Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos: Truckers boycott Colorado in viral TikTok videos over sentencing
DENVER, COLORADO: A number of TikTok videos have gone viral on the internet showing truck drivers coming together against the sentencing of Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, who killed four people while driving on the I-70 west of Denver in 2019. The truckers have also reportedly refused to drive to Colorado as they believe that 110 years behind bars for the 26-year-old is very harsh since he hit people only because the brakes of his truck failed.
A TikTok user @ntgi2020 shared a video that has reportedly been viewed more than 3.6 million times. The video shows protests against Aguilera-Mederos’ sentencing. The text over the video read, “This truck is no longer going to Colorado. We want justice for Rogel Aguilera. Truckers, he needs our help.” A number of people agreed with @ntgi2020 as a user commented below it, “I am a trucker and will NO LONGER be going to Colorado.”
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Truckers aren’t entering Colorado in protest of Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos getting a 110 year sentence after his breaks failed and his truck killed 4 people, a tragedy the company should be liable for. I think we’re about to see the power of truckers.
— Read Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks (@JoshuaPotash) December 18, 2021
pic.twitter.com/FdC718pQ1I
Another video posted by @secretloser23 on TikTok showed a long line of truckers, with the message that stated, “No trucks in Colorado.” “Truckers, if it happened to Rogel, it can happen to you. stay united,” a comment written below that video read. Reportedly, there was one more video that revealed several trucks participating in the apparent protest.
A judge in Jefferson County sentenced Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 110 years in prison Monday for the crash that killed four people and injured several more. Aguilera-Mederos was the driver of an out-of-control semi that crashed into stopped traffic on Interstate 70 in 2019. pic.twitter.com/DDnsySBFiF
— David Bana (@tha_nowhere_man) December 16, 2021
Recently, Aguilera-Mederos was awarded 110 years in jail for taking the lives of four people — Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24, William Bailey, 67, Doyle Harrison, 61, and Stanley Politano, 69 — and injuring six others on April 25, 2019. The verdict was made after the trucker was convicted of vehicular murder, six counts of first-degree assault, ten counts of attempted first-degree assault, four counts of negligent driving causing death, two counts of vehicular assault, and one count of reckless driving by a Jefferson County jury.
During his sentencing, Aguilera-Mederos pleaded for mercy and forgiveness as he said, “I am not a criminal. I am not a killer. I'm not a murderer. When I read my accusations, I realise that we're dealing with a killer, which is not me. In my whole life, I have never considered harming someone.” He had also reportedly claimed that the tragedy was unintentional as his brakes failed and that he couldn’t do anything.
Meanwhile, millions of people have signed a petition to “offer commutation as time served, or grant clemency to Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos”. The message on the petition read, “Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23, has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history. He had complied with every single request by the Jefferson County courts, and investigators on the case. He's passed all of the drug and alcohol tests that were given including a chemical test. This accident was not intentional, nor was it a criminal act on the driver's part. No one but the trucking company he is/was employed by should be held accountable for this accident.
“No, we are not trying to make it seem any less of a tragic accident that it is because yes, lives were lost. We are trying to hold the person who needs to be held responsible, responsible. The trucking company has had several inspections since 2017, with several mechanical violations. There are many things Rogel could have done to avoid the courts, but he took responsibility showed up and severely apologized to the victims' families. Some of the families even offered forgiveness. Rogel is not a criminal, the company he was working for knew the federal laws that go into truck driving but they failed to follow those laws,” the message added.