Police Officer Shot Therapist for Helping Lost Autistic Man

Charles Kinsey's police shooting on July 18, 2016, upset the country, as video evidence showed Kinsey laying on his back with his hands in the air, pleading with the policemen not to kill his patient, who was clutching a toy - but a policeman shot him instead. Because American people have been socialised to tolerate widespread police ineptitude and brutality, the officer who shot him was cleared of two attempted murder charges in 2019, with just a single misdemeanour charge of culpable negligence remaining.

Even that smack on the wrist, though, has been rectified now.

In 2017, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle did something she had never done in her 24 years in office: she charged a policeman, officer Jonathon Aledda, with a crime involving an on-duty shooting. However, all of this was in vain. Aledda's sentence for culpable negligence was reversed last month, allowing him to remain a policeman.

An appeals court quietly revoked Aledda's conviction last Wednesday, noting that the officer's expertise in hostage situations should have been allowed during his prior trial.

"The trial court's reluctance to allow [Assistant Police Chief Rivera] to testify on Aledda's SWAT training regarding hostage protocols — is meritorious and compels us to reject Aledda's conviction for culpable negligence," the appeals court said.

Kinsey's attorney, on the other hand, disagrees.

"This was not a SWAT operation, and I'm not sure what SWAT training has to do with this," said Hilton Napoleon, Charles Kinsey's attorney.

Without a doubt, the cellphone footage obtained by a courageous person who was willing to videotape police had a significant role in Aledda's allegations.

Kinsey, a behaviour technician at a group home, was attempting to soothe a terrified autistic man, Rios, who had left the house that fateful day. Rios was holding a toy truck, but the officer mistook it for a pistol, despite Kinsey's repeated statements, "He has a toy truck."

Following the incident, the Miami-Dade police union sought to justify it by claiming Aledda was attempting to shoot the "white man" to defend Kinsey but missed and struck Kinsey by accident.

"The white individual's action indicated that he was preparing to discharge a handgun at Mr. Kinsey," Miami-Dade union leader John Rivera told WSVN.

However, the accuracy of that assertion has been cast into significant question after the publication of shocking facts by the Miami New Times.

"Moments before North Miami Police Officer Jonathan Aledda shot and killed unarmed behavioural technician Charles Kinsey on July 18, another officer on the scene advised that there was no gun, just a toy."

The absurd notion that none of the officers on the scene saw Rios was holding a toy truck, not a pistol, was truly a comedy. Someone did see the toy truck and alerted all cops, but Aledda fired seconds later.

These details were gleaned from an audio recording of North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene speaking with Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigators.

"I heard the gunman, Officer Aledda, make a comment to the effect of 'Be warned, I have a clean shot [of] subject,'" Eugene stated, referring to the police radio recording moments before the shooting. "Subsequently, a sergeant... went on the radio and said, 'I have a vision; it is a toy.' QRX. Is this a toy?' This translates as 'Stand by; make no attempt to intervene.' Following that, a back-and-forth dialogue ensues. 'Shot fired!' came the subsequent communication from [another cop].

'Hold fire!' I heard the sergeant remark, having previously indicated that it was a toy. Stop! It was a toy,' attempting to apprehend the perpetrator."

Following the incident, Aledda was placed on paid leave, and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office decided to prosecute him. However, he has evaded justice in the intervening period.

Days after the shooting, Chief Eugene chose to listen to the recording of the incident after learning that Assistant Chief Larry Juriga had misled him about the circumstances leading up to the shooting. Juriga attempted to claim that another officer, Police Commander Emile Hollant, issued the order to fire – allowing Juriga to exact revenge on Hollant.

Indeed, Hollant intended to get binoculars in order to check what Rios was holding, but upon his return from his police vehicle, he discovered Kinsey had been shot.

"What the [court's] ruling did was to take Officer Aledda's account of what occurred and give him preferential treatment despite the fact that a jury dismissed what he really stated," Napoleon said.

Indeed. Kinsey said that he is willing to testify again during a third trial if the prosecution agrees.