be their confusion over the reasons Police have to officially confront citizens.
One involves the etiquette expected of the operators of motor vehicles. Driving is a privilege regulated by the state to keep the mortality rate of this activity down to a dull roar.
Another is the investigation of a crime. Innocent bystanders caught up in such investigations are expected to cooperate with LE as they should share the goal of getting the perpetrators brought to justice.
The confusion exhibited by the bootlickers for the murderous thugs in the Aurora Police Department is that no crime had been reported, and no crime had been personally observed by LE before their brutal assault on Elijah, so neither of the above justifications were relevant.
He was walking down the street and the Police had no reason to stop him. They could see for themselves that he was doing nothing wrong and had an obligation to factor that, and his Constitutional presumption of innocence into any attempt to speak with him.
Then there is the contact that should, under any actuarial norm, end in happiness, all around.
But then the impulse to escalate, flout the rules, and misuse authority often leads to tragedy. And then come phony charges, perjury, and scot-free exoneration.
This is a new wrinkle in how California police can conduct vehicle stops prospectively. Now if they could only assure the body cams are working and operating.
https://www.newsweek.com/california-changing-how-police-pull-drivers-over-1856241
A broad interpretation of enforcing a search warrant in California.
https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/H049957.PDF
Randy Roedema is standing before the Judge today at his sentencing hearing, still lying about his role, whining about his phony remorse while blaming everyone else.
Elijah’s mom had to sit and listen to that.
What a piece of shit!