Let's talk about this weekend's raid of a Colorado Springs nightclub -- what we know -- and what we don't

(there's more of the latter and less of the former)

Clearly... the DEA remains very proud of what happened. But there appears to be more to this story.

Here's a pic

1/ Critically, the raid has been widely shared by the current Administration as a success story. And, it might very well be. But it's also NOT CLEAR exactly why it was a success

Why's that? Because as of now, the raid has (sorta) resulted in one criminal case against US soldier

2/

You'd think more than 48 hours after the start of the ICE raids in Denver/Aurora we'd know just how many people were detained/taken into custody.

We don't

And that's now the story

Let's talk about it. Two days ago the feds said it was trying to arrest 100 TDA members

1/ Yesterday, we asked ICE how many were detained

Seemed like a simple request. FOX News, after all, had reported 30. Keep in mind, FOX had a reason to know. They had a team embedded with ICE on Wednesday.

Problem is... 30 was NOWHERE near 100

2/
foxnews.com/media/trump-bo…

Let's talk about some of the reporting on the ICE raids that took place in Denver/Aurora yesterday.

There are clearly some inaccuracies circulating online right now

Let's start with this one

It's categorically not true.

(this aired this morning on @FoxNews)

1/ Later this morning, reporter @BillMelugin_ reported what ICE, for some inexplicable reason, has only shared with him (and his crew that was embedded with ICE yesterday)

He reported 30 arrests. Only ONE TDA member

This makes sense based upon what our crews saw yesterday

2/

The man accused of murdering two and injuring two others along the 16th St. Mall over the weekend has a complicated past.

One that's already led to some confusion.

I'd like to share what we've learned today about Elijah Caudill, 24, in this THREAD

1/ A few things are clear

Caudill is a convicted felon who has spent time in both state prison system and in various jails since 2021

He was paroled in Aug 23 after a 4.5 months in prison on a THEFT case.

His first arrest as an adult came in 19. For stealing baseball cards

2/

Thousands of times every year, for many years, the largest provider of health care in Colorado has elected to do this.

Send process servers to the doors of their patients in search of money.

Money @UCHealth says its owed.

BUT... there seems to be a problem

A 🧵 Let's start with the basics.

UCHealth is a MAJOR provider of care. It cares for millions every year.

So, yes, it is suing a small percentage of its patients for what it says are unpaid medical bills.

But... even a small lawsuit can be a BIG problem for its patients.

2/

You're going to notice a giant mug shot on the stage with the former President today.

I want to talk a little about who that is... Mostly because you're going to see it a lot today

Here he is with @RepBoebert

A quick THREAD

1/ His name is Jose Miguel Reyes-Perez

Earier this year, Lakewood Police arrested him on a felony menacing/vehicle theft case

A tow truck driver said Perez "pointed the rifle" at him.

Police believe he and another were trying to steal a motorcycle, according to arrest report

2/

Ok. Someone much smarter than me is gonna have to answer this for me.

But I’m super duper curious about something with these negotiations.

Mostly about how these reductions in list prices compare with the typical rebates/discounts

Let’s start with the basics (below)

1/

https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/1824057502389968965

The one thing you have to realize in the ridiculous and messy world of the US health care system is that no one typically pays the list price for anything.

Not for ER visits. Not for CTs. And not for rx drugs.

The latter is a mess. And one that still confuses me…but…

2/

BIG NEWS

Following joint investigation by @9news and @ColoradoSun... @GovofCO signs bill to prohibit hospitals from suing patients under someone else's name

Here is our original investigation

We found UCHealth had quietly sued patients for years

🧵
1/
9news.com/article/news/i… Starting in 2020, UCHealth largely stopped suing patients under its own name in Colorado courts

Why? We still can't say why. UCHealth won't say

But we know right around that time, other hospital systems were under intense public scrutiny for their litigation practices

2/

As Colorado becomes just the second state in the country to ban use of the term “excited delirium” on police and autopsy reports… following our yearlong investigation…

I want to take a moment to explain the motivation behind our work.

1/

9news.com/article/news/i… Years ago, we started examining prone restraint deaths…

Deaths that followed prolonged prone restraint.

We spent years on it and found a lot of cases that were barely covered by local media.

Why? More on that in a moment.

Here’s link:

2/

9news.com/article/news/i…

A THREAD

As the trial of two officers charged in the death of #ElijahMcClain gets underway...

...I would urge you to pay close attention to the term "EXCITED DELIRIUM"

Yes, I've reported on it extensively, but it also plays a BIG role in this death

Let me explain...

1/ You don't need to know much about EXCITED DELIRIUM to know it played a significant role in his death.

How can I say that? Because not long after officers took McClain to the ground, the idea of it materialized.

Right after giving ketamine, a fire paramedic said this:

2/

It's fair for @dps_k12 school board members to say they didn't fire McAuliffe principal Kurt Dennis...

It is NOT fair for them to suggest they have nothing to do with the story

DPS policy, supported by the Board, has been to keep potentially violent students in school

1/ It's why Dennis came to us earlier this year

DPS mandated that a student charged with attempted murder go back to McAuliffe despite repeated objections from Dennis

Here is our first story on that.


2/9news.com/article/news/i…

While working on a series of stories on the controversial term EXCITED DELIRIUM...

...I've come across some news reports that should go into the ole "maybe we could have done better" file

Let's start with this one.

Maybe "irked" isn't the right word?

A THREAD

1/ I'm pretty sure the handcuffing didn't kill him

2/

The only fame we usually get comes from the occasional, “Hey, I know you” in a grocery store

The pay, particularly early on, is much lower than viewers might ever imagine

We move. To cities we don’t know. Often far from families

Recently, people have threatened us. Berated us Accused us of bias believing we’re some sort of monolithic entity.

We’ve written countless stories in live trucks and passenger seats and Starbucks and, on occasion, on random spots of floor.

If we don’t know a specific reporter, we work with a reporter who knows that one

As a reminder…especially today…

Most journalists are local.

Most never attended elite schools. Most make far less than you might ever imagine.

Most work really really hard and almost never touch national politics. I started out making 12.5k covering city council and school board meetings in Casper Wyoming.

I graduated from a state school with a journalism degree.

I amassed large credit card debt in my first few years out of school.

If you’re a journalist and you’re interviewing ANY physician about any rx drug

and you don’t even bother to go to openpaymentsdata.cms.gov to look for potential conflicts of interest…

…you are committing journalistic malpractice.

Stop this sh— please! The website couldn’t be any more user friendly.

It’s perhaps the best government website I’ve ever seen.

Here it is. Use it. I beg of you.

openpaymentsdata.cms.gov

QUICK #CVOVID19Colorado THREAD

Headline: Wastewater really starting to see an increase in CASES.

Some spots have really started to pop.

Let's start with northern Denver metro. Highest reading since Feb.

#9news Central Denver.

Going up... not as pronounced.

We deeply want mass shooters to be simplified into something manageable

something that helps us better understand why.

But there’s a real challenge to that.

“Why” is not always discernible.

It typically involves motives as complex as the mind itself. Colorado has a long history of mass shootings.

We also have a long history of the early application of presumed and simple motivations.

Only later do we learn more.

And even then the answer isn’t always satisfying.

I have no idea what “preliminary charges” are…

We’ve got the be super clear on this.

Charges have not been filed. When they eventually are, there will likely be dozens of them.

That could happen in a matter of days.

https://twitter.com/ap/status/1594864097564233728

Charges will include 1 or 2 murder charges for each of the 5 dead.

Each would carry a life sentence should there be a conviction.

Also. Prosecutors will absolutely file attempted murder charges on behalf of, at the very least, each of the 17 with gunshot wounds.

A THREAD on COLORADO law

Want to review a CRITICAL aspect of a NEW CO law that is limiting transparency when it comes to the man now suspected of murdering 5 and shooting/injuring 17 others in Colorado Springs over the weekend

It involves this bill

leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/… HB19-1275 SAILED through the 2019 legislative session.

It was passed with good intent. A desire to keep people away from the burden of previous convictions/arrests. Particularly minor ones.

Here are some basics.

THREAD

Respiratory disease update in Colorado going on right now from CDPHE

Let's start with COVID

#9News
#COVID19Colorado
#RSVColorado Hospitalizations (covid)

"clear increasing trend" says state epi

Hey all...

So I'm about to hop on a call with @CDPHE folks... Similar to what we did with COVID.

But this time... we're talking COVID, RSV amd flu...

Details to follow below

#9news "An increasingly challenging respiratory' environment in Colorado is already underway according to Dr. Rachel Herlihy

"Unprecedented level of (RSV) transmission"