ACLU of PennsylvaniaVerified account

For at least the third time since Labor Day, police in Pennsylvania have shot people of color who were in the midst of a mental health crisis.

On Sept 13, a police officer in Lancaster shot and killed Ricardo Muñoz, a Latinx man in crisis. And police in Reading shot and wounded Roxanne Moore, a Black transgender woman. On Monday, police in Philadelphia shot and killed Walter Wallace, Jr., a Black man in crisis.

In Lancaster and Philadelphia, family members of the victim were on the scene attempting to de-escalate their loved ones. Rather than solving the problem, police made it far, far worse, which led to tragedies.

The fair, just response to people with mental health disabilities is not the violent arm of law enforcement. When police are first responders to people in mental health crises, people die.