So much for social distancing, eh? Police in Miami Beach got called out early this morning to a potential drug-related cardiac arrest at a hotel. Fire department rescue personnel were already working on what turned out to be a crystal-meth overdose, but found two other men in the room, one of whom was so inebriated that he was vomiting while the other was overdosing.
That turned out to be Andrew Gillum. Yes, the Andrew Gillum who nearly won an election as the Democratic nominee for governor less than two years ago:
The officers stated that one of the men involved in the incident, Aldo Mejias, had lent Dyson his credit card information to rent a hotel room yesterday afternoon. The two men were supposed to meet later that day. Mejias told the officers that he arrived at the hotel room around 11 p.m. Mejias said Dyson opened the door and then immediately collapsed on a bed and started vomiting. Mejias said he began giving Dyson CPR and called 911.
In the meantime, Mejias said Gillum was inside the hotel room “under the influence of an unknown substance.” As Mejias was giving Dyson CPR, Mejias said, Gillum was inside a bathroom vomiting. Officers said they tried to speak to Gillum, but he was too inebriated to talk. Miami Beach Fire-Rescue said it responded a second time to Gillum later that night for a welfare check and said Gillum had returned to stable condition.
The officers said they found three small baggies of “suspected crystal meth” on “both the bed and floor of the hotel room.” Officers said Gillum left the hotel room “without incident” that night and went home.
After a brief span of ambiguity as to whether it was the same Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee confirmed the story. He claimed, however, not to know anything about the crystal meth:
“I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement,” Gillum said.
He said he was thankful to Miami Beach’s emergency medical responders for the way they handled the situation. “I will spend the next few weeks with my family and appreciate privacy during this time.”
The police report doesn’t say that Gillum used the meth, but it also doesn’t say he didn’t. Marc Caputo put the report on Twitter, and the description of the incident raises some questions, to say the least:
Former FL Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum was in a Miami Beach hotel room last night where a man had "a possible drug overdose," according to a police report.
The report doesnt say Gillum possessed or used illegal drugs. Here's what we know re: the report 1/x pic.twitter.com/wuCdm91gxp
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 13, 2020
This is the curious part:
Mr. Mejias provided his credit card information to rent a hotel room for the night; Mr. Mejias was to meet Mr. Dyson later in day. Travis Dyson rented the room at approximately 1600 hours on 3/12/2020. Mr. Mejias arrived at the hotel at approximately 2307 hours, where he discovered Travis Dyson and Andrew Gillum inside the room under the influence of an unknown substance. Per Mr. Majias, Mr. Dyson opened the hotel room door and immediately walked over to the bed and collapsed in a prone position. Mr.Mejias observed Mr. Gillum inside of the bathroom vomiting.
Apparently, it was just the two men in the room at that point, with both of them so bad off as to be unresponsive. The police report describes Gillum as completely unable to communicate “due to his inebriated state,” which is more than just having a little too much to drink. Maybe Gillum only stuck with alcohol, but it certainly seems curious that two men checked into a room for a bender and only one of them sampled the drugs.
Also, the man who did overdose says he knew nothing about a wedding:
Updated story with @jerryiannelli here: https://t.co/zeJ5a4itMP pic.twitter.com/Nf64ad3GO2
— Jessica Lipscomb (@jessicalipscomb) March 13, 2020
The plot thickens. Or at least gets ever more curious.
It’s not as if Gillum has been in retirement for the last fifteen months, either. Politico notes that Florida Democrats have featured Gillum in their rallies and GOTV efforts, and CNN hired him as a political analyst as well:
Since then, Gillum has been seen as a rising star for Democrats. He has been hired to be a commentator on CNN and has embarked on a campaign to register and engage voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
On Monday, Gillum participated in voting rallies with Florida State University and Florida A&M University, where he encouraged them to participate in the upcoming March 17 primary. He walked a few blocks with students to the early voting site located near the two campuses.
Gillum had better prepare himself for some social distancing even apart from spending the “next few weeks with my family.” Florida Democrats have enough problems in this cycle without adding Gillum’s binges to the mix. Before this, one might have even made a case for Gillum as a running mate for Joe Biden if Florida was seen as reachable in November. Now, however, Democrats will do their best to quarantine Gillum from any contact with their 2020 efforts.
