This post focuses mostly on police reactions
On February 2, 2012, police shot and killed Stephon Watts, a Chicago-area Black Autistic teenager, for panicking while holding a knife, in his home. On Thursday, February 4, 2016, police entered the apartment of Kayden Clarke, an Autistic trans man in Mesa, Arizona, and shot and killed him for being suicidal and holding a knife. In both cases, the officers knew full well of their Autistic identity, having been called to their homes before.
On February 2, 2012, police shot and killed Stephon Watts, a Chicago-area Black Autistic teenager, for panicking while holding a knife, in his home. On Thursday, February 4, 2016, police entered the apartment of Kayden Clarke, an Autistic trans man in Mesa, Arizona, and shot and killed him for being suicidal and holding a knife. In both cases, the officers knew full well of their Autistic identity, having been called to their homes before.
In Watts’ case, the police had shown up to “subdue” him, according to the
news report, many, many times in the past. To have had such encounters with the
police, which were undoubtedly physical in nature, would be traumatizing. Even if Watts had not been panicking in the
first place, to lash out from fear of being “subdued” again is the result of a
fight or flight response. Undoubtedly, being Black and thus seen as even more
intimidating also influenced the officers’ reaction. They shot Stephon Watts
for being Autistic, Black, and in extreme distress. As a Black Autistic, Watts
faced multiple marginalization from society, with ableism and racism as a
reaction that killed him.
In Clarke's case, they had responded to a suicide call,
found him holding a knife, and shot an Autistic person they knew was Autistic
and in extreme distress. They had responded to a suicide call in the past for
Clarke. Clarke, as an Autistic trans man, faced unique societal barriers and also
clearly had mental health needs – and the police killed him for it.
It makes me glad I was able to transport myself to the hospital for my
suicidal thoughts in early January. It makes me scared of ever having the
thoughts again, not just because it feels awful to have them, but because
sometimes the cops kill people who are suicidal. It might be my instinct, too,
to grab the nearest object to keep people from touching me or taking me away or
whatnot.
People talk in circles about the need for more training for the police
regarding disability and mental health, or of having identification cards
people can pull out to show the officers. It is my belief that all the training
in the world won’t help what’s ingrained in society; the idea that certain people’s
lives are less worth living. For instance, the police in *both* cases knew that
Watts and Clarke were Autistic and in extreme distress. I don’t believe
training or ID cards will fix the hair-trigger reactions of police. While we
don’t know what de-escalation tactics they used, if any, before shooting Watts
or Clarke, we know those people are dead because the police shot to kill. Training
police could potentially save a few lives, but there have to be better
solutions.
On that note, I have no solutions, only exhaustion; I welcome any
suggestions other than police training and ID cards on this comment thread.
More posts:
Stephon Watts: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/stephon-watts-police-shooting-autism-death/Content?oid=20512018
Kayden Clarke: http://planettransgender.com/trans-man-with-aspergers-shot-dead-by-police-media-misgenders-deadnames/
Kayden Clarke: http://queerbarricades.tumblr.com/post/138759290678/kayden-clarke-ableism-and-transphobia
Kayden Clarke: http://jezebel.com/24-year-old-transgender-man-with-aspergers-killed-by-ar-1757403687?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
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