Aurora cop convicted of killing Elijah McClain gets 14-month jail sentence, no prison

1. The maximum sentence of 3 years in prison would not have been enough for this barbarian. If a civilian had done what he did to a guy walking down the street minding his own business, they’d be in prison for the rest of their life. What does this say to every sociopath/psychopath in Aurora?? Join the police force, where you can murder innocent people and get away with it. Reportedly he’s planning to appeal. The nerve and narcissism of that just further cements Randy Rhoedema’s legacy. I hope his appeal fails. I hope he spends his entire 14 months in a cage, as scared for his life as Elijah must’ve been that night. I hope, when he’s released, that he’s found a new respect for human life, because he lacks that now. And I hope the rest of his life is a life sentence of pain and misery. Murderers don’t deserve mercy. Innocent people do.

2. I suppose that if you know nothing about Roedema and police work and believe the emotional outpouring used to convict him, you could react with all the hatred expressed by Ann Farmer and others. Roedema is not a psychopath. Those who know him, know that. The death of Elijah McClain had nothing to do with racism on the part of the police. Yet, it has been twisted to be a case of police racism. George Floyd’s death had nothing to do with police racism, yet it is now a hallmark. Was what Officer Chain did wrong? Yes.
   Was what Officer Roedema did wrong? No. He was following his training, as were the paramedics. Could some things have been done better? Perhaps. But, there was no evil intent in any of it. It was a bunch of first responders doing what they were trained to do. The doctors said that ketamine was safe. So, after the politics pushed the Attorney General to seek a scapegoat for a tragic, but not criminal death, the rules all change in a courtroom. Suddenly, other solicited doctors are willing to opine different rules on ketamine. Suddenly, Officer Roedema should have been a doctor. Because Roedema was holding McClain down, as trained, he became a monster. A person is first held face down while you are trying to get control and to get them handcuffed. They are then put on their side as was done. When someone continues to struggle, it complicates any treatment and makes those holding them feel less inclined to believe that they need help. George Floyd was yelling that he could not breathe before he was pulled out of the car and put on the ground.

   To further distort the public perception, the media now simply cuts and pastes articles from other news agencies. That means that any emotional distortion made in the original article is repeated by all of the followup publications. I have read the same inaccurate and emotional article from many different news media on both George Floyd and Elijah McClain. The way things are said in the articles make even innocent acts sound terrible. For instance, the statement that Roedema “yanked on McClain’s arm” after he was handcuffed is made to sound like some kind of brutality. Yanking on someone’s arm is often necessary to adjust their position, especially to put them on their side for their safety. Now, if you would have said that Roedema was hitting McClain or had his knee across his throat after handcuffing, then I might understand the outrage.

   The sad part of all of this well intended hunt for a scapegoat is that it has permanently damaged the lives of good people who were trying to do their jobs as first responders. The greatest tragedy, beyond the death of Elijah McClain, is that first responders everywhere have been taught that politics will determine their fate. They can no longer go about their jobs knowing that facts will determine their public support. The Supreme Court, long ago, established the rules that guided Officer Roedema and the others that night. It said that officers must make split second decisions in uncertain circumstances and that the use of force should be judged from the perspective of aa reasonable officer at the scene. Given those guidelines, the charges should not have been filed against the officers from the start. That was the initial judgement of the DA’s office and those who reviewed it. The truth was that no one knew exactly why McClain died.
   The medical part of this is what is particularly frightening. Thousands of people die yearly from mistakes made by doctors in the relative calm of a hospital. Now, we are going to go after possible medical errors made on the street by first responders who are not doctors.

   First responders deal with different reality than does the public. They watch real life videos as part of their training and they go out and deal with people doing things that you, the public, do not think people can or will do. When they get in court, the burden is then to try to educate the jury as to what the police and the paramedics know as reality. The jury doesn’t understand even the most basic things that the police understand. The gap in understanding is huge. When an officer has had survival things drummed into him/her and the jury simply disregards those things as inconsequential, the results are disastrous for the officer. The officer has to rely upon the judgment of an attorney to communicate all of that.

   Lastly, suspects who have struggled with police have died suddenly without any known cause for a long time. It will continue. The medical people have not known the reason and will not definitively know the reason. The term “Sudden In Custody Death” was coined long time ago to describe these unexplained deaths. The term “excited delirium” was coined to explain the symptoms exhibited by many of these people in struggles on the street and in emergency rooms. So, now that is all racism. The medical profession could not explain the deaths and the behavior. So, now it is all racism. Suddenly, some doctors can magically explain those deaths to a jury with certainty.

   The result of all of this tragedy is that the first responders know that the legislature, the prosecutors, and the media do not support them. When someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly, they know that the powers that be will be looking for a scapegoat. Let us take the example of young Mr. Glass, who was wrongfully killed by the police. The officer who killed him was prosecuted. He should have been. The shooting was thoroughly unjustified and showed incredibly poor training and direction. However, charging all of the other officers at the scene was a political over reach. Anyone who knows police work understands that agencies that are assisting are usually not part of the decision making and are often just on the periphery. Therefore, it is too great a risk to become involved in any struggle. Since the criminals also understand this, it becomes an even greater risk because they now start to yell that they can’t breathe before they are touched. The result is that the laws are not being enforced. The ultimate loser is the public. Your families and you are the beneficiaries of all of this emotional distortion. A tragedy for everyone.

3. Don Black doesn’t think the public’s emotions are appropriate when an innocent person is murdered by the very people sworn to protect us all. I didn’t read Don’s entire diatribe, because his defense of the defendants in this case is nauseating. But I read just enough to know that Don Black doesn’t think my emotions are appropriate, when my heart breaks every time I read Elijah’s last words. I can’t bear to hear his voice say them. Don Black thinks my outrage is inappropriate, when I see a murderer receive a slap on the wrist by a judicial system that repeatedly fails to protect the innocent. Don Black apparently feels that we all should watch a young black man get brutalized by police and paramedics and just shut up about it. Sociopaths and psychopaths lack emotions. The rest of us don’t. A lack of emotions and of empathy is what started this mess, Don. To murder an innocent person you must lack the capacity for emotions and empathy. Don Black apparently thinks the world would be a better place if we all operated like Randy Roedema and the rest of his crew that night. My emotions are valid and they’re appropriate, Don. How wonderful for you that you don’t feel the grief and fear and anger and injustice that so many of us feel. Your life must be one big bowl of cherries–congrats!

   Randy Roedema had choices that night. He says he wishes the call had never come in. The police have the responsibility to discern what the public reports. When the caller said a guy was walking down the street and looked “shady”, an officer should’ve called him back and educated him about what constitutes a legitimate concern. That was a teaching moment, not a call to go on a murderous rampage because some pathetic member of the community felt a certain way about somebody they saw walking. Randy Roedema didn’t have to do what he did. He had absolute free will, unlike Elijah McClain. Randy Roedema is not the victim here. He made the wrong choices, and most people who make the wrong choice to murder another human being pay for their crimes. Elijah’s life is worth more than 14 months. If you don’t feel outrage and sadness over this outcome, you might just be a good candidate for the APD. Eh, Don?

4. Don Black is a racist dip-shit

5. Don Black is also a scared PUNK.

Comments are closed.