Assisted Suicide Case Study

Ethan Saylor, a twenty-six year-old with Down Syndrome, was slammed to the floor, held down, and handcuffed. The brutal force left the young man with a fracture in his throat cartilage resulting in his tragic death caused by asphyxiation. After seeing the movie Zero Dark Thirty, Ethan briefly left the theater then returned to see it again without paying. The manager of the theater then called security which was three off-duty deputies acting as security officers. Ethan swore at them and refused to leave, but never acted in a violent way towards the officers. Ethan’s caretaker that had accompanied him to the theater even stepped in and pleaded with the officers to just wait and let her talk to him. The officers not understanding how to handle
the developmentally delayed man, acted despite the caretakers pleas which resulted in the tragic fatality. Ethan did not commit a major crime, at most he may have been a minor inconvenience to fellow moviegoers. With a little more patience and understanding from officers, Ethan Saylor may still be alive. Gilberto Powell, a twenty-two-year-old with Down Syndrome was slammed to the ground, bloodying his head along with causing an eye injury. Even worse, his colostomy bag was ripped off his body. The violent interaction came after Gilberto was stopped by officers after they spotted a bulge in his waistband. The officers attempted to pat him down, but Gilberto having a sensitivity to touch attempted to flee. He was then confronted with excessive force by the officers. The arresting officers even admitted that the 5-foot-3, 130 pounds, man was “...not capable of understanding [their] commands, and that the bulge in his waistband was a colostomy bag.” A later investigation concluded that Powell never took any violent action towards the officers. If the officers had simply approached Gilberto in a calm, less aggressive way and explained to him that they weren’t going to hurt him, perhaps Gilberto may have been able to inform them that it was just a colostomy bag and he would have never been brutally beaten.
Joseph Nathaniel Weber, a thirty-six-year-old with Autism was stopped for a traffic infraction.
Joseph, fearful and confused, drove off after additional officers were called in. He drove off towards New Age Services, an organization that provides activities and services to members of the community with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD). It is apparent that Joseph was startled and was trying to reach a safe space, somewhere familiar that he knew he could get help from. Joseph had low verbal skills along with extreme sensitivity to light and sound. When put in an unfamiliar situation with police lights and sirens, it is likely that Joseph just shut down and his only form of reaction was to return to a place he knew that he could get help. Unfortunately for Joseph, the officers did not understand how to communicate with him or how to respond to his inability to function properly in the high stress situation which resulted in the officers fatally shooting Joseph, who was unarmed and never approached them violently.
Police violence against people with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities is not uncommon, but unfortunately has not received much publicity or public conversation. This bill does not excuse people with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD) from facing trial and punishment for crimes committed. This bill does not prevent officers from using proper force during an interaction with a person with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities or prevent officers from keeping themselves and the public
safe.
This bill does offer a learning opportunity that will help better protect officers and people with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities. This bill asks officers to learn about people with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities and to see them as people not something to fear. We are asking officers to learn about their fellow citizens and how to communicate in a way that is beneficial for all parties. If a person with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities is not aggressing into an officer’s space, medical professional advise that there is no reason for officers to aggress into theirs. The reality of it is that not paying for a movie ticket, a traffic violation, and non-violently fleeing from the police are not crimes punishable by death. In the case of Gilberto Powell, he was punished for having a colostomy bag, a piece of medical equipment that is perfectly legal. These victims were unable to effectively communicate with officers in a way that a person without an Intellectual Developmental Disability may. These officers reacted rashly with extreme acts of violence and excessive force out of fear of a disability that they could not recognize and understand. We are all susceptible to accidents, age, and illness that could result in an Intellectual Developmental Disability. Meaning that what happened to Ethan Saylor, Gilberto Powell, and Joseph Nathaniel Weber, could not only happen to the seven million Americans with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities but could also happen to any of us.