South Carolina Cops Tase, Arrest Autistic Black Man For Walking Down The Street

Once again, the police show how absolutely out of control they are. On Christmas Eve, police in Greenville, South Carolina say that they received reports of gunshots in a neighborhood, so they responded. Of course, when they arrive, the first thing they do is approach the first black man they see, who just happened to be Tario Anderson, who was walking in the neighborhood.

Image Credit: Raw Story via WVFF
Image Credit: Raw Story via WVFF

 

According to Tario’s mother, Carolyn Anderson, he suffers from severe autism and is almost completely nonverbal. She says of her son’s condition:

“Tario can say yes or no, he might ask for a thing or two, but just verbal, no.”

The police spotted Tario walking in the neighborhood just before midnight, which his mother says he does quite often to visit friends, neighbors, and family members who live nearby. The police officers involved, are, of course, excusing the fact that they tased, charged, and detained this disabled man on him, and not their own incompetence and negligence. They say they treated Tario the way they did because he walked away from them. Police say of the encounter:

“When they put their spotlight on him, he immediately put his head down, put his hands in his pockets and began to walk away from him. They then got out of the vehicle and approached him and ordered him to stop at which point he did flee from the officers and they pursued him.”

Well, of course, he fled from the spotlight, you morons. He has autism. Autistic people are often sensitive to harsh lights and sound. If you had bothered to see if you were talking to a neurotypical person before going all Rambo on this innocent man, perhaps your response would have been more appropriate.

Luckily, neighbors who know of Tario and his condition heard his screams as police assaulted him, and called his mother. Unfortunately, the police did not care that Carolyn Anderson was trying to explain her son’s condition to them, and tasered and arrested him anyway. She says of the heartbreaking situation:

“If you had seen my baby was out there, laying on that sidewalk and every time he reached for me, I reached for him- [they’d say] ‘Get back, we gonna Tase you.’ I was trying to make them take me to jail. ‘Take me! I’m the one causing trouble! Take me. He’s not doing nothing.’ No matter what I said, it didn’t make no difference to them.”

Carolyn Anderson has filed an official complaint with the Greenville Police Department. The police say they are “looking into it,” but even in releasing this statement, they still blame Tario, despite learning of his disability, saying:

“From what he did, he did break the law so in any case like that, we do go ahead and arrest them and make the charges and we’re not deemed certified to declare anyone as mentally ill or with a disease or anything like that so we don’t technically know if he is.”

The ignorance here is astounding, and, further, what is even more infuriating is that if recent events involving black men and police are any indication, none of these bullies with badges will be charged or disciplined in any way. Tario has been charged with resisting arrest and interfering with police and will be back in court on January 9. Hopefully, he gets a judge with some common sense who will drop the charges.

Watch a video report of the incident below, courtesy of WYFF:

I had a successful career actively working with at-risk youth, people struggling with poverty and unemployment, and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. In 2011, I made the decision to pursue my dreams and become a full-time writer. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.