Support Your Local Police

So, a mother calls because her 13 year old, who is on the autism spectrum, is having a meltdown because of separation anxiety.

The cops promptly escort her out of the house, (great way to deal with a separation anxiety freakout) and almost as promptly shoot the boy multiple times.

Clearly, we should expect a statement from the police that this kid was no angel.

Bastards:

A 13-year-old boy with autism was shot several times by police officers who responded to his home in Salt Lake City after his mother called for help.

Linden Cameron was recovering in a Utah hospital, his mother said, after suffering injuries to his shoulder, both ankles, his intestines and his bladder.

Golda Barton told KUTV she called 911 to request a crisis intervention team because her son, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was having an episode caused by “bad separation anxiety” as his mother went to work for the first time in more than a year.

“I said, ‘He’s unarmed, he doesn’t have anything, he just gets mad and he starts yelling and screaming,’” she said. “He’s a kid, he’s trying to get attention, he doesn’t know how to regulate.”

She added: “They’re supposed to come out and be able to de-escalate a situation using the most minimal force possible.”

Instead, she said, two officers went through the front door of the home and in less than five minutes were yelling “get down on the ground” before firing several shots.

“He’s a small child,” she said. “Why didn’t you just tackle him? He’s a baby. He has mental issues.”

In a briefing on Sunday, Sgt Keith Horrocks of Salt Lake City police told reporters officers were responding to reports “a juvenile was having a mental episode” and thought Cameron “had made threats to some folks with a weapon”.

………

Regarding the incident in Salt Lake City, Neurodiverse Utah said in a statement: “Police were called because help was needed but instead more harm was done when officers from the SLPD expected a 13-year-old experiencing a mental health episode to act calmer and [more] collected than adult trained officers.”

Barton launched a fundraiser to cover her son’s medical bills. She described Cameron as a typical young boy who loves “video games, four wheeling and long-boarding”. She also demanded answers about why her son was not subdued.

Let's be clear, this was not just violence, it was extreme cowardice.

These cops are cowards, and they are trained to be cowards, living their lives in bed wetting fear.

That's what all the hyper violent training, including the notorious Killology, is all about maintaining a state of hypervigilance reinforced by a willingness to use hair-trigger violence.

It is not just cowardice, it is a recipe for creating PTSD, and I do not want peace officers to have PTSD.