NYC Autistic teen arrested for “homicidal ideation”

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An autistic Harlem boy was detained by the NYPD and subjected to a mental evaluation after he chose the 1989 dark comedy “Heathers” for a school assignment — and told a teacher he identified with the murderous main character, according to a lawsuit.

Terrance O’Connor, 15, was asked to pick a movie to discuss in class last year, and watched the Winona Ryder classic on his iPad before telling the teacher he identified with Christian Slater’s homicidal character, “J.D.,” according to his dad, David, 45.

The teacher then reported the boy to school administrators, who alerted security at PS 72/The Lexington Academy on East 104th Street in Harlem, who in turn recommended contacting the NYPD, O’Connor said in a complaint filed May 19.

No one told the cops that Terrance was autistic and in a special education setting, said his dad, who described the boy as “15, but he’s really more like 5.”

The police told O’Connor they were putting Terrance under arrest “for homicidal ideation and a potential terrorist threat,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court complaint filed against the city, the Department of Education, the NYPD, Health and Hospitals Corp. and others.

More than half a dozen officers then showed up at O’Connor’s door later the same day, hauling the boy to the 23rd Precinct for questioning, the court documents state.

“If you see this kid, he will not hurt a bug. He is the sweetest kid in the world,” the elder O’Connor told The Post. “They never notified the police that my son was a special needs student. I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye with my son. They kept him, no attorney, no nothing they were back there talking to him.”

The boy was then sent to Metropolitan Hospital for a mental evaluation, the complaint states.


Terrance didn’t get home from the June 2, 2022 ordeal until after midnight, the enraged dad said.

Now “my son, he doesn’t leave the house. … He thinks the cops and the federali are watching him. So he isolates himself,” said O’Connor, a father of three.

“My son was not destroyed before this.”

The family has seen its share of tragedy, said O’Connor, who recalled them losing their home in Hurricane Sandy and his kids, including Terrance, finding their mom dead in the bathroom after battling health problems.

Time after time after mass shootings we read of obvious warning signs missed. Yet this kid is arrested for identification with a fictitious villain something not uncommon in teenage boys.

Not just boys. At least some girls too (including me with my teenage fascination with vampires). I'm sure glad I didn't grow up in today's world!

I suspect they are being overly cautious these days.

Leaving autism aside appears there is a mass shooting everyday in the US.

Not sure how long this crazy situation can go on for

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/mass-shoo ... d=96609874

I am glad I am not growing up in today’s world for many reasons. Not that growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s was as great as so many people make it out to be. Far from it. That said back then was the lesser evil. No contest.

Both eras were better in some ways, worse in others.

At least there is less tolerance for bullying in today's world -- that's certainly an improvement. Also there has been progress against various kinds of bigotry.

But, alas, old-fashioned bullying seems to have gotten replaced by something far worse, the school-to-prison pipeline, affecting especially Black kids and disabled/neurodivergent kids. (See pages here and here.) The news story at the top of this thread is just one example.

Bullying was not 24/7 then, and what bullies said about you and did to you was not broadcast to the world, and stayed online forever.