With the string of police shootings of unarmed black men in cities across the country, the African American community is particularly on edge. But when Miami police shot a black behavioral therapist, Charles Kinsey, as he was lying on his back with his hands in the air, all while trying to protect his autistic son, it jolted actress Holly Robinson Peete to her core.
As many know, Robinson Peete’s son, RJ Peete, is autistic. The Miami shooting hits close too home and this makes her extremely frightened for her son’s life
Kinsey was “accidentally” shot by a Miami officer following the escape of one of his autistic patients from the group home he worked at. A witness said the autistic man was holding a gun — which turned out to be a toy truck. Kinsey was trying to calm down one of his autistic patients as a horde of Miami-Dade officers flooded the scene. Kinsey was on the ground, lying on his back, with his hands in the air and was still shot in the leg. Two officers have been suspended as the department completes its investigation.
Three thousand miles away from Miami, this episdoe made Robinson Peete shiver in her Los Angeles-area home. Recently, Robinson Peete posted a clip from her reality show “For Peete’s Sake,” showing her and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, trying to explain to their son RJ how to behave when encountering the police.
“After watching the situation in Florida, I decided to repost this scene from #ForPeetessake where we had one of many talks with our son who has autism about navigating law enforcement cues,” she said on her Facebook page. “Kids with autism process differently and that video is my true real life nightmare. … I cannot tell you how tearful I was watching 2 unarmed men — one with autism and one his therapist — with guns trained on them. … The therapist with arms raised was shot and thankfully not fatally. But WHY???!!! EVERYONE should take issue with this. The Miami police department should accept accountability and then and ONLY then will we feel someone hears us. Despicable.”
Find out what else she had to say after flipping the e-page:
“This is my RJ We’d be nowhere w/o his therapists and caregivers…
To think one would be shot helping a kid is UNFATHOMABLE #autism
People with autism do not process police cues in the same way that typical kids do. So to know that this gentleman was trying to help this young man process the situation and was still shot is just unacceptable.
There is not a person in America who sees this video of a man clearly complying and trying to advocate for that kid who should not be outraged. Everyone should be LIVID!! If you are not then you are part of the problem. We should all be calling for the firing of this police officer. No drawn out investigation. No code of silence. Wrong is wrong. Anyone who would just pull the trigger on this compliant man should not be on the Police Department. that’s not doing your job.I mean don’t they want us to respect and trust them? If so they need to hold themselves accountable for the bad apples that are on the force. Stop trying to protect them …weed them out and keep us safe.
Period. #endofstory ENOUGH!!! #CharlesKinsey.”
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