NYC Mayor DeBlasio Caves To Sharpton In Shameful Fashion After Threat

[MarkG]

I have to believe that the LEO involved could have made a decision to police something else that day. All of this over an oxygen thief selling loose cigarettes. The real tragedy here is that the relatives of said oxygen thief are going to be multi-millionaires for a few months...

[Moose-Knuckle]

If the government doesn't get their cut...

"Death and taxes" . . .

[Caeser25]

"Death and taxes" . . .

Taxes or death.

[Safetyhit]

So,
a guy is dead,
a man is going to lose his job maybe go to prison for the rest of his life,
other LEOs may get thrown under the bus,
because a guy was selling some cigarettes under the table?

Sure, the guy was breaking the law but if you are scrounging a few bucks selling cigarettes, are a chronic offender, and in such poor medical condition-
you are probably borderline retarded at best.

That sounds reasonable but there is no indication he lacked any mental capacity. Plus the fact that he had been arrested for doing the same thing before (as well as other crimes) showed that he knew well he had pushed the envelope too far yet chose to make a buck his way anyhow. Add that to his size and his refusal to comply a taser, which also may not have properly worked on that big unhealthy fellow, or a choke hold until basic compliance seems perfectly reasonable to me. Would never stick up for an abusive cop but see not a trace anywhere in this videotaped incident.

Remember how much Sharpton was sued for and also cost the city years ago due to inflammatory lies? This isn't as egregious as the Brawley situation sure but don't think something similar can't happen again if he threatens to incite the local blacks who already largely despise the police that save them from themselves every day. But maybe it should happen again because it seems only another humiliating public catastrophe such as the politically and racially implication of police who were trying to do their jobs lawfully will wake us from our collective sleep at this point.

[Alex V]

But maybe it should happen again because it seems only another humiliating public catastrophe such as the politically and racially implication of police who were trying to do their jobs lawfully will wake us from our collective sleep at this point.

Maybe he can insight a riot... that would be fun...

[Eurodriver]

When leftest collide. Everybody else is going to pay.

This with a twist. NYC elected this guy. They will be the ones "paying". Let them reap what they sow.

No more forceful arrests of anyone resisting. Just let them go. See how that works out for them.

[Sensei]

Those two douche bags deserve each other. I feel for the NYPD on this one as they will be thrown under the bus.

I must be going through some kind of midlife crisis because a year ago I would have agreed with you. However, I'm no longer sympathetic to the plight of cops, citizens, or travelers who choose to set foot in that state (or any comparable armpit). They choose to work for the biggest circus in the country. Well, let them enjoy the clowns.

[Irish]

...a choke hold until basic compliance seems perfectly reasonable to me. Would never stick up for an abusive cop but see not a trace anywhere in this videotaped incident.

Selling loose cigarettes seems perfectly reasonable to me. However, it's against the law, and choke holds have been banned since 1993. So, they're both caught in the web of the state and what it deems is acceptable behavior. Difference being is that one is a law based on the state collecting revenue, and it's being enforced on a citizen, and the other is an employee who's violating written policy, that's meant to prevent deaths.

Personally, I'm with you, and didn't see anything egregious on the officer's part. But, I also don't think street cops should be used to enforce tax laws either.

[Sensei]

But, I also don't think street cops should be used to enforce tax laws either.

Amen to that. However, I suppose that I should be happy that they are busy enforcing local ordinances instead of helping the EPA or DHS seize somebody's vintage Range Rover.

[Sensei]

I've now had the chance to watch this video more than a few time and I suspect that the ME is over-reaching with their findings that the choke was the primary cause of death. There are a couple of red flags when it comes to their report that are leading me down this road. First, the deceased does not appear to have been rendered unconscious by the choke, and is heard talking after the choke is applied and released. While it is possible that an improperly applied airway choke (as opposed to blood choke) could render a fatal injury to a conscious victim via fractured trachea or larynx, his talking suggests against this. While it is not uncommon for the ME to withhold the actual autopsy report until trial, their statement made no indication of findings to support their primary cause of death. The fact that the ME even declined to say that physical findings resulted in the determination of death being a choke leads me to believe there is no such evidence. Should this officer get indicted, his defense will destroy an ME report unless the autopsy contains specific physical findings to support their primary cause of death.

Many of you have heard me say in previous threads that any physical restraint of systemically ill people is a high risk situation. I get a case every 2 or 3 years where EMS calls ahead about an agitated psych patient or prisoner only to arrive doing chest compressions and rescue breathing. That is why experienced physicians perform a rapid chemical takedown of people with agitated delirium; it is better to rapid sequence intubate these jokers on arrival than stand at the M&M podium defending why a patient died restrained to a bed in a pool of saliva and vomit.

Everything about that video suggests to me that the compression of the deceased's chest in the prone position was the primary cause of death. I'm going to keep that opinion until I see some evidence from that autopsy that supports the choke being the primary cause of death.

If I'm correct, this would not be the first time that an ME has gone rogue with their findings. There was another case where a patient died of a heart attack in a busy emergency department waiting room and the cause of death was labeled a homicide by the ME because of the wait. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=2458644