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The sad thing about all of these deaths, injuries and lawsuits is that cops are not mindreaders–they don’t know who is autistic, mentally ill, deaf, or whatever. They don’t know if their lives are in danger; they are human beings and neeed all of the non-lethat tools cities can give them, including traininag to deal with mentally ill, deaf and autistic folk. Some of these folk don’t communicate as we expect them to, but that does not mean thy are dangerous. Many are afraid, terrorfied and in fear of their lives. This often aaffects their judgement, and we who see the afterefects judje them from the comfort of our easy chairs, not from America’s mean, often dangerous, city sstrets. Muckraacker
Miguel Torruella’s lawyer argues that his civil rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act.View Full Caption
MELROSE — Police zapped a nonverbal autistic man with a stun gun after he ran away from home, leaving him permanently traumatized and physically scarred, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Bronx Supreme Court.
Now Miguel Torruella, 24, gets nervous every time he sees police officers or looks at the marks on his right side left by the prongs of the gun’s darts, his mother, Ana Baltazar, said. He hasn’t been able to fall asleep in his own bed ever since the July 2014 incident, according to court documents.
Using the stun gun was excessive force, Torruella’s lawyer Dave Thompson argues. And Torruella was subjected to this excessive force because of his disability, violating his constitutional rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Thompson said. SOURCE