PRESS: Whole story isn't told

What in the world is the reading public supposed to do with David Cole’s reporting in this matter of extreme public interest (death of Nicholas “Nic” Andrew Clason)? Mr. McHugh decided… First of all, why did it take Mr. McHugh three months to BEGIN reviewing this case? Do the police need that much time to get all their stories straight?

We are told by Mr. Cole that he “lost consciousness” because he lacked oxygen to the brain and are led to believe that the primary cause was an overdose of Methamphetamine toxicity. We are not told how much Meth was found in his system at the time, nor how common this is for meth related deaths that are not accompanied by police “restraint” methods.

It all starts with “a report” of a suicidal man, but we are never told who initiated the report? We are told Mr. Clason had a “sharp object” in his hand, but despite the fact that Mr. McHugh thoroughly reviewed all the police reports, the autopsy report and the video, he still is unaware of what sharp object the man who died in the custody of police was using to threaten suicide. Dr. Howard who is a forensic pathologist from Spokane investigated the death, but we are not told whether he was a regular employee of the police department or if he was hired by the police department for this investigation only? Dr. Howard reports that “police retraining measures” did not cause death independently of the drug toxicity, yet despite the fact that police restraining measures are not secret as far as the public is concerned, Mr. McHugh refuses to tell us exactly what measures were used in this instance where a citizen died in police custody. And since the man “laid down on the ground” after only a couple of minutes of coaxing, why were restraining methods applied at all?

Mr. Cole did a very sloppy job of researching this matter and providing any real answers to important and relevant questions. Come on, Mr. Cole, inquiring minds want to know. And so would you if Mr. Clason was your brother or your son, and if you and The Press were not so anxious to appease law enforcement agencies regardless of what they do.

BILL JOHNSON

Rathdrum