Utah: Boy with autism shot to death by US police



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Excessive police violence and the use of firearms without sufficient cause have become a central issue in the US media in the middle of the election campaign. Now there is a new case, even if the circumstances are somewhat different here than with George Floyd or Jacob Blake, for example.

In the US state of Utah, an autistic boy was seriously injured by police shooting. According to US media reports, the 13-year-old was wounded by bullets in his shoulder, ankle, intestines and bladder.

According to his mother, the boy, who suffered from separation anxiety, had a tantrum when he had to return to work for the first time after a year off. Then he called the emergency number.

The mother, who lives in Salt Lake City, told local broadcaster KUTV that she asked for help so they could get her son to the hospital. She told police officers who arrived that her son was unarmed and that his tantrum was “just for attention.” She ran away from the policemen, then one of them shot the boy.

A police spokesman confirmed that the policeman shot the injured boy. The boy was suspected of “threatening some people with a gun,” the spokesman said. At the same time, however, he admitted that no weapon had been found at the scene of the incident. The mayor of Salt Lake City promised to clear up the case quickly.

Memories of the Daniel Prude case emerge

The process recalls the death of the African American Daniel Prude after a police operation in Rochester, New York state. A police officer pressed the naked and unarmed man with his head to the ground. The 41-year-old fainted and died in hospital a week later. Prude also suffered from mental health problems. However, unlike Prude, Linden Cameron is white. More recently, the Rochester Police Chief resigned.

Cases of excessive police violence have sparked nationwide protests and a debate about police use methods in the United States in recent months. However, the protests mainly concern police violence against African Americans.

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