Cops mistake hypoglycemia for drunkenness, beat man into coma
September 24, 2008 – 9:23 pm by JohnDetroit resident Ernest Giglen was beaten by police officers who mistook his hypoglycemia as drunkenness, which led to his entering a hypoglycemic coma. I haven’t heard of any police officers beating a diabetic man during a hypoglycemic shock before, preventing him from getting to the hospital quickly and making his hypoglycemia episode worse than it would have been, so I’m sure the total-police-state apologists will brush this off as an “isolated incident.”
This Detroit Free Press article has many more details, but I hesitate to link to newspapers very often, as their stories usually don’t remain online permanently.
I am forced to speculate that Ernest Giglen probably should have pulled over or turned his car off when he felt the first symptoms of severe hypoglycemia, not that I have ever experienced that or know how easy it is to predict, instead of continuing to drive and fleeing the police officer who, for reasons unexplained, chased him and demanded he pull over. The Free Press article gives this curious and incomplete report of the beginning of the incident:
…[Tracie] Brown of the Allen Park police saw him stopped at a green light in the middle lane of Southfield just south of Pinecrest.
In her report, Brown said it was about 6 p.m. when Ernest Griglen yelled to her that he had gotten into an argument with his wife. Brown told him to pull over, but he drove off, swerving in and out of lanes.
Why in the world was he yelling at a police officer, telling him about his marital troubles? Where was she? Did she notice that it was kind of odd for this guy to be sitting at a green light, not moving, so she drove up and asked him WTF? Was she in the lane next to him, talking to him, I guess?
Either way, my main purpose in writing this post is to highlight, yet again, the departure of police officers from being defenders of the peace who are supposed to help people in need* and their becoming jack-booted thugs who seek to exercise power over others.
Ernest Giglen will probably not wake up from his coma, which would make the police officers’ actions manslaughter or second- or third-degree murder. I bet that they will not be charged with anything, ever. Any takers?
Giglen’s wife and her attorney are asking for $20 million from the two police departments that the officers work for. Where is that money going to come from? From taxpayers! This is how costly a State-run law-enforcement authority is: it beats, terrorizes, and kills people indiscriminately, and then its own captive citizenry has to pay for their mistakes! If you had the option, would you continue to subscribe to a crime-prevention/property-protection agency that committed such atrocities against defenseless old people and then increased your premiums to pay for its crimes?
*Yeah, I know the more skeptical anarchists out there posit that police officers were never actually meant to serve this function; they were only meant to frighten and brow-beat and subdue the populace into accepting the State as its lord and master.
One Response to “Cops mistake hypoglycemia for drunkenness, beat man into coma”
It’s amazing that this brave band of professional protectors, were that afraid of one 59year old diabetic man, who was looking for help, used an insulin pump, a diabetic boot, walked with crutches and a cane, and a limp, could be so intimidated that a group of pro thugs gave power to deliver the animalistc beating, rather than perform a rational investigation to determine the possibility that they were faced with not a drunk, not drug addict, not a dealer, not an armed and or dangerous criminal, but, could this be a person with some sort of health issue? (That concern would come after the capture)
In my 50 plus years. I’ve seen lots of angry drunks, even judges that were arrested for fleeing officers while intoxicated, who after long chases unleashed an asorted barrage of verbal threats, some were even combative… but none were beaten into comas for appearing to be drunk, and or uncooperative.
As a type2 diabetic, (5yrs) I’ve yet to purchase my medical alert bracelets ect. I’m no longer afraid of diabetes and there’s much to learn about how to manage it.. my concern now is this: one can be killed during the course of a crime; but who would have thought of being killed by persons who mistakes you for a criminal, who are paid to protect, assist, and uphold the law? Proving to be so afraid, and unable to determine if and when they are faced with a real threat of danger, a human being in need of medical attention, remains in a coma caused by a professional mob attack precipitated by fear and excessive force to subdue one 59 yr old diabetic in need of help.There is no natural affection found by these men or women of enforcement.
At a glance of the tag, one who was compassionate enough would have read this: DISABLED VET
By rome3day on Oct 18, 2008