Autistic and Killed By Police

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.

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

Stephon Watts: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-02-02/news/ct-met-calumet-city-shooting-20120202_1_tasers-kitchen-knife-officers

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

#JusticeForKayleb and the school to prison pipeline

At age 11, Kayleb Moon-Robinson is a nearly convicted felon. His crime is kicking a trash can, then being unnecessarily restrained by a police officer, while autistic and black. He's not the only one. Virginia, where Kayleb lives, also leads the nation in putting students through the juvenile justice system.

The rates of the school to prison pipeline and rates of incarceration of black individuals is staggeringly high, including those with disabilities of all kinds. The Civil Rights Division of the Education Department reported in 2014 that “While black students represent 16% of student enrollment, they represent 27% of students referred to law enforcement and 31% of students subjected to a school-related arrest.” Read that again. They are subject to twice the rate of arrest than their actual population within the schools.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reported on Lousiana's record of discrimination. In it, there is a description of a black autistic girl – a 10 year old – having a meltdown in class and climbing out the window and up a tree. The police dragged her down from the tree and handcuffed her to the ground.

And no, it's not because black people are inherently more in need of arrest. They've been arrested as things simple as throwing Skittles. These are things I can imagine a lot of middle schoolers doing. The American Civil Liberties Union has some recommendations on what to do about it for schools, and it is clear that any solution must involve advocates of color.

And often, while disability can be a factor in the school to prison pipeline, disability advocacy focuses on the disability and leaves the race behind as a significant factor. I encourage any fellow white advocates reading this to examine the intersections of racism and ableism.

More

• All Day Justice For Kayleb Social Justice Event
• School to Prison Pipeline Fact Sheet
• Intersected, Justice for Kayleb Moon-Robinson
• Morenike Onaiwu, Justice for Kayleb NOW
• Petition and petition updates for Justice for Kayleb
• Why Does The US Incarcerate So Many People? Al Jazeera America
• Virginia Governor Asks How To Reverse Schools' Staggering Rate of Referrals to Cops and Courts
• Education Department Civil Rights Division: Protecting Civil Rights, Advancing Equity, 2013-2014
• Free Thought Project article on Kayleb
• The Grio article on Kayleb

Abuse of students with disabilities in school (CW: Restraint, seclusion, abuse, police violence)

Recently, near my hometown and current residence, a special educator dumped an autistic child into a garbage can while taunting him. She had a track record but complaints against her were not taken seriously. This is just one recent example in many cases of educational abuse of children with disabilities. While Georgia has stringent laws in place for these, there are no requirements as for what constitutes punishment. There should be.

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reported in 2014:

“Students with disabilities (served by IDEA) represent 12% of the student population, but 58% of those placed in seclusion or involuntary confinement, and 75% of those physically restrained at school to immobilize them or reduce their ability to move freely. Black students represent 19% of students with disabilities served by IDEA, but 36% of these students who are restrained at school through the use of a mechanical device or equipment designed to restrict their freedom of movement.”

Restraint and abuse is a rampant problem for students of color and students with disabilities. Despite states making policy changes, students with disabilities continue to be retrained and secluded at a high rate. Oftentimes for students of color, it results in being arrested for having a meltdown, as is the case of Kayleb Moon-Robinson, or being handcuffed for escaping the classroom and climbing a tree while having a meltdown, and being pulled roughly down and handcuffed and restrained.

Many states have no policies regarding restraint and seclusion, and of the states that do, fewer have state regulations and statutes addressing it. According to the Government Accountability Office in 2009, officials in Illinois stated that “seclusion and restraint cases involving children and adults with physical or mental disabilities typically have low rates of prosecution.” In Georgia in 2014, educator Melanie Pickens got away with cruelty to children with disabilities by using a clause in Georgia state law, O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1001, that would give her immunity if she was disciplining them believing her actions to be in good faith.

Little has also been done to address the problems of common school-to-prison pipelines, resulting students of color being disproportionately targeted for discipline, especially those who also have disabilities, like Kayleb Moon-Robinson, declared a felon at age 11.

Students are being abused, restrained, handcuffed, and secluded against their will. Students with disabilities and students of color experience this at disproportionately high rates. Federal bills fail to push through the Senate. States slowly enact statutes, but prosecution is low. What is to be done?