Thread by @Anonymo89715681

🧵: last night at 18:15, I was the victim (yeah, victim) of a Wellness Check by the #ACAB @lpsmediaoffice in #LdnOnt. At 16:00 my wife and I got into an argument. I left the house and went for a walk. Concerned about my safety (as I have previously attempted suicide), /1

She called the police to do a wellness check. At approximately 18:15, no fewer than 5 police cars and 8 police officers surrounded me in a Tim Horton’s parking lot. At this point, I am extremely anxious. /2

Numerous officers try to make small talk. I repeatedly tell them that I don’t want to “do this” - meaning that I don’t want to end up back at the hospital - especially this time as I am not actively suicidal. /3

An officer (working on getting his name) makes a remark about how lucky I should feel for having this many officers out looking for me. I make a comment that I wish they’d put that kind of effort into finding MMIWG and minority BIPOC people. /4

He gets visibly upset. His ego is bruised. He asks me if I’m suicidal. I respond with “yes”. Digression: for 20 years, I have been suicidal. There is a clear difference between being suicidal and being actively suicidal. I did not have a plan. I did not have a timeline. /5

Immediately after saying yes, this ego-bruised officer immediately tells me I am being apprehended. He puts both hands behind my back and cuffs me. At no point have I been aggressive. At no point have I refused to answer questions. The entire time, I’ve been calm (but upset) /6

I am loaded into the car of a Constable named Ryan Guest (Badge # 436321). I asked him what I did that suggested I needed to be cuffed. He responded with the fact that I was cuffed for their (the officers’) and my own safety. /7

I asked what I said/did that alerted them to the fact that their or my safety was at risk. I’m told that just me saying “yes” to the question about suicide gives them the ability to cuff me. I remind him that it doesn’t mean he *has* to cuff me. I’m also cuffed behind the back /8

In the car on the way to the hospital, Cst. Guest tells me that we should be friendly with each other because we’re going to be spending a long night together. He tells me this while a person he thinks is in a mental health crisis is cuffed in the backseat of his cruiser. /9

I impolitely decline to have a nice civil conversation with him. I remind him that I’m cuffed…because he thinks I’m actively suicidal. At this point he asks me if I “had a plan” to commit suicide. I say no & told him he probably should have asked that earlier. He says “nope”/10

Cst. Guest gets out of the car and comments to another officer who’s arrived that I’m “a dick” - presumably because I don’t want to engage in small talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs - WHILE BEING CUFFED IN HIS CRUISER. /11

I don’t say another word to him for the rest of the night. I’m brought into Emerge - cuffed and flanked by two police officers - and triaged. My heart rate is high. The officers blame it on cannabis (which I had taken). I inform the nurse(s) that /12

I have diagnosed general anxiety and major persistent Depression and that one symptom of high anxiety is heart palpitations. I’m given an ECG. Everything is normal - except my elevated HR of ~180 bpm. /13

While getting all of this done, a nurse asks if I can be cuffed around front instead so that she can get a better BP reading. The officer agrees. While waiting for a bed, Cst. Guest makes a comment to another officer /14

in regard to how he also goes by another name but “luckily not many people know it”. It wasn’t until this morning that I found out his full name is Ryan Richardson-Guest. /15

At around 20:30, I was given a bed and hooked up to a continuous ECG as I was still tachycardic. At 21:00, an officer graciously suggested they could take my cuffs off. Within ten minutes, my BP dropped (still high, well under 180) /16

Around 21:15, a psychiatric doctor (or potentially resident) enters the room. He asks me if I had a plan to commit suicide. I tell him no. He asks me if I’m actively suicidal. I tell him no. He asks me if I’m having thoughts of suicide. I tell him yes. /17

He asks if that’s normal. I tell him yes. He tells me I’m good to leave. He tells the officers the same thing. One officer (name I don’t know) looks in and says “thanks”. I very rudely reply something along the lines of “anything for you fucking assholes”. /18

The officer makes a comment about how I wasn’t so mouthy when I was in cuffs. I’m somewhat taken aback at the fact that he’d actually have the audacity to say that out loud, suggesting his cuffs kept me quiet like he wanted to. /19

So what’s the point of this >20 tweet 🧵? Look at how the police treat #MentalHealth issues and try to tell me we shouldn’t #DefundThePolice in support of something better. “Oh we a man in a potential mental health crisis? Let’s send 8 cops and 5 squad cars to him then /20

Cuff him if he’s not nice to us. Are you kidding me? Are you for real? This is how the @lpsmediaoffice dealt with a compliant, calm, and non aggressive person. What would have happened if I’d been violent? Tried to run from them? Would I have made it to the hospital? /21

This happened on #MentalHealthDay. This happened on Thanksgiving. What am I going to do next? I’m not sure. I at least want to see all of the police files and medical documents from last night, but it’s not like I’m going to sue the police. /22

This is a system of harm that’s been in place for as long as police systems themselves have been. They’ll have plenty of evidence to support that they were right in cuffing me - because that’s how the system was designed. To give police the power to treat people badly when /23

Their egos are bruised. I got carted through a hospital, in cuffs, as if I had broken the law. @lpsmediaoffice this is not acceptable. This is not how you deal with #MentalHealth crises - and let me assure you: I will never call you for a wellness check. /24

Things I’m thankful for:

- I’m white
- I’m male
- I was in a headspace where I was able to stay (for the most part) calm.

Had any of the above been different, this tweet may look completely unrecognizable.

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