King of 'Wash Post' Says Findings in Rosenbaum Report Demand Action

By: Joe Strupp Colbert King, the Washington Post columnist who spent months digging up evidence that former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum was improperly treated by D.C. emergency crews after he was assaulted in January, believes a city report released today supporting his findings is positive, but not enough.

King, who wrote more than a half-dozen columns and at least two editorials about problems related to the poor treatment Rosenbaum received during the Jan. 6 incident, told E&P the report's contention that police, paramedics and hospital staffers all erred means changes should be made and those in charge held accountable.

"Now the question is, 'what will happen?' What will the mayor do? Who will be held accountable for this?" he said Friday, just hours after reading the report from the D.C. Inspector General's Office. "There are specific things in the report that cry out for personnel changes."

King said one of the first who should be held accountable is D.C. Fire Chief Adrian Thompson. He scolded Thompson for declaring just days after the attack that Fire and EMS crews responded properly to Rosenbaum's injuries, which eventually led to his death. "That is absolutely false," King said. "Should the city have confidence in the fire chief if he makes that statement? The I.G. report refutes that statement in every way."

Although he was not planning to write about the report in his next column slated for tomorrow, King said an editorial about the findings is likely to appear in the Saturday paper. When asked if the editorial would call for the resignation of the fire chief, King would not say. "It depends on what I hear," he said, noting that he was still seeking reaction. "Clearly, he has to be one of those in focus."

King declined to discuss his role in sparking the investigation by the D.C. Inspector General's Office that resulted in today's stinging report, which criticized everyone from police on the scene to doctors at Howard University Hospital for failing to provide proper treatment for Rosenbaum. The 63-year-old Times veteran died two days after being assaulted on a Washington street near his home.

King, who writes a weekly column and sits on the Post editorial board, began investigating the case just days after it happened. In the months that followed, he raised questions about many areas.

The Inspector General's report released today supported many of his complaints, while adding some new ones. Among its findings: the ambulance dispatched to the scene got lost; some of those emergency workers at the scene were not properly trained in CPR; and hospital staffers could not read one doctor's report because of poor handwriting.

"How systematic is the problem?" King said in reaction to the report. "This is not just a Rosenbaum problem." Saying he had not been interviewed by I.G. investigators, King revealed the findings did not surprise him considering the evidence he himself had uncovered. "They had the opportunity to do more than I did," he said about the investigators. "

As for his own role in uncovering the problems, King would not rate how his involvement impacted the report. "My work speaks for itself," he said. "Anyone who reads it can draw their own conclusions."