Robert Saylor was a young man with Down syndrome.
He was held down by 3 off duty cops because he refused to leave the movie theater and didn’t have a second ticket for the second time he wanted to watch a movie. He was held down, handcuffed three times and died from being suffocated. They are saying he died because he had Down syndrome and was overweight.
The Ds community calls bullshit. More, it calls for justice and action.
From change.org:
Robert Saylor, 26, of New Market, Md., was asphyxiated on Jan. 12 and his death has been declared a homicide by the medical examiner. Robert had Down syndrome and refused to leave a movie theater, as he wanted to watch a movie a second time. Three off-duty deputies were called to help with his removal from the theater, which led to his death. All three have been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
The Sheriffs may face a conflict of interest when investigating their own deputies; therefore, we ask that an outside agency take a look at the case.
Please take a minute and go there and sign the petition: change.org
Please.
It’s asking for the case to be investigated by an outside agency and it really does only take a minute to sign.
From the NDSS facebook page:
NDSS President Jon Colman and NDSS VP of Advocacy & Affiliate Relations will meet with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to discuss the death of Ethan Robert Saylor. We will discuss the actions needed to make sure tragedies like this never happen again. We join the rest of the community in their sadness and outrage as we act for positive change.
For more information:
change.org Petition for Robert Saylor
Down Syndrome Uprising has contact information on the national organizations as well as the Attorney General for the state of Maryland.
Meriah Nichols is a counselor. Solo mom to 3 (one with Down syndrome, one on the spectrum). Deaf, and neurodiverse herself, she’s a gardening nerd who loves cats, Star Trek, and takes her coffee hot and black.
Thanks for posting that link to Change.Org. I signed the petition and added it to my blog today too…read the story here:
http://littlebirdsdad.com/2013/03/25/the-sound-of-terror/
Also, in my post, I ask readers to call the 3 major police training academies to request that they develop training modules for use-of-force and de-escalation techniques when interacting with citizens with Down Syndrome. There is no such training available, to my knowledge, in the U.S.
You can also get wireless terminals for your various mobile merchant accounts.
Main Difference between Pay Pal and a Merchant account:
. This is most disadvantageous especially if your business
is seasonal and there is a certain off-season period when
the sales will be nil or negligible.