Every few months, there's another story about police in Toronto killing someone who had mental health issues. The latest is a young man named Michael Eligon Jr.
On February 3rd, a call was made to 911 about a man in bare feet and a hospital gown banging on someone's back door. An hour later, he was a John Doe DOA.
The cop that shot him was standing right in front of him- his gun was 18 inches from Michael's chest when he fired three bullets.
The Special Investigations Unit is investigating, which means (a) no one is saying anything and (b) in a few months, there will be a press release exonerating the officer and the department and (c) it will happen again.
I'm furious, because this happens all the time. Head cases get shot to death and no one is ever, ever charged. I'm depressed, because there would be more outrage if that cop had shot a stray cat or a raccoon. I'm sad, because another troubled, lonely person who needed help wasn't even eligible for the tranquilizer dart one of those animals would have got.
Instead, he was executed- his diagnosis became a death sentence and his death will add up to nothing, because nothing will change and in a few months, someone who is troubled now will die.
I'm furious, I'm depressed, I'm sad and I'm scared. I'm scared because it could have been me or someone I love and it's going to happen again...
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