Autistic girl screams and cries as police arrest her after making remark about officer who looks like a lesbian
Police in the UK arrested a teenage girl whose mother said she had autism after the child remarked that one of the officers resembled a lesbian, according to video of the incident on Monday.
“She will be arrested,” a West Yorkshire police officer told the child’s mother.
“She’s autistic,” the mother replied.
“I don’t care,” said one officer.
Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder can create confusion for neurotypical individuals because individuals with ASD may have different styles of learning, movement, or attention.
ASD can also cause problems with social skills, language, and nonverbal communication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When the autistic girl hit herself in the head, the mother begged the police to keep their distance.
“She’s in her closet, she has nowhere to go,” the mother said, explaining that direct contact caused her child to experience a mental crisis.
She explained that the child’s “Nanna” was a lesbian and married to a woman.
“Go away,” said the mother.
“She’s not homophobic. Get away from my teenage daughter.”
“There’s something wrong with you,” the mother said to an officer.
West Yorkshire Police had taken the girl home after a relative of the girl contacted her at a nearby shopping center that she was drunk, authorities said.
“When she was returned to the address, remarks were made which led to the girl being arrested on suspicion of a homophobic public order offence. The nature of the comments made was fully captured on body-worn video,” police said.
A complaint regarding the incident has been referred to the Professional Standards Department, police said.
The girl was released after questioning pending further guidance from local prosecutors.
“West Yorkshire Police take their responsibility for the welfare of young people in detention and for neurodiversity very seriously,” said West Yorkshire Deputy Chief Constable Oz Khan.
“We also believe that our officers and employees should not be subjected to abuse as they work to keep our communities safe. We are fully investigating the circumstances of this incident and ask people not to draw any conclusions based solely on the social media video.”
The mother saw things differently.
“That’s what the police do when they’re dealing with children with autism,” her mother said.
“My daughter [said]… the policewoman looked like her grandmother, who is a lesbian. The officer obviously misunderstood and said it was a homophobic comment (which it wasn’t).”
“The officer then broke into my home and attacked me. My daughter would have panic attacks from being touched by them and they would continue to abuse her.”
Fox News Digital reached out to police for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
