This video is disturbing on so many levels. To witness a 10-yr. old boy with autism being arrested at school for hitting a teacher 6 months ago is pretty disturbing in and of itself, but one can’t help but wonder if the mother (the person filming the incident) received and ignored a warrant for his arrest? You can hear the little boy telling his mother over and over, “It’s all your fault.” The real question here is why a teacher is pressing charges on a special needs child for hitting her in the first place? One of my closest friends, who recently died of cancer, had an autistic son who was a gentle giant. He was calm and very much in his own world until he became angry or frustrated, at which time he would become violent. His outbursts of violence were usually unprovoked, but nevertheless they were expected by his family and teachers and were handled with love and kindness and not with arrest warrants.
Here’s the disturbing story of what happened to the 10-year old autistic boy in Florida at the Okeechobee Achievement Academy on Wednesday:
An autistic 10-year-old boy arrived at his school to take a standardized test, only to be arrested as his confused and helpless mother looked on.
John Benji Haywood’s mother Luanne filmed her distraught son being handcuffed at the Okeechobee Achievement Academy in Florida on Wednesday and repeatedly asked why her son was being apprehended.
While Haygood knew her son had been suspended for attacking a member of staff at the school in November 2016, she had no idea there was a warrant out for his arrest.
John spent the night at a juvenile facility in Fort Pierce before he was released the next morning under house arrest.
WARNING***Language alert***
The boy cried and pleaded with the school resource deputies not to touch him in the disturbing cell phone video his mother posted on Facebook.
According to a school incident report, John was suspended for punching and kicking a school employee, who his mother claims is 6ft 4inches and weighs about 300 pounds.
John had been homebound for several months, and returned to school on Wednesday to take a standardized test.
Unbeknownst to the 10-year-old or his mother, the school employee he allegedly attacked decided to press charges, and the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office issued an arrest warrant.
When John arrived at school on Wednesday, an officer recognized the boy, who was then handcuffed and led into a police car.
In the video footage taken by his mom, John be seen crying in a chair and telling the two cops, ‘I don’t want to be touched! Please don’t touch me!’
Luanne can be heard trying to reassure her son while asking the police for an explanation. But they ignore her and march the 10-year-old outside.
Luanne then asks, ‘Can you tell me what is going on? Or have any paperwork that you can show me? Excuse me?’
John, who is accused of battery on a school employee – a third-degree felony – is scheduled to appear in court on May 11.
Read more: Daily Mail
