The Classic Liberal Blog

Another power and authority obsessed cop fails to use his brain.

Newlywed Arrested After Rushing Wife to Hospital

Just married last week, Eric and Aline Wright of Chattanooga, Tenn., both medical professionals at Erlanger Medical Center, were enjoying what was supposed to be their honeymoon when Aline's speech became slurred and her face began to droop on Wednesday. During the ride to the hospital, Eric says he paused at two red lights but ran them both. After passing through the second red light, a police cruiser pulled behind the couple's vehicle, following it with lights and sirens on to the hospital.

Eric, a trained medic who served two tours in Iraq, said he knew getting Aline to medical care as quickly as possible was critical and at first felt glad when the officer pulled in behind them.

Eric said he reasoned that instead of pulling over and wasting time explaining the medical emergency in a potentially life-or-death situation, he could have that conversation with the officer at the hospital.

But, according to Eric's account, Chattanooga Officer Jim Daves blocked Eric, who was carrying Aline, a left-leg amputee, from immediately entering the hospital.

"I remember having to stop. I was trying to explain the situation, but he didn't really stop to listen. He never asked what her condition was," said Eric. "I remember having to step around him to get into the emergency room."

The officer further wrote, "Defendant pushed through the crowd and carried a female back into the emergency room and place[d] her in a room with no permission of the hospital staff."

Eric denies those allegations.

"I never had any [physical] contact with the officer at all," he said. Furthermore, he said, he called the emergency room to alert them of the situation and let them know he would be arriving.

Eric said after he entered the hospital, the officer tried to come into the area where Aline was being treated, interrupting her care.

"At that point it was crucial I be present," Eric told AOL News, saying his wife was unable at the time to accurately relay the advancement of her symptoms and her medical history.

Eric was arrested and charged with assault on police, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, a felony count of evading arrest and other traffic violations, according to a Chattanooga police blotter.

When the car you're chasing (for rolling red lights) goes straight to the emergency entrance of a hospital, it should cross your mind that this might be a genuine emergency. C'mon ... how many criminals run straight to the hospital emergency room and jump out carrying someone in?

Oh but no ... obeying the cop must always be your top priority. At least in our American police state.

Every level of government is on a power trip these days. Common sense has been thrown out the window in favor of rules, regulation, and authority. We have cops shooting dogs, cops beating innocent men of the cloth, cops terrorizing innocent children, cops killing innocent children, cops assaulting young women, cops violently beating unarmed citizens, arrests for legal gun purchases, citizens killed for "erratic" behavior, innocent children tasered, cops tasering mothers in front of their children (for speeding), cops beating injured and unconscious suspects ... the examples of police brutality are endless.

A Message to Advocates of Law and Order

Look, any thinking person wants the police actively pursuing criminals and otherwise keeping the peace, but we have to stop and look at the big picture. Because what's going on today isn't order, but agitation. We're creating chaos because people can only take so much.

When innocent children are put in danger (or worse, killed), family pets are being slaughtered, felony charges are getting filed for racing to the emergency room, people are being arrested for legal activities, non-criminal citizens are being beaten in the streets, and innocent moms are being tasered in front of their young children ... You're creating the perfect storm - a storm that will lead to the total breakdown of society and complete chaos.

Violence breeds violence, not peace.

The bigger government grows in size, scope, and authority, the more the average citizen's life becomes regimented. Like Eric and Aline Wright above, the cop didn't see 2 people dealing with a life threatening emergency, because he could only see them in terms of rules and regulations. "Man under a totalitarian state functions differently than a man under liberty." Man under a totalitarian state loses his soul.

Don't kid yourself either, the U.S. economy is still in decline and we have a long way to go (down) too. People are going to become increasingly stressed and restless. It doesn't take a genius to understand that agitating them with arbitrary rules and regulations, enforced with violence, is a recipe for chaos and disaster. Folks, we're on a very dangerous path.

The agitation is increasing too. See the riot squad sent to a peaceful Tea Party protest, or how "rightwing extremists" (meaning anyone who doesn't support Big Government) are being targeted by the Department of Homeland Security as yet examples. How long will it be before we all get thrown in FEMA camps? Yeah, it sounds crazy until you start connecting the dots. Maybe they don't exist today, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring (and it's happened here in America before too).

The Irony

The thing we never seem to learn, on both the right and left, is that each government power we support, is a power that will eventually come back to bite us in the ass. Think about it ...

It's conservatives who are all about "law and order." Right? It's conservatives who supported the PATRIOT Act and Department of Homeland Security too. Right? It's also conservatives who just happen to be targeted by the Department of Homeland Security as threats to the State. (This all happened by the way, during the George W. Bush administration, with overwhelming support of a Republican Congress.)

We have to ask ourselves, now, what kind of society is it that we want to live in? Do we want to be a society regimented by violent cops and lawless politicians? Do we find this Hobbesian leviathan more appealing than we did freedom?

Because without question, that's the path we're on ...

H/T - Again, This Is What Happens When People Use Guns Rather Than Brains.

UPDATE (06/22/10):

Charges Dismissed Against Man who Rushed Wife to Hospital

The Chattanooga Police Department issued a statement and dismissed charges against a man who was rushing his wife to Erlanger for medical care. The following is from Spokesperson Lt. Kim Noorbergen:

"Charges of traffic violations, evading arrest, assault on a police officer, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and registration violation have been dismissed against Jessie Wright. These charges stem from the incident that occurred at Erlanger Hospital on June 16th, just after midnight.

Hamilton County District Attorney General Bill Cox and Chattanooga Police Department Chief Rawlston have reviewed the incident and concluded the necessity for Mr. Wright to reach the hospital with his wife was greater than the offenses he was charged and arrested for.