OceanGate may face criminal charges as Titan submersible tragedy compared to Arizona sweat lodge deaths
NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA: OceanGate will likely be the subject of government investigation as the rescue of its tourist submersible Titan with five onboard, including the company's CEO, gets into a dangerous phase. With oxygen levels depleted on Thursday, several rescue vessels and deep-sea ROVs along with US Coast Guard have intensified the search operation 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland where the doomed Titanic ship's wreck lies on the sea floor.
As per experts, the 22-ft submersible for the OceanGate either imploded after losing contact with its launch vessel during its 12, 5000ft dive. However, since the sonars recorded banging noises at thirty-minute intervals, it is hoped that the submarine is entangled in Titanic wreckage and has lost power. However, some believe that it may be anywhere on the sea floor, but intact.
A combination of governments will likely investigate the tragedy
If the five onboard members dubbed as 'Titanic Five' do not make it alive, the OceanGate is going to face federal security, as per legal experts who talked to Daily Mail. Even a combination of governments will likely investigate the tragedy due to the company's operations in international waters, the US is going to lead as the company is based in Erwin, Washington.
Criminal defense attorney Joshua Ritter said that the waivers which reportedly mention death thrice and is signed before onboarding to the "once in a lifetime experience" adventure mission "does not totally protect [the company] from criminal liability." The LA county prosecutor further adds, "The question of whether OceanGate could face criminal liability has yet to be answered, but some government or perhaps a combination of governments will definitely investigate this tragedy."
'I would compare this incident in some respects to a case in Arizona where three people died in 2009'
"The US government is the most likely entity to head up this investigation because OceanGate is based in Washington state. The US government will most likely conclude that it has jurisdiction to investigate even though the company operated in international waters. I would compare this incident in some respects to a case in Arizona where three people died in 2009 from participating in a sweat lodge," Ritter further elaborated. He added, "A self-help entrepreneur who ran that sweat lodge was eventually convicted of negligent homicide." At one point in the report he mentioned the Titan's controller stating, "For the company to use a video game controller to steer this submarine, that's the kind of thing that makes this ripe for an investigation."
What is Arizona sweat lodge tragedy?
James Arthur Ray rose as a spiritual figure in a self-help movement in 2000. Using elements of spirituality “harmonic wealth,” and eccentric activities, as per Arizona Family. He made wealth and created an empire thanks to his appearances in 'The Secret' and on television with Oprah Winfrey and Larry King. Ray gained the top spot until Sedona retreat. Ray used free talks to recruit people to expensive seminars like the Sedona retreat that led to the sweat lodge tragedy. Participants paid up to $10,000 for the five-day program to push their physical and emotional limits. The two-hour sweat lodge on October 2009, a sauna-like ritual generally used by American Indians to cleanse the body of impurities, attracted more than 50 participants. It was supposed to be the centerpiece of Ray's 'Spiritual Warrior' conference in the Sedona area as per CBC.
Three people died during the ritual
Three people died during the ritual. Kirby Brown and James Shore died on the same day and on October 17 while Liz Newman died in hospital before getting into a coma. 18 more were injured in the incident. Witnesses, during the trial in 2011, described the scene after the ceremony as alarming and chaotic — like a "battlefield" — with people vomiting and shaking violently while others dragged "lifeless" and "barely breathing" participants outside.
In 2020, police officers Deputy Craig Bollen and Detective Ross Diskin detailed the happening in the Spiritual Warrior camp stating more than 50 guests were together in the 415-square-foot lodge. Speaking on an episode of Oxygen’s Deadly Cults, Diskin said they immediately thought it was a "cult" when they first arrived there. “I remember as I was driving down there I could see this large dome covered in tarps, and I begin noticing women with their heads shaved walking around almost in a daze,” he said. “I thought ‘This has got to be some kind of cult.’”
'In my mind, I was thinking it was a mass suicide'
He added, “In my mind, I was thinking it was a mass suicide because I’ve never had a call with that many people needing assistance.” In the days before the sweat lodge, the participants fasted and went without sleep. Before being freed in 2013 and making an attempt to make a return as a motivational speaker, Ray was convicted of two negligent killings and sentenced to 20 months in jail as per Independent. Ray's family doesn't think he should be allowed to get employment again, one of them told the Daily Mail back in 2013, “I don’t think he has the right to work with people.” They added, “If he does move forward with that, I hope people become aware of what he did and he changes the way that he handles his seminars and his teachings,” they added.