What happened next that evening in May 2021 is the basis for a lawsuit by the mother alleging that Burlington police used excessive force and discriminated against her unarmed son, who is Black and has behavioral and intellectual disabilities.
After he failed to hand over the last of the stolen e-cigarettes, two officers physically forced him to do so, then Cathy Austrian’s son was handcuffed and pinned to the ground as he screamed and struggled, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday and police body-camera video shared with The Associated Press by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont.
The teen eventually was injected with a ketamine, a sedative, then taken to a hospital, according to the lawsuit and video.
If you have a problem and you call the cops you now have two problems
Edit: Also, who administered the ketamine? Had they received training in appropriate dosing? Or did some dumb cop just shove a needle into a kid and hope he didn’t die.
I’m 100% on board that this was unnecessary, but how should police handle something like this? It’s a 230 pound 14 year old hormonal teenager that turned sullen and refused to comply.
Presumably the smart way would be to say “Ok your behavior is not ok but I’ll leave you be for now until you cool down.” and then just leave. I mean if you want to press charges you can come back any time. I don’t quite understand why in the US everyone is arrested instead of getting “a summons” (?).
I’d also say that nicotine is often used for self medication by people with mental issues, including ADHD. Smoking is more prevalent. Vaping provides a much safer alternative. Not condoning 14 year olds vaping but it could explain why he wants them.
I’m 100% on board that this was unnecessary, but how should police handle something like this? It’s a 230 pound 14 year old hormonal teenager that turned sullen and refused to comply.
USING WORDS.
Say it with me, All Cops Are Bastards
All Carsalesmen Are Bastards. - Defund the dealerships.
All Firemen Are Drunks.
Edit: I know who the downvotes are from!
Liberals: “GUNS BAD!”
Also Liberals: “Calling the cops will get you killed!”
Fuck am I supposed to do?!
POC, LGBT and women: “We’re the biggest gun purchasing demographic because we see what’s coming.” That’s our right, and everyone but white liberals seems to be exercising it.
Did I make you uncomfortable? Sure as hell hope I did. The problem is our culture, not people like me.
I’ll defend you if it comes to it, do my damndest if it comes to “trains”, but please stop whining about gun owners. Stop whining about, “They want to exterminate trans people!” Get a fucking clue and work towards self-defense. FFS, stop losing votes.
I often read, “But gosh! What if the pigs exterminate ME personally?!” Either grow a pair and die with your boots on, or get the fuck out my face. This isn’t a schoolyard tussle. We’re entering a fight for American democracy, and for you gay and trans folks, it’s a fight for your right to continue life.
Why do you want people uncomfortable with you having a gun? Do you have some sort of need to instill fear in people who aren’t doing you any harm?
either you didnt read what they wrote or you are making the worst bad faith interpretation intentionally
This is what they wrote:
POC, LGBT and women: “We’re the biggest gun purchasing demographic because we see what’s coming.” That’s our right, and everyone but white liberals seems to be exercising it.
Did I make you uncomfortable? Sure as hell hope I did. The problem is our culture, not people like me.
Seems like maybe you didn’t read it.
i guess i didnt consider that you might have a problem with reading comprehension
Ah, insulting me rather than explaining what I supposedly misread. Sounds to me like I didn’t actually misread anything and you just want to attack me for not being afraid of guns for some reason.
Sorry, I’m still not afraid of guns and you can’t insult me into being afraid of them.
Nobody saying you should be afraid of guns. They’re saying that you should be uncomfortable with disarming vulnerable people.
That’s not what they said.
Again, this is what they said:
POC, LGBT and women: “We’re the biggest gun purchasing demographic because we see what’s coming.” That’s our right, and everyone but white liberals seems to be exercising it.
Did I make you uncomfortable? Sure as hell hope I did. The problem is our culture, not people like me.
I don’t know why you’re trying to gaslight me when this is the second time I’ve pasted what they said.
Now I guess you’ll insult me again?
You’d think if liberals actually believed Trump is a fascist and American democracy is on the ballot, they’d arm themselves to be prepared.
Who are you going to shoot, though?
No comment.
Many do
Not nearly enough
What exactly would you do if the US army went fascist? Think you’d be pretty out gunned lol
Hamas is outgunned. Doesn’t stop them from smoking Israeli tanks.
I’m not sure what you expected. You told the police about a crime, do you not expect them to arrest the criminal?
Do they not treat children and adults differently in the legal system where you come from?
This wasn’t a murder or any other violent crime. It was petty theft from a business committed by a minor.
Yeah, if he was an adult they might have killed him instead.
What kind of idiot calls the cops on their black son expecting any kind of positive interaction?
Oh… right…
The white kind…
(grrr!)
I was actually wondering about that. Like as a white person, I don’t want to over step boundaries, but even I’m not surprised.
But this makes a whole lot more sense.
People like her only love the system, not their own kids
She has been lied to her whole life that the police are there to help. She learned a quick, painful lesson that it isn’t true.
She is not the victim, her son is, and she abused her son.
It’s a plainly obvious fact to anyone with internet access and insight that the police are very obviously NOT there to help you, and instead of accepting the truth, she chose her delusions of a safe and just world, and her son paid the price.
We have the responsibility to know and act on the truth.
Ignorance is NEVER an excuse.
Obviously the police are the criminals here, but that mom…
They clearly didn’t grow up being told what I was always told: “if you’ve got a problem and you call the police, now you’ve got two problems.”
Yeah this is some abusive, privileged bullshit and I really hope this idiot learned a lesson. I also hope her child reminds her of this shit anytime she starts mounting her high horse in the future.
Yes, the elderly woman that adopted an at-needs child of color is the one being abusive and privileged.
The abusive, privileged bullshit is your comment.
She called the cops on her own kid
She mistakenly thought that calling the cops to talk to her child about not stealing would help him understand why it’s wrong and what the stakes are. She’s an old white woman. She didn’t realize that cops wouldn’t treat her large, black child as subhuman.
She was stupid and ignorant, but the cops are the monsters here. Don’t get it twisted with your own relationships with your parents. This isn’t that.
Insanely weird to project your parental issues on a lady calling the cops on her adopted black child, but being old is not an excuse for not being aware of the century long issue of cops treating black people poorly.
Love that your best retort is “no u”.
???
There was no “no u” here.
Are you whiny about the fact that they projected their parental issues onto anyone who correctly judged the idiot for calling the cops? Thats their projection, that they said.
Correctly noting the idiot should have known better about the older-than-her issue of cops beating black folk for the sin of being black has nothing to do with anyones parents.
Telling someone not to project their problems isnt a “no u,” but its cute your best retort was to brag about how poorly you read.
there was a time where media portrayed that as a reasonable thing to do, the police would come and talk to their kid. I’ve heard stories about it happening. Hell when i kid we got caught being destructive and the cops who caught us took us on tour of where we could end up. We got brought in the truck straight to the cells. It is a foolish thought but a person who holds some idyllic model in their heads sometimes are blinded by it.
She has a black lives matter sign in front of her house.
She isnt senile, and she is aware of a movement dedicated to dealing with police aggression.
Her age isnt an excuse. She clearly should have known better. Its insane to excuse her behavior.
Yeah god bless the woman I’m sure she had good intentions - but she’s not living in some 1990s public service announcement where the nice policeman gives valuable lessons to children.
Police are like… an absolute last resort “I need someone shot” measure. The fact that we also have them (for no particular reason) also authorize things like reports for insurance related incidents is a pretty colossal failure of “the system” as a whole
