The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.28 MrBeast’s Lawyer Threatens Accuser With Lawsuit, Arsonist Gets Instant Karma, & Today’s News

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

7 Things you need to know today...and stick around for the Excited Delirium deep dive because wow... Go to http://www.vessi.com for Vessi’s Labor Day Sale. Miss the sale? Just go to http://www.vessi.com/defranco for 15% off your first order.  Get https://BeautifulBastard.com 25-50% OFF site-wide on the best size-inclusive tees, tanks, and hoodies you'll ever buy. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/ 69 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - MrBeast Reportedly Sent Cease and Desist to Dogpack404 01:35 - Arsonists Set UK Store on Fire, Ignite Themselves  02:22 - RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard Join Trump Transition Team 07:00 - Swifties For Kamala Raise Over $100K 09:18 - Sponsored by Vessi  10:18 - Israeli Forces Begin Major Military Operation in West Bank 15:08 - New Lawsuit Aims to Block GA Election Certification Rules 19:04 - Sponsored by Beautiful Bastard 19:43 - “Excited Delirium” Defense Used to Blame Police Victims 30:34 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 31:09 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Excited Delirium: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #MrBeast #TaylorSwift ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news. And we got a lot of news to talk about today. So you just buckle up, hit that like button to let YouTube know you love these big daily dives into the news, and let's jump into it. This is a news show.

So first up today, we got a major update to some internet and legal news, and that is Mr. Beast is lawyering up. That is what this new report from the Daily Mail is saying, claiming that Mr. Beast hired Alex Spira, who's a major lawyer who's represented the likes of Elon Musk, Alec Baldwin, and Megan Thee Stallion, and claiming there that this lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to Dawson French, which the Daily Mail says is the real name of Dogpack 404, right? The former employee who's working on a series to try to expose Mr. Beast and accusing him of wrongdoing on numerous fronts.

And you know, with all this, you have the Daily Mail saying that they obtained this letter, which alleges that Dogpack's claims are not only untrue, but saying that they violate the confidentiality agreement in NDA that he signed with Mr. Beast's company, and adding, absent your immediate compliance with the demands specified herein, Mr. Beast and Jimmy Donaldson are prepared to take the necessary legal steps to protect their reputation and business. With that letter also claiming that Dogpack didn't work long enough at the company to have any understanding of its inner workings. And it ended by stating that Mr. Beast will take legal action if Dogpack doesn't stop posting about the company. Though a big thing here is the timing. This letter appears to have been sent on July 31st

and Dogpack still posted a video in August. And notably there, Dogpack also gave a statement to the outlet saying, Mr. Beast has knowingly kept rapists and pedophiles on payroll, allegedly for legal reasons, although I think some of them were convicted. With him then also writing on Twitter, Facts ain't defamation. But for now, that's the update we have, and we'll have to keep our eyes on this to see what happens next. And then, y'all, today we have three douchebags of the day.

With them being these three guys in the UK who charged into a corner store one evening holding a canister of gasoline. With them then quickly pouring it on the floor and igniting it, which one, immediately erupted into a blinding inferno that filled the whole store with smoke, I mean, it's so thick, you can hardly see anything going on. But two, when we switched to the outdoor camera, we see the three fleeing and at least one of them

actually lit himself on fire. Which I mean, at least we got that, that one of these dumb, shitty motherfuckers like actually got some instant karma. Hopefully they're all found and arrested. With the other silver lining being that thankfully, nobody except that idiot got hurt. Though there was a no small part,

thanks to the guy who was manning the counter who ran to the stockroom, grabbed the mop buckets and put out the blaze before it engulfed the whole store. Though there, it did still cause $20,000 in damage to the floor, ceiling and fridges, according to the shop's owner. And then we got to talk about my guy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

And no, not because he reportedly chainsawed the head off of a dead whale, which is illegal, and then tied it to the roof of his minivan with a bungee cord and then drove it home five miles. Instead, it has to do with him being in the news because Donald Trump has officially picked both him and Tulsi Gabbard to join his presidential transition team.

Right in this, of course, after RFK suspended his own presidential bid and endorsed Trump last Friday, with Gabbard then doing the same on Monday. And with Gabbard, you know, you have some trying to make a big deal about it, saying, you know, wasn't she a Democrat? And there, you'd say technically she ran in 2020 as one, but she left the party in 2022. You know, since then, she's pretty much embraced as being a full-blown right-winger and also very pro-Putin, like, ugh. Though, I will say she's always had ambiguous political leanings. But, you know, with all this, in theory, now as part of Trump's team,

she'll help design policy and pick personnel for his second term, most likely focusing on foreign policy, her signature issue. And as for RFK, the obvious focus for him is public health, food, and drug policy. Which I mean, if you're someone who believes in science, is pretty scary because he's more rabidly anti-vax

than even Trump himself. And notably with this last week, Trump told CNN he probably would appoint RFK to some role in his actual administration, not just his transition team. So, you know, rumors have floated around that he might actually make Kennedy his health secretary. Meaning there could be a world where RFK Jr.

would oversee the FDA, the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and 10 other agencies with a combined budget of around $1.5 trillion. So then on Monday, you had Trump clarifying that he hadn't talked with RFK about that specific post, which would be an uphill battle since it requires Senate confirmation. Though he added that RFK, quote, knows a lot about the subject and has been very well received by the party. Which I will say is kind of funny for a few reasons.

The first being that as recently as four months ago, Trump was painting RFK Jr. as a pro-abortion environmentalist, calling him a radical left lunatic who is far more liberal than anyone running as a Democrat. And in turn, you had RFK Jr. calling Trump a terrible president with absurd and terrifying policies who turned the government over to corporate pirates, discredited the American experiment with self-governance, and systematically supported totalitarian governments around the world. But then again, you know, JD Vance called Trump America's Hitler once, and now he's the guy's running mate.

But you know, with all of that aside, how this matters for the short term, it's whether and how names like Gabbard and Kennedy are gonna impact Trump's electoral prospects come November. And of course there, any answer is gonna be speculative, but different people have different opinions. With some in the GOP, like Mike Pence's former chief of staff telling the New York Times,

"'From the convention platform to the transition team, "'free market, limited government, "'and social conservatives have been kicked to the curb. "'Doubling down on big government populists "'will not energize turnout among traditional conservatives. But even if this turns off some moderate Republicans, it could attract undecided voters. Specifically, the kind whom the new republic sums up

as voters who pay little attention to politics. Young people, low propensity voters, people disaffected with our institutions and who also disliked Biden and Trump. The one high profile figure who arguably fits into this category being the likes of Joe Rogan. He's never been super pumped about either party's candidate, but he recently made this comment,

which he later clarified was not an endorsement. That's politics. They do it on the left. They do it on the right. They gaslight you. They manipulate you. They promote narratives. And the only one who's not doing that is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I am a fan. Yeah, he's the only one that makes sense to me. Now, with all this, you have some experts noting that since Biden's been replaced by Harris, the number of people who report disliking both candidates, that's declined. So in one way, you have people saying that RFK may not make as much of a difference as before. You also have folks pointing to polls that were taken before RFK dropped out,

with this specifically focused on the opinion of Harris and Trump, according to Kennedy voters. With Pew Research finding that 61% were unfavorable toward both, 14% were favorable to Trump and unfavorable to Harris, and 18% were favorable to Harris and unfavorable to Harris, and 18% were favorable to Harris and unfavorable to Trump. Though there, I think it would be interesting to see how those numbers have changed since RFK and Doris Dent could possibly have a role in the administration.

But also, notably, it turns out that RFK Jr. might have more trouble than he realized getting his name off of ballots. So he could still be siphoning votes away. And that because when RFK suspended his campaign on Friday, he didn't actually suspend it everywhere. Instead, he announced that he would file to remove his name from the ballot

in around 10 swing states and urged his supporters to cast a symbolic vote for him everywhere else. But according to NPR, it might be too late for him to actually pull out of Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, because those states either have laws that prevent him from doing so,

have passed their deadlines, or have already started sending out ballots. And with it being believed that RFK might take more votes away from Trump than Harris, you have Democrats seemingly happy about this and Republicans not. With Ted Cruz, for example, posting on X, "'If blue states are refusing to remove RFK

"'from the ballot after he dropped out, "'why shouldn't red states refuse to remove Biden "'from the ballot after he dropped out?' The real answer is both should be removed, but Dems keep elevating politics over democracy." Though with this, you know, I should definitely note, Democrats are not responsible for this. Procedural rules that have long been in place, they are.

And as I just explained, RFK's late withdrawal from the race in certain states, it runs up against those rules, while Biden simply transferring his delegates to Harris doesn't. You know, that's the news. Those are the facts. And so now I'd love to hear your opinion

in the comments down below. And then, y'all, it's kind of weird how many stories about the US presidential election involve Swifties this election cycle, which I guess should make it not that surprising in the comments down below. And then, y'all, it's kind of weird how many stories about the US presidential election involve Swifties this election cycle, which I guess should make it not that surprising that we got another one today, with Taylor Swift fans now mobilizing for Kamala Harris,

with a saying last night, the Swifties for Kamala Coalition holding a virtual rally, and that group saying that a total of 34,000 people joined the call, raising $122,000. And a big thing there is that group also said that 14,000 Swifties either registered to vote, checked their registration status, or reached out to a friend to get them to register. And as far as who actually hopped on that call, you had Carole King, who gave fans advice on

political activism and different tactics to get out the vote. You also had senators like Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, and Kirsten Gillibrand joining, really catering to Swifties and their fandom while laying out the stakes of the election. There are just five fortnights until election day, but we are not out of the woods yet. We have our work ahead of us to make sure we defeat this anti-hero wannabe, or as I like to call him, Mr. Casually Cruel. Yeah, Ed, you call him Mr. Casually Cruel? Do you say that to people as you Pokemon go to the polls? There's a reason Kamala Harris just lets her social media team

fuck around with the memes, and she's not saying, my policy's brat. Anyway, absent from that call, though, is, of course, Taylor Swift herself, who hasn't officially endorsed anyone for this election, though she did back Biden and Harris back in 2020. But also, I will say notably there, Swifties for Kamala has previously told outlets that they're not trying to make Taylor speak out by doing these things.

With them saying that they operate independently of her and they're focusing on the power of community. Though this also coming as tons of people have noted what an endorsement from her could do. And there, we've also seen the likes of the Hollywood Reporter speaking to professors who focus on political influence, who said that Taylor could actually sway young women and help shift the campaign's narrative. With some saying that even if her sway was actually very marginal, it could make a difference in swing state. Though there, I will say so far,

the Harris campaign has done pretty well without her raising $540 million since its launch and seeing a big fundraising peak during the DNC. But of course, fundraising is fundraising. Polls are polls. And the only thing that's gonna matter is a vote because this election is gonna be very, very close. So of course, if you wanna have a say in your city,

your state, your country, do like Ed Markey would do and be H-O-T-T-O-G-O to vote and check your registration or register to vote at vote.org and come up with a voting plan. Just trying to help my man Ed lock down the cringe vote. But then take a little 60 second break from the news. You know, longtime viewers know I'm a fan of Essie. They're the waterproof sneakers that make my life so much easier when it comes to what to wear. And of course, they're a long time sponsor of the PDS and the sponsor of today's show. And I got to tell you how much I'm loving their new Courtside Classic. It's their newest urban living shoe with a classic vintage look. And the Courtside Classic is a court inspired shoe that keeps your

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from bombing Southern Lebanon to the largest raids across the West Bank in 20 years. So let's start by talking about those raids, right? Because overnight, hundreds of Israeli troops and drones hit targets throughout the West Bank, which is the larger part of Palestine that is not controlled by Hamas. Now, as of filming this,

we know that at least 10 people were killed, but considering that the operation is still ongoing, it's likely that number is gonna rise. And this is due have Israeli officials claiming that the raid was in response to a sharp rise in attacks from the region over the last few months. Right, things like a teenager being killed at a West Bank settlement,

which then turned into Israeli settlers rampaging across the region. And then actually before we go any further, I do wanna make sure that you understand these settlements, right, because they are a central complaint by Palestinians. But the short version being that Israeli, usually right wingwing Israelis, start building little cities within the West Bank, which is supposed to be Palestinian territory.

And Netanyahu's government supports this despite widespread condemnation across the globe and how grossly unfair it is. These settlements are built in areas that are within the West Bank and could support a city, but where Palestinians are explicitly banned from building. And anger over these settlements, they are a huge rallying cry for the various militant groups within the West Bank. And those same groups are often accused of operating within the various refugee camps such as Jenin, which has been raided by Israel in the past. And today is no different with one organization posting on Telegram that they were fighting Israeli forces in the cities near the camp. The IDF also informed the local government that they were going to be imposing a curfew on parts of the city and stationing troops at hospital entrances and exits, presumably to identify anyone who was hurt

fighting against them. And because of all of this, you have the governor saying that quote, people are living in a state of terror and anxiety. Palestinian officials and groups in both Gaza and the West Bank have also denounced the raids. And this, as you had Hamas saying that Israel was expanding its war into the West Bank

and that the international community was just letting it happen. And then the Palestinian authority, which governs the area, said that the raids would just lead to disastrous consequences for which everyone will pay the price. Most concerning for many, though, is how Israel is painting this incursion into the West Bank. Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying that the operation was part of a full-fledged war and compared it to what Israel was doing in Gaza. Notably, they were working to dismantle militant groups and future operations. Meanwhile, police had a more toned-down statement saying that

this was just a counter-terrorism operation and didn't give any indication that this would be part of a prolonged war. But either way, this is still the largest raid into the area in over 20 years and just one of the many fronts Israel's now fighting. Because just as this was going on, Israeli forces were making another massive incursion

into the Khan Yunus area of Gaza. And this is like the last major population center in Gaza, deep in the South end, where Israel told refugees to flee to. But now they're pushing their way into the city, albeit very slowly. They've actually been doing this for months now and seem to make quick surprise attacks into the city before sitting around for a while. And this time they warned residents to leave the area as they were going to target the places that they claim Hamas and other groups used to launch attacks. Although still it was unclear when exactly they'd be rolling in. With residents

saying that the tanks and the scale of the attack were still a surprise and forced residents to flee. And in total, at least 11 were killed and the total death toll in Gaza alone is reportedly over 40,000. But also, the toll across the conflict as a whole might drastically increase as tensions in northern Israel rise. Because in southern Lebanon, there's a massive militant organization called Hezbollah who's long fought with Israel. They've launched rockets into the country and in return, Israel has conducted airstrikes. However, this week, Israel launched a preemptive strike on a bunch of Hezbollah targets

in one of the largest attacks in years. And vice versa, Hezbollah launched its own missiles and rockets, all of which really sparked fears that this could become far more of a regional conflict. And you know, that's something that we've touched on before, but Hezbollah, it's a completely different ballgame than Hamas, because while they don't have the power to seriously challenge Israel,

they do have way more members than Hamas and far more firepower. So while, yes, it would most likely lose in a war, it could still inflict severe casualties of its own. Then adding the potential military and civilian deaths on both sides of that conflict, it's entirely possible that the death toll in Gaza would just be a sizable fraction. And as is usual at this point, all of this has just sparked renewed anger and frustration at the Netanyahu government, with obviously many furious about how they've handled this entire conflict.

But there's also a lot of Israelis frustrated that almost no progress has been made to free the hostages. Some have been found both dead and alive, and there are still 104 being held by Hamas. And while the U.S. and some Middle Eastern countries have tried to work out an exchange deal, it appears that the Netanyahu government just doesn't seem interested, partially because it would free a large number of Palestinians and a not so small number of people, including President Biden, thinking that it's partially because Netanyahu

is trying to use this war as a justification to stay in power. Although notably, at the same time, Hamas isn't exactly negotiating either, with both sides just bringing their demands to the table and saying they won't budge. However, this week there was some good news about the hostage situation,

with Israel freeing Qahid Farhad al-Qadi yesterday. Though details about his rescue have been kept under wraps for now. And all we really know is that he was found alone in a dark tunnel with a 52 year old believed to have hardly seen any sunlight in his eight months of captivity. And this is you have some saying, you know,

the situation around him specifically, it highlights how little Hamas cared about who they were taking on October 7th. Right, and that because Al-Qadi isn't a Jewish Israeli. He's actually a Bedouin Arab Muslim. But for now, like we've been doing for the last year, we're gonna have to keep our eyes on this and see what comes next.

And then let's talk about this election drama coming out of Georgia. Because Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to stop certain Georgia Republicans' efforts to undermine the election. And specifically, what I'm talking about is the state and national democratic parties have filed a lawsuit against two new rules

enacted this month by the election-denying Trump-aligned majority on the state election board that could delay election certification. And if that sounds familiar, it's because we talked about the rules on the show a few weeks ago. The first passed on August 6th, which gives local election boards the power to conduct a, quote, reasonable inquiry into elections before certifying the result. But very notably there, it doesn't define what a reasonable inquiry is, meaning an individual board member would have the authority to block certification for any reason. And then the second rule approved on August 19th says that if any county officials identifies any discrepancy, quote, no vote shall be counted from that precinct and the election can't be certified until the

board investigates. But there you have most legal experts saying that Georgia law doesn't give election boards that kind of power. And what's more, these kinds of discrepancies, they are actually common and often don't change election outcomes or indicate any kind of fraud. Even then the state already has an extensive process in place to audit results and address anything more serious. And actually, in their new lawsuit, the Democrats made many of those same points, arguing that this is just a continuation of the Republicans' transparent efforts to block or delay certification of the election. With them also specifically claiming that state law makes certification a mandatory duty of election boards, not just something they can decide they want to do or not. With them

adding there that even if there are discrepancies, it's not the job of county election officials to investigate them before certifying. Any allegations of potential fraud or misconduct should be dealt with by the courts after certification, a fact that's been established by more than a century of precedent. So as a result, the suit has asked the court to block the new rules, declare that certifying election results is a mandatory duty, and require that Georgia's votes be certified by the statutory November 12th deadline. But you know, whatever the court decides here, it's going to be massively consequential and not just for Georgia, but also for other swing states that will determine the outcome of the election. That's because these attempts to block

or delay certification of the election, they're not just limited to Georgia. This has actually become one of the main tactics being used by Trump and his allies as part of their broader effort to subvert election results. Because in recent years, there have been numerous attempts to block the certification of elections in key swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. And in all these states, Republican officials have pointed to mistrust in election machines or ballot errors,

but failed to actually offer any evidence of widespread fraud. So if a court here upholds Georgia's rules, that could empower pro-Trump election deniers in other states. But experts say that any one of these efforts in key swing states could set off a chain reaction of events that could decide pro-Trump election deniers in other states. But experts say that any one of these efforts in key swing states could set off a chain reaction of events that could decide the election,

reverse a Harris victory, and sow the same kind of doubt that led to the insurrection. And one of the scariest parts is that these nationwide impacts, they could be felt even if these attempts fail or they're blocked by the court. Because the goal here isn't just to block certification, it would be to delay it enough to mess up the whole process.

See, presidential elections have strict deadlines, with most states requiring both county and state-level certification within a few days or weeks of election day. But many states can't certify their results until all county results have been certified. So if a county certification is stalled long enough, it could hold up a state certification, which could prevent electors from being selected in time for the Electoral College. And here's the big kicker.

If electors aren't selected in time to vote in the Electoral College, the state's electoral votes likely won't be counted when Congress certifies the election. I mean, we're talking about a situation where the electoral votes of a single swing state could determine the election. So if those votes aren't counted, it could tip the outcome. And what's more, if it prevents either candidate from hitting the 270 electoral votes needed by law to win, it would kick off an unprecedented crisis where the outcome would be determined by the House, with each state getting a vote. And right now, Republicans control the majority of state delegations and they could gain even more after the election. But then beyond all that, even if

these efforts are ultimately thwarted before they can totally destroy our democracy, experts say that this could trigger civil unrest or violence. Especially as many voting rights advocates believe that Trump and his allies are sowing even more mistrust in this election than they did last time. But ultimately, we're gonna have to wait to see how all this plays out, especially as there are a number of things at play here. Like, for example, as all of this is happening, according to reports, you have here in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp, who's a Republican, now asking the state attorney general for guidance on whether he has the authority

to fire the three MAGA board members who are responsible for the new rules. But at the very least, this is something that you should be aware of, and it's something we have our eyes on, and when there are updates, you'll know. But then, breaking from the news and to steal your attention for 30 to 60 seconds, I'm sponsoring myself, because right now, over at BeautifulBastard.com, you can get so much goodness for 25 to 50% off. And I can honestly say, I think that whatever you grab for yourself, it is going to be your new favorite and best tee, tank, or hoodie. Like ever since we switched over to our premium custom blends and fits, it's been positive reviews from small to 5XL, whether it be our premium core blank gear or our prints. So yeah, head on over to beautifulbastard.com, check it out, take advantage of the 25 to 50% off. And if you happen to notice the size of something you want is sold out, just make sure you sign up for the newsletter because we're always restocking. Or at least

we try to. I know that we're pretty much almost out of every tank except gray. And then, so most of you are probably aware that Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, went on trial for murder, got convicted and sent to prison. But fewer people actually watch the court proceedings though if you did, you may have noticed something that most others missed. Namely, two words that just kept popping up again and again and again. Symptoms of excited delirium. Excited delirium. Excited delirium. Excited delirium. Excited delirium. Excited delirium. and again. And this didn't just come up in the courtroom, right? Even one of the cops there on the scene while Floyd was pinned down to the ground commented. I just worried about the excited delirium or whatever. Right, so what the fuck is excited delirium? Well, in short, it's a medical term referring

to someone who suddenly becomes aggressive, excited, sweaty, and agitated as well as delirious and utterly impervious to pain. Lastly, I'm not kidding about this, they have- Superhuman strength. Superhuman strength. Superhuman strength. They may have superhuman strength.

They'll feel pain. Right, basically, this person just turns into the fucking Hulk, with them just becoming wild, uncontrollable beasts that go on an irrational rampage. And then the claim is that these people suddenly up and die. Yeah, the final symptom is spontaneous death.

Also, by the way, that is Dr. Ayesha Beliso de Jesus, whose book, Excited Delirium, Race, Police, Violence, and the Invention of a Disease, just came out this month. And as that title suggests, she explains that the concept of excited delirium, it is not a real medical thing. It is complete bullshit. But to understand exactly how and why,

we have to go back to April 20th of 1980. Because on that day, Cuba's leader, Fidel Castro, made the surprise announcement that anyone who wanted to could flee the island for the United States through the port of Mariel. So with that, you saw Cuban exiles in the US hurriedly renting hundreds of shrimp and fishing boats, sending them there, packing them full of human cargo.

Some 125,000 Cubans sailing to the coasts of Florida over the next five months. I mean, it was the largest mass immigration of Cubans to the US in history. And it was reported that these weren't just any Cubans, right, saying they were poorer, less educated, and darker skinned than previous refugees. So when they arrived in South Florida, they faced poverty and discrimination. They got

stereotyped as criminal aliens, even inspiring Al Pacino's character in Scarface. And this, even though only a tiny fraction of them actually had any serious criminal background. So when dead Afro-Cuban bodies started showing up in alleyways, junkyards, and car parks across Miami throughout the decade, they weren't the type to garner much sympathy. At first it started out with around 12 black women who were found what looked like to police and to observers to be brutally raped and strangled to death. With almost all of them being young sex workers who had traces of cocaine in their system.

So to the extent that the authorities cared, they couldn't solve these murders. Which is then where forensic pathologist Charles Victor Whetley comes in. See at the time he was the chief assistant medical examiner for Miami-Dade County and he claimed to have the answer. He said they weren't raped and murdered. They just up and died from a combination of sex and cocaine.

And this is actually where Whetley begins to develop the argument for what would become excited delirium syndrome. Also describes today's cocaine agitated delirium syndrome. With him claiming that victims of it, they don't even need to overdose. Just a small amount of coke will do it. And he makes the argument that black people in particular have a genetic defect that leads them to die spontaneously after using small amounts of cocaine. At the time it's cocaine, it expands

to then later include other drugs such as methamphetamines. And to justify this claim, Whatley cites Edward Williams, a doctor who wrote in 1914 that, So-called Negro cocaine fiends are causing havoc in the South. So right from the get-go, Whatley's ideas are explicitly racist, but they find an eager reception in 1980s America. Because it's the Reagan years,

the war on drugs is in full swing, and the demonization of black women as welfare queens is at its ugliest. Also this image of the aggressive drug crazed superhuman threat has a long history in the white imagination. European slavers, right, made the argument that black women had superhuman strength

and so therefore would be better suited to work in the cotton fields. So excited delirium just basically took this centuries old racial stereotype and slapped a medical diagnosis on it. And for years, Miami police didn't even bother investigating the murders because Wetley assured them, hey, they weren't actually murders. That is at least until 1989. And it's not until 14-year-old Antoinette Burns is murdered and found without cocaine in

her system that people start to question the diagnosis. So Wetley's boss, the chief medical examiner, goes back and revises the past diagnoses, declaring them death by asphyxiation. And the real culprit turned out to be one very prolific serial killer by the name of Charles Henry Williams. He's thought to have killed as many as 32 women and then died himself in 1994 from AIDS while in prison. But Whatley, he wasn't deterred one bit. In fact, in 1991, he reasserted the claim

that black men are genetically predisposed to excited delirium. Pretty soon, medical examiners across the country, they started picking up his idea. Except now, they weren't just applying it to random murder victims. No, instead, they used it almost exclusively for people who died while in police custody. And in almost every case, the person was subjected to some sort of forceful restraint before they died. Whether it's getting hogtied, there was a chokehold, tased, sedated, or like Floyd, crushed by a knee. But instead

of putting any of those things in the reports, the medical examiners just listed the cause of death as excited delirium, which then effectively shifted the blame of the person's death off of the police officer and onto the person themselves. Which is why obviously cops loved it, and they started sending corpses to medical examiners that they knew would give them the conclusion they wanted. With in fact a 2018 review finding that more than 10%

of deaths in police custody were attributed to excited delirium according to CBS News. And one of the reasons they knew which examiners to trust with this was that some were literally on the payroll of America's foremost taser company. And that includes Whatley, right? In the late 90s and early 2000s, he gets... When does fast grocery delivery

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Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. Tired by Taser International, which becomes one of the sort of primary supporters of excited delirium syndrome. Right, Taser International, now called Axon Enterprise, hires an army of researchers to spread this lie

that tasers don't kill people, excited delirium does. With that research in hand, the company defended itself successfully against dozens of wrongful death lawsuits. One of these so-called experts telling the courtroom in 2008 that people with excited delirium need to be saved by taser therapy. Now with all this, Ayesha says,

we don't know how many times excited delirium has been used over the decades because no one tracks it. But also arguably that's exactly the point. Some unknown number of killings simply vanished behind the smoke screen of this fake diagnosis. And as a result, we can't ever know the true scale of police violence in this country. One thing we can know for sure is that it does affect

some people much more than others. I mean, in one study of 166 deaths while in police custody where excited delirium was listed as a cause of death. Black and Latinx people together made up over 60% of those deaths. But since the police themselves were often the only voices reporting what happened to the people who died in their custody,

it was hard to push back against their lies. So despite criticism here and there from victims' families, independent experts, and groups like the ACLU and NAACP, excited delirium mostly slid under the radar. That is until May 25th, 2020, because by then, thanks to this beautiful thing known as a cell phone, people could hold cops accountable by recording them. Which is of course how the entire world could see

with their own eyes that George Floyd didn't just up and die. He was asphyxiated by a knee on his neck. Though, as we saw a few minutes ago, Derek Chauvin's attorneys, they tried to pin his death on excited delirium and thankfully that failed. Also something that happened

is you had people starting to wonder, well, if this happened to Floyd, who else did they do this to? And all of a sudden you saw all these names starting to pop back up. All these black people whose deaths in police custody were attributed to excited delirium. Elijah McClain, who in 2019 was actually lying down prone, handcuffed with multiple officers on his body when paramedics administered a high dose of ketamine that was sort of too strong for his body.

The 2015 death of Natasha McKenna, who was tased multiple times by officers and died. So with people suddenly more aware of excited delirium and racism in general, the country was ripe for change. And fighting that battle on the front lines was this new generation of medical students with a profound sense of racial injustice. There's no evidence or clinical diagnostic criteria supporting a diagnosis of quote unquote, excited delirium.

Right, and that's Harvard resident doctor, Rohan Kazanchi. Who you also might recognize for being a part of our segment on race adjusted medicine a little while back. And he says that although delirium. Right, and that's Harvard resident doctor, Rohan Kazanchi. You also might recognize for being a part of our segment on race adjusted medicine a little while back. And he says that although delirium is certainly real, as are some other symptoms like agitation and aggression, the special concept of excited delirium, it's much more vague. It's not something that I would put in the medical record

when I'm taking care of a patient with psychosis or substance exposure or a substance overdose. You know, when I see patients in the hospital, I characterize those conditions very specifically. So in 2020, he and a group of other students brought a series of resolutions to the American Medical Association. In November of 2020, we brought an item

to the medical student section, which was very easily passed. Without taking positions on a bunch of issues like police brutality, qualified immunity, militarized law enforcement, and most notably. Prohibiting the use of ketamine and other sedative hypnotic agents for law enforcement purposes

when there was no medical indication. And this, as well as a resolution specifically opposing excited delirium. And these easily passed in the medical students section, but when they came to the general house of delegates, they encountered resistance. The item was in part adopted, but some of the more specific aspects

that we were looking for, like, well, vitaminity reform and ketamine incentive and not hypnotics, you know, this conversation about excited delirium, were sort of tabled and sent for further study by the AMA's Council on Science and Public Health. With the bulk of opposition coming from emergency physicians, who Rohan says had concerns about just throwing out excited delirium altogether. Because people in the field, for example, paramedics sometimes have to deal with aggressive or out of control individuals.

Though of course there, you have people saying emergency physicians being predominantly white is arguably another factor to consider. Certainly when issues like this come to the floor of the American Medical Association, physicians and medical students who look more like the communities that are being disproportionately impacted

by police brutality were far more likely to support a resolution of this nature. In fact, the minority affairs section of the AMA was one of the strongest advocates for this resolution. So the AMA, they studied the issue, and in 2021, the results came back, with it firmly endorsing the student's position and denouncing the use of excited delirium,

as well as sedative hypnotics like ketamine for law enforcement purposes. And with that, the dam just broke open, with every major group from the American Psychiatric Association to the National Association of Medical Examiners to the American College of Emergency Physicians all rejecting excited delirium.

But there's also seeing California and Colorado banning it as a cause of death or diagnosis and New York moving to do the same. But there's also a catch because while they abandoned that specific term, the emergency physicians asserted that the existence of one that sounds extremely similar, hyperactive delirium syndrome with severe agitation.

Another is floating around agitated delirium, exhaustive mania and restraint related cardiac arrest. And although the Minneapolis police department said that it halted training for excited delirium in 2021, that was only technically true. Because in a PowerPoint slide obtained by the Star Tribune, you can see they literally just crossed out the words excited delirium and replaced it with severe agitation

with confusion delirium. With the emergency physician giving the presentation, telling the audience that the original term became triggering for the public. With the madding that being said, the condition exists. We all agree the entity exists. But very much appears that it's going to take a lot more than just changing our language to fix the issue for good. Though also, maybe we should have expected that given that we're dealing with deeply rooted racial stereotypes here. But hey, all that said, I got to ask you, what are your thoughts here? But then finally today, we have a congratulations, and let's talk about yesterday. First up, a congratulations to KCC, who just won $500 in a weekly SeatGeek giveaway towards her choice of SeatGeek tickets. And KCC is going to

see 21 pilots for the sixth time with her winnings. And for everyone else, that's right, SeatGeek and The Daily Dip are still giving away up to $1,000 in tickets, and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. You just add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. And when $1,000 prizes are available to Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS newsletter, doubling entries and winnings. I mean, it really is that simple. Second up, like I said, let's talk about yesterday. Starting with all the comments about that 13 year old who is drilling into a person's skull. But y'all saying things like, I've had surgery twice. And the fact is you don't remember anything that happens after they tell you to count back from 10. You are putting your entire life into their hands. The idea that these surgeons abuse that trust for

their own egotistical needs makes me never want to step foot into an operating room ever again. Absolutely disgusting. Meanwhile, others like Morgan said, as someone with a lot of medical trauma, I would sue that hospital slash doctor so badly I'd never have to work again. Holy shit. So there you had some saying, it's Austria, the doctor having been let go is all that will happen.

The patient could try to sue the hospital in case they win. The hospital could sue the doctor, but that's unlikely to happen. Night Raven saying, as an anesthesiology resident, I don't understand how the anesthesiologist in charge didn't do anything when the surgeon gave the drill to his teen daughter. They should have immediately warned the surgeon not to be an idiot and contacted the head of surgery or anesthesiology to report it.

Also, in those comments, in part because we talked about the ozone layer, some of you really got panicked about how old you've gotten, with VG Moose saying, if you're old enough, you might remember the hole in the ozone layer. No, it wasn't that long ago. It was, I'm sorry, you're an old now, or at least you're an old compared to when you thought about the ozone layer. There were also a lot of people concerned about the police using AI to write up reports based off of like the AI understanding body cam footage.

Naomi is saying, are you telling me a middle schooler isn't allowed to use chat GPT to write a report for school, but police can create evidence that might decide if someone loses their freedom using it? Make it make sense. That, my friends, is the end of your Wednesday, even in Thursday morning, dive into the news.

Though again, I can already tell we're gonna have a lot to talk about tomorrow. So I just wanna end this by saying, I love yo faces and I'll see you then.