In The Politics of Autism, I discuss interactions between police and autistic people. When cops encounter autistic people, they may not respond in the same way as NT people, and things can get out of hand. Among other things, they may misinterpret autistic behavior as aggressive or defiant. Training could help.
The killing of Victor Perez is just one example.
For many advocates, Perez’s killing called to mind other examples of young people with autism who have been killed by police. Ryan Gainer, 15, was killed in March 2024 after charging toward a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy while holding a 5-foot-long garden tool.
Deputies were responding to a 911 call from the home that the teen had been “actively assaulting family members” and damaging property.
After the shooting, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a statement, “Our social safety net for those experiencing mental illness needs to be strengthened.”
In February, Chase de Balinhard, a 15-year-old with autism, was killed by police in Vancouver, Canada, when they responded to an emergency call about an armed person in distress. Police saw the child holding a gun; it was later determined that he was carrying a pellet gun.
Eric Parsa, 16, was killed when sheriff’s deputies in Louisiana, responding to the teen’s mental crisis at a shopping center, pinned him down for nine minutes in 2020.
An officer sat on the teen’s rear end for about seven minutes, after which another deputy took his place. Eventually, seven deputies were “sitting on, handcuffing, shackling, holding down, or standing by E.P. as he was restrained and held face down on his stomach against the hard surface of the parking lot,” the station reported citing a lawsuit filed by the family.
