Graham, TX — Officers with the Graham police department are currently under investigation by the Texas Rangers after they handcuffed a teen with autism and then tasered him outside of his home. Cops reportedly mistook his autism for drug use.
According to police, the incident happened on June 26 when officers were responding to a call about a teenager throwing rocks at a fence. Michael Moore, 19, was the teenager and the fence was his own.
When officers arrived, they did not recognize his behavior as a person with autism. Instead they “investigated” whether he “might be under the influence of a controlled substance,” Graham police Chief Tony Widner said.
Widner said that the teen resisted being placed in handcuffs—as most children with autism would do—so they brought out the taser and began shocking the teen. Only after they had attacked, tasered, and handcuffed the teen did the police realize Moore “might have a mental impairment,” said Widner.
Tracie Moore, the teen’s mom called the incident “outrageous” and was heartbroken to find her son being treated in such a horrific manner, especially considering the town has only 9,000 residents and everyone knows her son.
“I have been a resident my whole life. And Michael has too. This is where he born and raised,” said Tracie.
According to WFAA, the Moore family has met with police several times since the incident, including on Monday afternoon, but Tracie said she is still upset, and no one has apologized for her son’s treatment.
“I was in tears,” she said. “And now I’m angry. I watched the body cam footage. He told them, ‘My mama is inside. Let me get my mama.”‘
Although the body camera footage shows the entire interaction, police are refusing to release it to the public. This is in spite of a Freedom of Information Act Request made by WFAA.
Although police claimed that Moore was running when they arrived, she said her son actually approached officers in an area that is essentially the family’s backyard.
“It really doesn’t take long conversing with him to figure out he has a disability,” said Tracie. “Now, he has a busted blood vessel in his eye. He had scratches and abrasions on both sides of his face.”
Police, however, were apparently untrained in how to identify someone with autism and the only thing that came to their minds was this guy is high. According to police account, Michael was “sweating, breathing heavily, having difficulties focusing and acting paranoid.”
Police even went so far as to force the teen to perform a field sobriety test—for his autism.
When another officer arrived, Michael was so frightened and stressed out that he could not perform the sobriety test “based on his erratic movements, behavior, and statements,” Widner said. One of the officers then tried to put handcuffs on “for everyone’s safety until they could determine what was occurring.”
According to the police news release, after they put one of his hands in the cuffs, the teen then pulled away, “backing into the second officer, and all three went to the ground.”
Police then feared for their lives that Michael may try to use the other end of the handcuffs as a weapon—which he did not—and then they began tasering him.
According to Tracie, who watched the body camera footage, the incident unfolded quite differently.
“They ask him to put his hands behind his back, once again he turns and points to the house and says, ‘I live here, can I get my mama?’” she said. “They grab his arm, put a choke hold on him and throw him to the ground. At that point, the body cameras fall off and all you can see is sky but you can still hear the audio. The first time I saw the video, it was at that point the officer told me, ‘This is where they stunned him twice.’ Up until that point, we had no knowledge of the use of a stun gun.”
As WFAA reports, Tracie says as this was all happening, she was in the front of the house unaware that anything had happened. Finally, after Michael was handcuffed and in a police unit, an officer went to the front door and knocked.
“It could’ve all been avoided,” she said. “We’re just all in complete and sheer utter disbelief this could happen to him.”
“The Graham Police Department feels that it is important that this be investigated and the truth of what occurred revealed,” Widner said in the news release. “At that point, whatever measures deemed necessary will be taken.”
As for why the body camera hasn’t been released, Michael’s grandfather, Gene Williams—who has seen it—says its too damning to the cops.
“The video really is that inflammatory even if you don’t know Michael. They can’t let a jury see it. Legally they could post in on this website right now,” Williams said. “But YOU will never see it. There would be citizens storming City Hall.”
If you’d like to peacefully express your concern over the officers’ treatment of an autistic teenager, you can do so on their Facebook Page, here.
Sadly, police officers mistaking autism for drug use is not an isolated incident. Just last month, TFTP reported on the national outcry surrounding the violent takedown of an autistic boy by Officer David Grossman, and just like the Graham police department is doing, the Buckeye Police Department began conducting damage control. As the world lashed out at the department for mistreating Connor Leibel, an innocent autistic boy, in such a violent and callous manner, the parents simply asked for an apology—one that would never come. And now, because the police refused to apologize, the taxpayers are going to be held liable.
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Contributed by Matt Agorist of thefreethoughtproject.com.
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RTR TRUTH MEDIA - Resurrect the Republic
The absolute disgust I feel at this situation is deep. I have friends who are police officers and I can tell you that I am 100% positive that none of them would ever resort to this type of behavior. So, if it isn't the general character of these men, one must ask, who in the hell is training these people?
And another question.... what type of individual resorts to this level of abuse on someone who hasn't harmed anyone else or anyone else's property?
We intend to ask those questions.
We intend to find out the answers to these questions and a few more.
We will also be filing a FOIA for a copy of the body-cam footage.
Tom Lacovara-Stewart
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