The Horrifying Events that Changed A Young Man

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emax

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This was actually posted a week ago but I didn't even find out about it until just now, which i think is particularly telling in and of itself, since I am an avid reader of news and current events. It is one of those things where I am really hoping was actually just embellished and exaggerated and seriously hoping is not true. It is the kind of story that easily makes civil liberties the top priority for more than a few Americans.

http://emmashopebook.com/2015/01/13/the-horrifying-events-that-changed-a-young-mans-life/

There’s a young man, his name is Reginald. Everyone calls him Neli. He was on the high school wrestling team, wore a key on a chain around his neck, liked to hold three playing cards, loved his hoodie, repeated “television and movie lines ” and carried a “string that he runs through his fingers.” He was described as being shy and he liked going to his local library, which was two miles from his home. But one day none of that mattered. One day someone saw Neli sitting on the grass outside the library waiting for it to open. They called the police, reporting a “suspicious male, wearing a hoodie, possibly in possession of a gun.”
Neli is black.
Neli is also Autistic.
All the schools within a few miles of the library “went on lockdown.” SWAT teams were called in. That’s at least five schools, though one report said it was eight. Five schools. Eight schools. Lock down. SWAT team. All because an anonymous source said they saw someone suspicious sitting outside a library.
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If this is a true story, for me, at least, it is enough to fundamentally alter my social and political stances and make our civil liberties an even higher priority than I already did.
 
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I'm glad I'm not autistic and live in Canada.
 
Sigh. Just looked up more about it. Reading about his time in prison was just sad. Damn.
 
Konquest said:
This one is worse (happened literally right down the street from my house):
http://fox6now.com/2014/05/01/sober-driver-arrested-for-owi-when-deputy-crashes-into-her/

Cliffs: cop in squad car t-bones a woman and breaks her neck in the crash, frames her for drunk driving and lies about the accident, she gets six-figure medical bills and a court case, HE gets disability.
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yeah man, fucking horrible. there was a thread about this not too long ago.


girl is a trooper.
 
Among any of the Democrats and Republicans who want to be elected in 2016, for me personally, this kind of thing makes it so that any of them who can and will do anything about this will automatically rocket to the very top of the list of who I would consider electing. For that matter, I would consider campaigning for reelection of anyone in Congress of either Party who can demonstrate being able and willing to put an end to this. And if a Party like the Libertarian or even Green Party were to show proof they can get this under control, I'd even contemplate actively campaigning for them. That's just me of course.
 
Any proof on being called a ******?

Also, he was armed...and autistic? ARmed with what? A knife? A gun? Why was he carrying a weapon if he has autism?

He also attacked a cop. The judge took into consideration time served. So, I don't know, what do you want?
 
AlucardNatasrd said:
Any proof on being called a ******?

Also, he was armed...and autistic? ARmed with what? A knife? A gun? Why was he carrying a weapon if he has autism?

He also attacked a cop. The judge took into consideration time served. So, I don't know, what do you want?
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I have not seen any other statements or release that corroborates or disproves that. As far as being armed, there is nothing anywhere that suggests he was armed. The police were told he possibly has a gun, probably because to them he looked like he had a gun. The "attack" was more likely than not a stimming or other tic that the police consciously chose to interpret as an attack rather than something to make them feel unsafe.
 
emax said:
I have not seen any other statements or release that corroborates or disproves that. As far as being armed, there is nothing anywhere that suggests he was armed. The police were told he possibly has a gun, probably because to them he looked like he had a gun. The "attack" was more likely than not a stimming or other tic that the police consciously chose to interpret as an attack rather than something to make them feel unsafe.
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"Neli was found, frisked and was unarmed. This is where the story should have ended. It is at this point that the situation should have been diffused. This is where the person who had the ability to calm things down could have, but chose not to. Maybe a parent, teacher, someone in the community who knew him, who could have vouched for him might have stepped in. "

Do they mean that he was not armed to begin with? Because I had read it that they removed a weapon on his person. Perhaps I misunderstood, then.

"A tic"? I am sorry - but generally speaking, a tic doesn't hurt people in general.

But okay, at least the ****** accusation is unproved. I mean, it'd be fucked up if a cop randomly called an autistic kid a ****** - but that stuff needs to be corroborated before we bring that into evidence that the cop was hella racist.

IS there proof the cop held a gun to the kid's head, too? This seems awfully suspicious if this kid had no weapon on him.
 
Heard but forget to follow up/read up on it. Tag for later. Thx for link.
 
AlucardNatasrd said:
"Neli was found, frisked and was unarmed. This is where the story should have ended. It is at this point that the situation should have been diffused. This is where the person who had the ability to calm things down could have, but chose not to. Maybe a parent, teacher, someone in the community who knew him, who could have vouched for him might have stepped in. "

Do they mean that he was not armed to begin with? Because I had read it that they removed a weapon on his person. Perhaps I misunderstood, then.
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Are you confusing "unarmed" with "disarmed"?
 
AlucardNatasrd said:
"Neli was found, frisked and was unarmed. This is where the story should have ended. It is at this point that the situation should have been diffused. This is where the person who had the ability to calm things down could have, but chose not to. Maybe a parent, teacher, someone in the community who knew him, who could have vouched for him might have stepped in. "

Do they mean that he was not armed to begin with? Because I had read it that they removed a weapon on his person. Perhaps I misunderstood, then.

"A tic"? I am sorry - but generally speaking, a tic doesn't hurt people in general.
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You don't know enough autistic people. I've seen full grown adults curl into a fetal position on the floor and rock back and forth because they can't handle the lights and noise around them. They need to withdraw from the stimulus, as I understand it. Someone freaking out and trying to struggle their way into a fetal position on the ground, even though they're just trying to feel safe due to their autism, would most likely be treated as someone resisting arrest.

This seems awfully suspicious if this kid had no weapon on him.
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lol this seems really funny to me. I can picture you mulling it around in your mind, "Wait a minute... this IS outrageous."
 
I dunno if it is the MOST outrageous police story, bit its pretty fucking awful. Police attacking and charging an autistic guy for..........


Anyways, thats the police for you.
 
Seriously, what's suspicious about someone waiting outside of a goddamn library?

The only way he could be less nefarious is if he was holding a puppy, while offering money to a homeless person.
 
Where is the issue with this story?

He assaulted a police officer and injured him. That's a crime. The jury found him guilty of that crime. Everyone seems to agree that the crime occurred.

He wasn't jailed for being "suspicious". He was jailed for assaulting a police officer.

You can say the cop shouldn't have arrested him, drew his gun,etc...but that doesn't give you a right to attack them. If he played this in the legal system, he'd have been free a few hours later.
 
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