Officer charged after allegedly killing suspect with chokehold: 'I’m going to f*** choke you out, bro'

The Blaze ^ | June 10, 2020 | Aaron Colen

[Twotone]

A former Las Cruces, New Mexico, police officer was charged with involuntary manslaughter Friday for allegedly killing a suspect who was fleeing and resisting arrest with a chokehold, NBC News reported.

Former Officer Christopher Smelser reportedly killed Antonio Valenzuela on Feb. 29. Valenzuela was pulled over and he had warrants for parole and probation violations. He tried to run away, and officers were unable to subdue him even after tasing him multiple times.

Body camera footage records Smelser telling Valenzuela "I'm going to f*** choke you out, bro," followed by the apparent sound of Valenzuela choking. He died at the scene.

The autopsy report lists the cause of death as "asphyxia injuries due to physical restraint," and noted that methamphetamines "significantly" contributed to his death.

The police report indicates that Smelser restrained Valenzuela with a "lateral vascular neck restraint," a controversial method that has since been banned by the Las Cruces Police Department.

[Twotone]

Cops also need to learn that anything they say (captured on a video cam) can be used against them.

[Hot Tabasco]

Cops need to learn how to let suspects get away.....

[johniegrad]

Hands to the neck in any fashion is bad policy. I appreciate the difficulty of their position but keep hands off the neck, please.

[EEGator]

Great timing...

[Lurkinanloomin]

Cops need to learn how to let suspects get away.....
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That is what is going to happen.

[Altura Ct.]

We should just quit trying to apprehend criminals

[Twotone]

“He tried to run away, and officers were unable to subdue him even after tasing him multiple times.”

If the officer had said nothing other than, “Stop Resisting!” he probably wouldn’t be facing charges. If I was a juror, I don’t think I’d convict, based on the evidence above. But the timing is certainly not good for him.

[RedStateRocker]

Cops need to be trained in how to deal with people resisting arrest without killing them.

Resisting arrest is not a capital offense; stupid, sure, may get you added time to your sentence, sure, but a cop who can’t deal with an emotionally distraught, violent person without shooting them needs to be taken off the beat.

The world in 2020: if they don’t have a gun, and the cop kills them, expect riots and lawsuits, end of story. No one said it’s fair.

[Professional]

I thought it was against the law to arrest people? Oh, I see this is from February...a very long time ago..

[marron]

This is quite different from the Chauvin episode. It was a full on fight, they had already tazed him multiple times and they still couldn’t subdue him. This is nothing like the Floyd case where he is already in restraints and helpless.

For me, based on what I read in this article, if there is nothing negative in his past policing, the cop should get a pass.

[plain talk]

Yep. They need to get smarter about restraints (if that's even possible).

In any event they need to lay off the face.

[Skywise]

We’re they not allowed to use clubs? What do you want with a peep high on crack who feels no pain and tasers don’t faze him.

Let him go?

[Spktyr]

Clubs are banned in many departments due to actual serious abuse of same. See “tuning someone up”.

[marron]

If you were in the cop’s shoes, and you had to subdue the guy, what would it take?

If you are going to ask another man to do that job, you have to be prepared to stand behind him when it gets into the grey zone. Otherwise, who is going to do that job?

[Roman_War_Criminal]

True, but lately my care meter is starting to read zero for these thugs.

The media loves crying for criminals. There are tens of millions like me who are over it.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

Antonio Valenzuela on Feb. 29-—was a victim of bad timing.

He could have been a martyr if the media leftists were not hyperventilating at that time over how corona virus was going to lead to a revolution across the world.

[Mr Rogers]

“I appreciate the difficulty of their position but keep hands off the neck, please.”

If cops cannot use submission holds, they will not be able to arrest people who resist. I do not agree with what they did in Minneapolis, but I also have to admit that George Floyd would not have been knelt on if he had just gone into the cop car without fighting.

[Mr Rogers]

The sap was a valuable tool in a cops arsenal. We ought to bring them back. You cannot arrest people using just words.

[Spktyr]

The sap was banned for much the same reason.

There are some alternatives on the horizon or on the market now. Sticky Foam is one that’s been tried but for a couple reasons it has not caught on with US police forces: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_foam

[Zhang Fei]

[Antonio Valenzuela on Feb. 29-—was a victim of bad timing.

He could have been a martyr if the media leftists were not hyperventilating at that time over how corona virus was going to lead to a revolution across the world.]

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I think that’s a stretch. Hispanics are prone to leftism. What they aren’t is tolerant of criminals. Of any color. Hard to get them cranked up about the death of a drug felon. Whereas blacks will not only acquit drug offenders - they will elect them mayor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry

Now, it’s one thing for Pablo Escobar the billionaire to hand out large sums of money to buy votes to elect him to the legislature. Voters there were responding to the money they received, and the threat of poll workers snitching on them for not voting the right way. And Escobar’s political party ditched him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar#Established_drug_network

What was the black excuse for putting Barry back in office? In addition, the Democratic Party never disowned Marion Barry, just as it has never disowned Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton.