Thread by @ashleyruba

Last Saturday, I watched a friend have a psychotic break from reality. What happened next was one of the most exhausting, frustrating, and disgusting experiences I've ever had with the police & the criminal justice system.

This is why we need to #DefundThePolice, 🧵:

Last weekend, my friend began having paranoid delusions centered around technology and the internet. She destroyed her phone b/c she thought people were spying on her. She was always bit always emotional but I had never seen her this distressed before 2/

One of her roommates convinced her to go to the ER, but once they got there, she changed her mind and refused to self-commit. The ER basically told her roommate that her behavior would have to get worse before she could be involuntarily committed. So we watched and waited 3/

On Saturday, she shattered a large mirror in the house, and her roommates called 911. Her roommates and I waited outside but decided to go back into the living room to keep an eye on her. We weren't really worried about our safety. We just didn't want her to hurt herself 4/

We waited for over AN HOUR in the living room, listening for signs of movement. We called 911 again to see if help was actually coming. My friend would periodically come of out her bedroom. We tried to calm her down, which seemed to be working until things spiraled downward 5/

Everything happened so fast. She picked up a piece of glass and threatened to kill one of her roommates. Then, she put the glass down, said she wanted to die, and pulled a bookcase on top of herself. I have never been more scared in my entire life 6/

I don't remember thinking. I just got up off the couch and, with her roommate, pulled her out from under the bookcase. We physically restrained her & called 911 for the THIRD time, begging for help. She calmed down a bit. But then, SEVEN police officers entered the house 7/

Let me tell you, being around that many police officers, decked out in face masks and "thin blue line" stickers, was very unnerving. Two of them helped to restrain my friend while we waited for an ambulance. We all thought that she would be taken to the ER, but we were wrong 8/

About 30 min later, one of the cops read my friend her Miranda rights and put her in handcuffs. Her roommates and I were extremely confused. Was she going to jail? We found out that she was being arrested on FELONY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE charges for threatening her roommate 9/

Everyone (including her roommate) did not want this. We did not want to press charges. Clearly, she was in psychosis. She had no idea what she was doing. We argued with the cops. They said that it's all procedural & their hands are tied. It not clear that they really cared 10/

After over an hour with the cops, me sitting by my friend the whole time trying to calm her down, an ambulance shows up. Even the EMT thought she was going to the hospital. But no. She went to jail. In the middle of a psychotic episode. We were all devastated 11/

She spent FOUR DAYS IN JAIL. We were given almost no info about how she was doing. She missed her court hearings three days in a row b/c she was "unfit for court". We found out that she received no treatment. No psych eval. She was in a cell by herself on the medical floor 12/

At one point, we were told that if the charges were dropped, she would just be released. Like literally, just released out of the front door of the jail. We would have to "intercept" her and convince her to go to the ER. We begin anxiously preparing for this outcome 13/

Finally, last Wednesday night, we found out that her charges were reduced to a misdemeanor, so she can finally get treatment. She is now involuntarily committed at a hospital. She has called her mom a few times, and seems to be doing better, but doesn't remember what happened 14/

When we called 911, we thought she would be taken to a hospital to get help. Instead, she spent four days in a jail cell by herself, with no treatment, no contact with her friends or family. We can only hope that this traumatizing experience does not impact her recovery 15/

This is why we need to #DefundThePolice. In this case (and in many cases) the police only made things worse. We needed a social worker. A psychologist. A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. Because there is no nuance in the law. The law is only punitive, not restorative. 16/

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Her roommates and I are exhausted but okay. We have all grappled with our guilt over calling 911, but we didn't have any other option. No one knew this would happen.

But now you know. And now I will push even more for mental health reform.