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.
Naturally you should do what you’re comfortable with. I will say that the most upsetting news stories from any place aren’t representative of what it’s like to live there. As a lifelong resident I don’t know anyone personally who has been shot or shot at in the U.S, and don’t know anyone who has been wrongfully arrested or assaulted by the police.
That’s not to say it’s not a problem that needs to be addressed, it is. Just if someone is turning down opportunities they would otherwise accept out of fear of this thing, I would say they may be overweighting the risk.
It reminds me how my mom would always text me when I lived in the city, “did you hear about this shooting? Are you ok?” But I wouldn’t have even been aware there was an incident. There are a lot of people in the world. The absolute crime rate has overall been going down. But the ability for us to hear about horrible incidents has only increased.
I talked to a guy a while ago that genuinely would not believe I’ve never owned or handled a gun. Absolutely would not accept it and said I was lying lol. I think I briefly saw a hunting rifle in my uncle’s closet as a kid but that’s pretty common even outside the US. There are people out there that really think we’re ALL armed to the teeth I guess