Neguse Bill Would Prohibit Jurisdictions From Using Ketamine In Law Enforcement Situations cpr.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cpr.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A bill crafted partly in response to the death of Elijah McClain that places limits on when paramedics can sedate people with ketamine is on the desk of Gov. Jared Polis for his consideration. Yet House Bill 1251 faces ongoing opposition from police, fire and emergency services groups. Supporters say it will ban paramedics from using the powerful drug in situations where officers wrongfully seek to subdue people.
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A year ago, as Black Lives Matter supporters rallied outside Colorado’s Capitol building, lawmakers passed a sweeping police accountability law. It bans officers from using deadly force on suspects of minor crimes. It bans chokeholds. Now, a group of lawmakers wants to rein in paramedics’ use of drugs to sedate people in the presence of police.
“The use of ketamine is another weapon that s being used against our community and it should be treated the same as any other use of force,” said Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat.
Herod and three other lawmakers are co-sponsors of House Bill 1251.
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Elijah McKnight (left) and Jeremiah Axtell have something in common with Elijah McClain: paramedics in Colorado sedated them with ketamine during altercations with police.
Rep. Leslie Herod’s bill is a response to the death of Elijah McClain and comes after KUNC revealed more than 900 ketamine sedations for excited or agitated people around the state in 2.5 years.
The alleyways of Denver’s River North neighborhood are an explosion of color. Expressions of joy, love and social awareness are painted across the brick walls. Elijah McKnight and Jeremiah Axtell are here searching for a mural, but they can’t find it.
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DENVER A federal, excessive force lawsuit has been filed in the case of Elijah McKnight after deputies restrained and stunned him and paramedics twice injected him with a sedative before he was hospitalized for several days in August 2019.
Civil rights attorney Igor Raykin filed the lawsuit on Wednesday against South Metro Fire Rescue, Arapahoe County, two sheriff’s deputies, and three fire personnel who were on the scene, KDVR-TV reported.
“There was really no other way to get justice for Mr. McKnight,” Raykin said. “We knew that no one was going to apologize for anything, and we thought this was his only recourse.”