What you do to the least of my brethren...
A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen... The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness...
What more can I say?
I could tell you to take a look at this diary, The Intrusion On A Mentally Ill Individual's Fourth Amendment Rights Is Substantial..., which documents the Federal Government's smackdown of the Portland, Oregon police department's record of shooting the mentally ill.
I could ask you to recall the horrible tale of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill, homeless man, beaten to death by six policeman.
In court Monday, people gasped, screamed and some cried as they watched a video of the beating, which was captured on a security camera at a Fullerton bus station.
We could discuss the national disgrace that is many police departments which cannot or will not deal rationally with the mentally ill. From the Portland report:
For example, during our investigation a patrol officer stated that his job was "to put people in jail, not to provide social services."
Or I could just ask for a moment of silence for Brian Clauch,
dead of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and a police officer who could not tell a pen from a gun..