Autistic teen says he was beaten by police, then suffered seizures

A Minnesota mother is upset after Metro police allegedly mistreated her son, who has autism.

A Minnesota mother is upset after Metro police allegedly mistreated her son, who has autism.

Maria Caldwell said that, on his way home with two friends after working at the Minnesota State Fair, her son, Marcus Abrams, had been standing on the train tracks when he was approached by police. He had been wearing headphones at the time and had not heard everything the officers said to him at first.

“One grabbed my arm and the other one grabbed my wrist and I told them to get off me — I did nothing wrong,” Abrams told KARE-11. “They just slammed me right on the ground. I tried to get them off me and (one officer had his) whole body on my whole face and I couldn’t breathe.”

During the alleged attack, according to witnesses, Abrams suffered from seizures. Abrams was taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital.

Caldwell said that she feels officers need better training on how to handle abnormal behavior and mental illnesses.

“I don’t want autism to be a crime, I don’t want people that have it to think that it is a crime. I don’t want people going around saying, ‘oh well if your child is this way they shouldn’t be out here by themselves,'” she said. “He was put in a situation where he was stressed out, a lot of pressure and confused. And I think that is what brought on his seizures.”

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