Ryan Gainer's death has heightened concerns from activists about law enforcement's use of force against people suffering from mental health issues and the lack of supportive services available for families when they call police for help.

Ryan Gainer, a teen with autism, was a cross-country runner who worked out his frustrations with six-mile runs and dreamed of becoming an engineer.

On Saturday afternoon, the 15-year-old became upset that his parents had demanded he complete his household chores before he would be allowed to play video games or listen to music on his computer, according to DeWitt Lacy, a civil rights attorney representing Ryan’s family.

“He got upset. Any teen would be upset by that,” Lacy said. Some people with autism experience more heightened emotions and on that day Ryan responded by breaking glass on the front door, Lacy said.

A family member called 911 for help, asking dispatch to send deputies to “take him in” because he was breaking glass and hitting his sister, according to a portion of the call released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

But instead a responding deputy fatally shot the teen, saying he had threatened the deputy with a garden tool.

  • Today@lemmy.world
    411·
    8 months ago

    Defund the police was an unpopular slogan. ‘Redistribute some police funding to social services, education, mental health, and unarmed crisis interventions’ doesn’t fit on a T-shirt. When faced with a dangerous family situation, there’s no one else to call for help.

    • DeceptichumEnglish
      362·
      8 months ago

      Defund the police was unpopular because the rightwing weaponised it and made it so.

      Any phrase you use will be made unpopular, even something as basic, positive, and explanatory as “walkable cities”.

      The issue isn’t the phrase you use, it’s not defending them well enough from malicious actors.

      • aleph@lemm.eeEnglish
        152·
        8 months ago

        The right-wing weaponized it and most news outlets did nothing to push back against them.

        There were various reports of “huge crime spikes” in certain cities following announcements by local politicians that the local PD were going to be defunded, but in most cases that never even happened, and in some cases the spending on police even went up by a couple of percent.

        https://abcnews.go.com/US/defunding-claims-police-funding-increased-us-cities/story?id=91511971

      • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        85·
        8 months ago

        Sorry, I strongly disagree. It’s a dumb slogan that says, “Get rid of the police!”. Once that idea is in people’s heads, there no explaining what it really means.