The image of Charles Kinsey lying on the street, arms raised as he tried to calm his client, Arnaldo Rios, before police shot Kinsey in is a nightmare scenario for many autistic people and our families. After the shooting, the local police union for North Miami tried to excuse Kinsey’s shooting by saying that they were aiming at Rios when Kinsey was shot. Rios had been playing with a toy truck, which the police believed to be a gun. After the shooting, Rios was interrogated by Officer Angel Requeljado, according to a lawsuit filed against the city of North Miami by Matthew Dietz, litigation director of the Disability Independence Group and Rios’ lawyer. Dietz says Rios has echolalia, which leads him to repeat the words of others. A video uploaded by Dietz’s firm shows that Rios frequently repeated words or simply responded by saying “yes” or “yeah.”  Dietz … Continue Reading ››