"Fredricks was restrained for a total of 12 minutes before he was rushed to the hospital after going into cardiac arrest." - Aeryon Jackson
There has been a countless number of murders against young non-violent people of color. Cornelius Fredricks was 16 years old when he passed away after being restrained by staff members at the behavioral health services residential facility for young adults, called Lakeside Academy, where he was residing. He had thrown a sandwich at one of his peers, and was then talked to by one of the staff members at the facility. However, when he continued to throw food, the staff members proceeded to restrain him.
In an article by Kristina Sgueglla on CNN, she described the actions took to restrain Fredricks, “Prosecutors say two of them laid across Cornelius' torso as they tried to restrain him, causing his death.” Fredricks was restrained for a total of 12 minutes before he was rushed to the hospital after going into cardiac arrest. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Fredricks passed away.
“‘At Sequel, it is our policy to only use restraints as an emergency safety intervention in two situations: 1) when a student exhibits imminent danger to self and 2) when a student exhibits imminent danger to others, and in those cases to use the minimal level of intervention possible,’” said the owner of Lakeside Academy to CNN.
Despite ignoring staff instruction, Fredricks showed absolutely no “imminent danger” to himself or his peers for the staff to go to the violent measure that they did. The staff members, Michael Mosley, Zachery Sollis, and Heather McLogan have all been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse, but they were released on $500,000 personal bonds.
It is often said that there’s a thin line between getting treated by a psychiatric unit and being in prison. They are both run in similar ways. Andrew Kaufman, LSW, the recovery manager for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago talked with Teen Vogue about the views on mental facilities, “‘I can definitely see why people would equate it to being in a prison. You get told what you can eat. You get told when you can go to bed, when you have to be in your room, when you have to go to group [sessions], when you can shower — your privacy is very minimal,’ Kaufman says.”
On top of that, there have been a lot of recent financial cuts made from mental healthcare services by both the federal and local government. If there was more money put towards training on how to handle non-violent situations, Cornelius Fredricks could still be here today. That money could be used to help better the care of mental health patients is being put into the broken police system, but the problem goes beyond funds. “So, when people call to defund the police and funnel that money toward mental health treatment, it’s not clear what infrastructure of treatment they’re talking about," said Tyra Bosnic in her op-ed on Teen Vogue. The patients should have more say in what treatments they’ll be receiving and what lengths they want to go to.
Andres Guardado was another non-violent victim that was murdered while simply doing his job. Guardado was 18 years old when was shot 5 times by a police officer in Los Angeles. Guardado worked as a security guard for an auto body shop while also learning to be a mechanic. All of his friends and family knew him as a good kid with no ill intentions, and did not expect his days to come to an end so soon. He was described as a bright young man with a future ahead of his that did not deserve to get taken by the hands of the police.
On the night of his murder, Guardado was seen walking down the street by two deputies, Adam Marangell and Miguel Vega, with a gun in his waistband, and when spotted he ran. “According to the account, Vega told Guardado to stop multiple times as he pulled the gun from his waistband and kept running. Guardado then stopped, turned around, and raised both hands in the air while still holding the gun, then followed the deputies’ orders to put the gun on the ground and lie face down," said Marangell in the article Police shot Los Angeles security guard in the back five times, autopsy shows on The Guardian.
Vega proceeded to fire shots in “self defense” after Guardado already had proceeded to drop his weapon and lie face down, claiming that he saw Guardado reach for his gun. Guardado had 5 fatal gunshot wounds in his back, graze wounds on his forearms, and fragment wounds. “‘The findings of both autopsies are indisputable, and establish that Andres’ death was, without a doubt, the result of unjustified police violence against an innocent young man,’" said Adam Shea, attorney for the family on The Guardian.
The sheriffs department in Los Angeles had a long history of controversial brutality and corruption cases against Black and Latino residents.
In an article by Kristina Sgueglla on CNN, she described the actions took to restrain Fredricks, “Prosecutors say two of them laid across Cornelius' torso as they tried to restrain him, causing his death.” Fredricks was restrained for a total of 12 minutes before he was rushed to the hospital after going into cardiac arrest. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Fredricks passed away.
“‘At Sequel, it is our policy to only use restraints as an emergency safety intervention in two situations: 1) when a student exhibits imminent danger to self and 2) when a student exhibits imminent danger to others, and in those cases to use the minimal level of intervention possible,’” said the owner of Lakeside Academy to CNN.
Despite ignoring staff instruction, Fredricks showed absolutely no “imminent danger” to himself or his peers for the staff to go to the violent measure that they did. The staff members, Michael Mosley, Zachery Sollis, and Heather McLogan have all been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse, but they were released on $500,000 personal bonds.
It is often said that there’s a thin line between getting treated by a psychiatric unit and being in prison. They are both run in similar ways. Andrew Kaufman, LSW, the recovery manager for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago talked with Teen Vogue about the views on mental facilities, “‘I can definitely see why people would equate it to being in a prison. You get told what you can eat. You get told when you can go to bed, when you have to be in your room, when you have to go to group [sessions], when you can shower — your privacy is very minimal,’ Kaufman says.”
On top of that, there have been a lot of recent financial cuts made from mental healthcare services by both the federal and local government. If there was more money put towards training on how to handle non-violent situations, Cornelius Fredricks could still be here today. That money could be used to help better the care of mental health patients is being put into the broken police system, but the problem goes beyond funds. “So, when people call to defund the police and funnel that money toward mental health treatment, it’s not clear what infrastructure of treatment they’re talking about," said Tyra Bosnic in her op-ed on Teen Vogue. The patients should have more say in what treatments they’ll be receiving and what lengths they want to go to.
Andres Guardado was another non-violent victim that was murdered while simply doing his job. Guardado was 18 years old when was shot 5 times by a police officer in Los Angeles. Guardado worked as a security guard for an auto body shop while also learning to be a mechanic. All of his friends and family knew him as a good kid with no ill intentions, and did not expect his days to come to an end so soon. He was described as a bright young man with a future ahead of his that did not deserve to get taken by the hands of the police.
On the night of his murder, Guardado was seen walking down the street by two deputies, Adam Marangell and Miguel Vega, with a gun in his waistband, and when spotted he ran. “According to the account, Vega told Guardado to stop multiple times as he pulled the gun from his waistband and kept running. Guardado then stopped, turned around, and raised both hands in the air while still holding the gun, then followed the deputies’ orders to put the gun on the ground and lie face down," said Marangell in the article Police shot Los Angeles security guard in the back five times, autopsy shows on The Guardian.
Vega proceeded to fire shots in “self defense” after Guardado already had proceeded to drop his weapon and lie face down, claiming that he saw Guardado reach for his gun. Guardado had 5 fatal gunshot wounds in his back, graze wounds on his forearms, and fragment wounds. “‘The findings of both autopsies are indisputable, and establish that Andres’ death was, without a doubt, the result of unjustified police violence against an innocent young man,’" said Adam Shea, attorney for the family on The Guardian.
The sheriffs department in Los Angeles had a long history of controversial brutality and corruption cases against Black and Latino residents.
