Neurodivergent Labour is appalled by the police murder of George Floyd, and expresses our solidarity with those protesting and demanding justice.We know that this is not an isolated incident but the latest in a series of similar events in the USA, with African Americans and other ethnic minorities significantly more likely to be killed by police than other racial groups.We note that since the murder of George Floyd, police in Florida shot dead black trans man Tony McDade. We note the 2008 shooting dead by a Los Angeles police officer of autistic man Mohammad Usman Chaudhry. We also note the numerous non-fatal but brutal and unjustified shootings, including the 2016 police shooting of Charles Kinsey, a Black therapist caring for an Hispanic, autistic patient.Police brutality targeted by race and/or neurology is also an issue beyond the USA. Last Saturday, Israeli police shot dead autistic Palestinian Iyad Halaq as he walked to his special-needs school in occupied East Jerusalem.Here in the UK, schizophrenic Sean Rigg died in Brixton police station in 2008 following prolonged restraint by the police. In 2015, a Bristol autistic man was shot with a stun gun by officers who then lied about the circumstances. In 2014, two Bedfordshire police chased autistic man Faruk Ali in their car for no reason other than their own amusement, while laughing and making racist remarks.These are just a few of numerous incidents. They are not just ‘bad apples’, but repeated reminders of the institutional prejudice and brutality of a police force that is supposed to protect people not victimise them.Our Manifesto makes demands for reform of the policing and justice system. But a document alone will not deliver justice and end brutality. So we send our full solidarity to the protesters.
For more on Faruk’s story and other stories of mistreatments of Autists by the British Criminal Justice System, visit https://autisminjustice.org