WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA CALIFORNIA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY - care2PETITIONS - They shot an autistic teenager who needed mental health support. Online news journal UPDATE

 

Ryan Gainer was just 15 years old when police shot and killed him. Police Shot a Black Autistic Teenager Who Was Upset About Household Chores, Instead of Deescalating Sign Now    Dear friends, Ryan Gainer was a 15-year-old kid with autism in San Bernardino County, California. Like many kids, he wanted to play video games instead of doing his household chores one day. When his parents said no, he became distraught. As a kid with autism, he struggled to regulate his emotions, and was in need of mental health support at a moment like this. Instead, police showed up. And within 7 seconds, they shot him three times, killing him. Then, witnesses claimed they saw police officers simply stand around for five minutes watching the teen bleed out, lying on the driveway, before they finally provided care. "The autistic community has seen far too many cases of law enforcement profiling, targeting, and using excessive, sometimes deadly force on Black autistic people," said Zoe Gross, the advocacy director at a nonprofit called the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. The local sheriff's department knew Ryan's family and were aware that he had autism. As the family's lawyer clearly explains: "Once [officers] typed up the address, it should have clearly shown this was somebody that had some mental health issues at times. They should have used deescalating techniques." But that didn't happen. Instead, his family watched this beloved 15-year-old boy suffer a traumatic, violent death. No child should be killed — especially not a child who's simply trying to figure out how to regulate large emotions that they're unsure of how to handle. Officials in San Bernardino County must conduct an investigation now! Sign the petition.   Thank you, Miranda Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Help us demand justice for this child and his family. Sign the petition.      Sign Now