(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



UPDATE: Kaepernick’s Autopsy Initiative Finds Lashawn Thompson 'Neglected to Death' in Georgia Cell [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-05-25

Colin Kaepernick's Autopsy Initiative, a project of his Know Your Rights Camp organization.

Lashawn Thompson, a mentally ill man who died in a bedbug-infested cell in a Georgia jail, was “neglected to death,” according to an independent autopsy report written by Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., a forensic pathologist and a former chief medical officer in Washington, D.C. The Mitchell report found that there was evidence of an "innumerable number of insects involving head hair, face, facial hair, nose, mouth, chest, pubic area, arms, and legs" and "multiple excoriations involving the arms and legs."

The independent autopsy report lists the cause of death as “Complications due to Severe Neglect,” with “Untreated Decompensated Schizophrenia” identified as a contributing cause."A toxicology report appeared to show that Thompson was not receiving medication for his diagnosed schizophrenia disorder at the time of his death," NBC News reported.

Nearly three weeks ago I wrote a story for Daily Kos Community titled “Kaepernick Funding Secondary Autopsies For Families To Find Causes of Police-Related Deaths” (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/4/2167467/-Kaepernick-Funding-Secondary-Autopsies-For-Families-To-Find-Causes-of-Police-Related-Deaths).

The story focused on the death ofLashawn Thompson, and how former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was funding an independent autopsy through his Autopsy Initiative (https://www.knowyourrightscamp.org/autopsyinitiative-form), offered through his Know Your Rights Camp organization (https://www.knowyourrightscamp.org/).

According to the Associated Press’ Kate Brumback, “A combination of dehydration, rapid weight loss [32 pounds during his three months at the Fulton County jail] and malnutrition, complicated by untreated decompensated schizophrenia, led to a fatal cardiac arrhythmia, the report says. Because he did not receive necessary medical care or adequate food, water and shelter, his manner of death is homicide, Mitchell wrote.”

A report produced by the Fulton County, Georgia medical examiner’s office “found no obvious signs of trauma on Thompson’s body but noted a ‘severe bed bug infestation,” Brumback reported. The Fulton County report lists Thompson’s death as “undetermined.”

The Kaepernick-funded Secondary Autopsy “confirms that this is one of the most deplorable in-custody deaths in the history of America,’” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt, “Late in 2016, sometime around his last [NFL] game, Kaepernick connected through mutual friends with Ben Meiselas, an attorney who at the time was litigating, and whose law firm had paid for private autopsies surrounding several police-related-death lawsuits in Southern California. ‘We got to know each other very well, and one thing we’d talk about is that in lots of these cases the sheriff is also the coroner,’ Meiselas says. ‘So, you end up with findings incongruent with the actual cause of death, and families who aren’t given the truth and explanations.’”

That meet up “plant[ed] the seed for what the Autopsy Initiative would ultimately become,” Prewitt reported. Nothing significant happened for a few years. Than, according to Prewitt, “In June 2020, the idea of independent autopsies entered the national spotlight after two pathologists hired by the family of George Floyd determined that the Minneapolis resident had been suffocated when officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. That report contradicted the county medical examiner’s preliminary autopsy, which ‘revealed no physical findings’ to ‘support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.’



“That summer, Meiselas and Kaepernick, along with Kaepernick’s longtime girlfriend, Nessa Diab, began meeting on the phone for hours each week, sketching out how they might be able to provide clarity to families in similar situations. ‘We’d always been talking about it,’ Meiselas says. Now, though, ‘the timing was right.’”



Prewitt reported that “Before the Autopsy Initiative officially kicked off, says Kaepernick, now 35, there was “significant time for truly learning the issues and challenges” of the existing autopsy system. Three factors stand out to him in particular. First: ‘the bias that could arise’ in state-issued reports, a possible function of the well-documented coziness that commonly exists between police and medical examiners (assuming they’re not the same person). Second: ‘We learned of the use of faulty forensics,’ says Kaepernick, referring to how slipshod pathology can lead to critical details going undocumented. And third: They weighed the significant ‘financial burden’ that a private autopsy can place on friends or loved ones, with costs typically ranging between $10,000 and $15,000, depending on how—and how far—a body needs to be moved.”

In August 2021, Nicole Martin was hired as the Initiative’s legal program director and its first full-time employee.

Since that time, Kepernick’s Autopsy Initiative has been involved in a number of autopsies. As Prewitt reported, “In each instance, a form and a series of questions (about how the victim is believed to have died, where the body is located …) are relayed to an Initiative pathologist, who determines the likelihood of pronouncing an official cause of death. And ‘if the pathologist says yes,’ explains Martin, ‘we match the pathologist with the victim’s family.’ All the while, Kaepernick remains hands-on: He takes updates at weekly staff meetings, occasionally speaks to pathologists, and personally reviews and approves each case. ‘He’s involved in every layer, every level,’ Meiselas says.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On another Kaepernick front:

“From ongoing assaults on our bodies in the form of police terrorism and, more largely, the prison-industrial complex, to the denigration of our collective brilliance and generational resistance in the form of banning classroom content and curricula that centers Black people and our histories, we are under attack—and we are living through a very dangerous time.”-- Colin Kaepernick

Now available for free download is "Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies," by Kaepernick Publishing. The book contains excerpts from 45+ essential readings in Black Studies plus 6 original essays, and is available for free downloading @https://www.kaepernickpublishing.com/our-history-has-always-been-contraband

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/25/2171329/-UPDATE-Kaepernick-s-Autopsy-Initiative-Finds-Lashawn-Thompson-Neglected-to-Death-in-Georgia-Cell

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/