Yahoo Autos DEA Agent Who Killed Cyclist Wants Immunity
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An interesting showdown involving state vs federal rights is brewing in connection to a fata car-bicycle accident in Salem, Oregon. Since the driver, a DEA agent, was on the clock at the time, the feds are trying to get him off the hook from prosecution by the state of Oregon.
Don’t change your oil in a parking lot.
The accident happened back on March 28, 2023 as the agent fell behind a group of fellow agents surveilling a suspect fentanyl dealer. In a rush to catch back up, the man in his unmarked Ram pickup truck sped through a neighborhood, blowing through a stop sign as caught on a home surveillance camera, as reported by KPTV.
Moments later, he struck and killed a mother cycling home from work. The sad truth is cyclists and motorcyclists are more prone to severe injury and fatality in such a crash. While riders should be extra cautious, sometimes a speeding, unaware driver can negate all that.
What makes this tragedy worse is one of the state attorneys mentioning testimony that there was no real urgency for the DEA agent to catch up. Since he and his colleagues were just running surveillance, not pursuing a suspect, he could have driven slower and perhaps not killed anyone. That seems reasonable to us.
What the feds want is to get federal immunity for the DEA agent. Basically what this means is if a federal officer is performing something related to his duties and he crashes into your family, killing some of them, the agent faces no consequences if the state tries to prosecute.
Both the feds and state argued their side of the case in front of appellate judges last week, with a decision pending. At the core of the argument is whether or not federal laws and privileges supersede state laws. In other words, it’s that argument about states rights which originated way back in the Continental Congress.
Think about the potential consequences of this case, which could help decide if federal agents can cause fatal accidents and skate because they were just doing their job.
Image via KPTV Fox 12 Oregon/YouTube
