Garza called law enforcement, who detained him and placed him in solitary confinement for three days at the Darrell B. Hester Juvenile Detention Center in Brownsville.
Why the fuck does a juvenile detention center even have solitary confinement… America is so fucked up…
I work in with traumatized teens. There are times where they need to be isolated from their peers, but I agree that solitary is not therapeutic. Research and experience easily demonstrate that.
The reality is, though, that these systems are so underfunded and understaffed that these detrimental tactics are the only viable option.
I’m not defending the practice. I would never work in a system that uses solitary confinement with adolescents, but I have the luxury of choice.
As a guy with childhood trauma, abandonment issues, depression, and many other mental challenges, I appreciate the work you do. I feel like what I went through is small potatoes compared to being arrested and put in the hole for 3 whole days as a kid. I really feel for this little guy and hope that he gets through this ok.
That cunt sounds like she has a massive ego
Gotta start them young, you know. Freedom (to abuse basic human rights) yeah, Freedom!
“solitary confinement” doesn’t mean anything more than exactly what it says. Telling your kid to “go to your room” is solitary confinement. It just means they’re secluded from any other inmates, not that he was chained to the bed and shoved into a dark hole in the ground.
None of us know the details of what happened here. If he had stabbed a teacher or something people would have been screaming about how “no one did anything” and that there were “red flags everywhere!” and about how useless law enforcement is.
But instead of suspension, Garza summoned a police officer to arrest Timothy at school. In a video that Rincon shared with the Observer, Timothy puts his arms up on a wooden shelf and waits to be handcuffed as directed by a police officer.
These are adults who feel threatened by an eleven-year-old child, because he asked some questions. The entire country should be ridiculing them until they’re too embarrassed to leave their homes.
No no no no she was annoyed and felt disrespected because he asked questions. She’s a cunt and I hope the rest of her life is long and miserable.
questioning authority is the biggest no no for conservative babies
ACAB
“When the police officer had his body cam off, they were yelling and telling me, ‘We’re gonna go to the full extent. We’re gonna put you in a lockbox,’” Timothy said. “Then, when the body cam was finally on, they were so nice.”
No shirt ! Wtf with a god damn kid the cop turned off his body cam!
Grrrrrrrrrr
I have always wondered since the body cams came out and even the dash cams over why is it even legal for an officer to turn off the cams. Why would they even have the ability to turn them off. The cams were proclaimed to be for the civilians safety and to keep officers in check and professional.
If I had it my way…
Any cop who turned off their body camera would be fired immediately
This is the only union I’m against, police unions; I’d fire them and have them arrested for obstruction of justice
While true, this started with an insane school administrator.
fuck em both but the admin didn’t put the kid in jail
Oh, you know damn well she put the cops up to it.
Sure. That doesn’t negate their responsibility or hers for that matter.
Sure, but the cop could have told her to kick rocks. Instead he arrested a child with the closest thing to no evidence there is. And made sure to bully him with the body cam off. The cop chose to be a bastard which is why this is a story.
oh those poor cops just couldn’t say no
I’m sure it was one of those “reeee!” Karen moments. “I want them arrested! Don’t you know who I am??!?!” etc. etc.
Cops are dicks for putting the 11 year old in solitary though.
This is why I always tell people who say “reporting the _____ incident to the police isn’t going to get anyone hurt, it’s just going to get them help” that they are idiots. You have no way of knowing what the police are going to do in any situation. I don’t care if there’s a 99% chance of it going right (it’s much lower in reality). That isn’t a chance worth taking for something that can absolutely be resolved without police.
How big of a fucking dick do you have to be to make lies about an 11 year old and fuck up his future?!
His ordeal began five days later. In the late morning of September 8, Timothy was pulled out of music class and ushered into a room where he found Garza, Assistant Principal Michelle Saucedo, a district police officer, and a counselor sent from the district’s central administrative office. He was told another student had just reported that Timothy said he was planning to kill the principal. Rincon said she was called and rushed to the school but was not allowed to be in the room while Timothy was being questioned.
“When the police officer had his body cam off, they were yelling and telling me, ‘We’re gonna go to the full extent. We’re gonna put you in a lockbox,’” Timothy said. “Then, when the body cam was finally on, they were so nice.”
Timothy told me he had explained to the school and district officials that the accusations were not true, that the only conversation he had that morning was with two other boys about wearing his sweater over his uniform.
Just read the whole article. It’s fucking astonishing how big of an ass these people are. Not only is the principal fucking ill but also the superintendent, principal, assistant principal, district counselor, and police officers.
I hope Timothy continues to speak up and reaches his goals to become an oncologist. I hope these fuckers learn from their mistakes and if not, hope they rot. Thanks Texas Observer for writing about this story.
More likely little Timmy will have lifelong cptsd and develop addiction issues throughout puberty to cope. After which the cops can bust him again and go “See? We told you so!”.
ACAB. No exceptions, ever, anywhere.
Once again perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline that so many people of color get shunted down.
If police turn their bodycams off then that should automatically disqualify their testimony and cause a major fine (which they would need to pay off personally)
All this punishment on a smart kid who simply wanted to have a school councilor to talk to after he had lost his father to cancer.
This shitty principal should be fired and also investigated for false reporting. I’d be really interested to hear which student reported this boy for uttering a threat to kill the principal because it sounds more like the principal made this up to toss a kid in solitary confinement for a weekend to shut him up.
The thing that sucks is, no 11 year old should be arrested unless they’re actively threatening physical harm with a weapon, and three days in solitary on top is just beyond the pale. It sucks that we have to have “perfect” victims before the powers that be dare to take notice, and even then it’s not enough.
So many children let down by this system, who knows how many stories we haven’t heard. And not a god damn thing changes.
He should be fucking arrested. He ruined that boy’s life. He’ll never be the same after three days in solitary for asking for mental help.
The principal is a woman. She should be fired but the real issue is how the police handled it. Instead of arresting a 5th grader they could have told the principal to kick rocks and that they would investigate the threat. Which was literally hearsay and after investigation they’d have found nothing.
Turning off body cam to bully a child…sounds exactly like what a bastard would do.
I feel so bad for that child. His father died less than a year ago and he was kept in solitary confinement for 3 days. I hope he and his mother find a good lawyer that gets true justice for him. And I hope the people of Brownsville stand up for justice and get the principal fired. I hope they pressure the police to change policy on no longer allowing body cams to be turned off. And I hope the arresting officer dies sad, miserable, alone, and soon.
That’s…
I mean, this shit principal and the cops that put handcuffs on an 11 year old boy should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
But saying he’ll NEVER be the same again after three days in solitary, and the boy’s life is ruined is too much of a stretch. A little dramatic
People are resilient, especially kids.
he’ll never trust authority the same again
probably for the best
Not even close to a stretch. This study is with adults, and not with an already fragile child dealing with trauma.
|Mental Illness And Solitary Confinement
Those with mental illness are overrepresented in solitary confinement, despite the vulnerability and threats to the mental health of those incarcerated. Research shows that the effects of solitary confinement on mental health are often fatal, both during and after incarceration. Half of all suicides in prisons and jails occur in solitary confinement. A recent study shows the long-lasting effects; that any amount of time spent in solitary increases the risk of death in the first year after release.
Individuals were overall 24% more likely to die in the first year after release, including from suicide (78% more likely) and homicide (54% more likely). They were also 127% more likely to die of an opioid overdose in the first two weeks after release.
Among many other mental health experts, Dr. Stuart Grassian, a psychiatrist, observed the devastating mental health consequences of the practice. Solitary confinement, he found, caused either (1) the exacerbation or recurrence of preexisting mental health issues, or (2) the onset of an acute mental illness. He is also credited for identifying a specific psychiatric syndrome associated with solitary confinement, termed the SHU Syndrome.
Well TIL
Yeah it’s pretty fucked honestly, a lot of people that have never been to jail or prison don’t really have the perspective how just how horrible it is. Time moves differently in there and your sense of control you have with autonomous movement is gone. 1 week in jail goes by quite a bit slower than 1 week in regular life. Add solitary to it and it’s a straight up nightmare.
Yup and my comment was more as to hoping the kid wouldn’t suffer permanent damages but clearly that’s not the case. I didn’t know the stats
This was a school shooting threat in the county next to Uvalde. This needs to be 100% researched and investigated.
No. This was a principal punishing a child for being difficult by making up threats. Nobody even mentioned shooting except you.
Not even difficult, he was just interested in using the mental health faculty that was provided the year before to continue to work through his father’s death. She could easily have explained to the kid or his parent that the councilor would not be replaced. Going after the kid with selective enforcement of uniform rules while ignoring others was blatant punishment and the escalation to calling the police is excessive force. If this kid were black there is even a higher than normal chance the cops would have hurt him by treating him like an adult.
Absolutely! Should have been clearer that I meant him being difficult from the perspective of the principal, not from that of myself or anyone else with any empathy and common sense.
Yes. that is exactly what I said. The full source of the threat reported needs to be examined. If the principle is found to be the origin he needs to go to prison.
Go home, child abuse apologist, you’re drunk.
Do you think that being in close proximity to a school shooting increases the risk of a school shooting?
TIL school shootings are contagious
The fucked up thing is, that they are, but not the way the OC implies. 24h news cycles and heavy exposure to reports glorifying shooters do act as triggers for other potential shooters. The same is true for suicide and serial killers.
oh texas, what a shining example of republican values
Republicans don’t even need to defund the schools. The schools keep doing it themselves.
you think this just happened in a bubble? lol
I didn’t say that at all. Rmfeayadl
I’m incoherent with anger about this one. Who treats a bright and hardworking fucking 11 year old like that? Over literally nothing but hearsay. No red flags, just some made up shit by Karen.
The taxpayer funded settlement which will come at no cost to the police department better be fucking huge. And when taxes go up to pay for it, folks better damn well remember why.
WTF is wrong with these people? I would come home to my family and apologize to them for our impending homelessness after I quit my job before I would do this to a child. And anyone who wouldn’t - yeah, they are fucking bastards.
Also, what adult bullies a kid who’s messed up because their parent just died of fucking cancer?!?
I’ve dealt with school staff who seem to get off on having power of students. Like they go out of their way to bully some kids or they enjoy enacting harsh punishments.
I also think the police officer turning off his body can to intimidate a child should be fired. We need to pass laws that prevent this.
Our dean of students in high school was an ex-marine. And it sure seemed like he decided that he learned valuable lessons about how to treat other people in boot camp.
Cameron County prosecutors pushed for Class C felony charges of “terroristic threat” and argued for two more weeks of detention. Instead, Judge Adela Kowalski-Garza ordered a safety risk evaluation and conditional release home until his hearing November 8.
Prosecutors can go to hell. At least the judge wasn’t maximally evil.
The principal and police should be fired, barred from holding these kind of positions, and I don’t know made to do community service to make up for this huge harm.
I don’t know made to do community service to make up for this huge harm.
Maybe 3 days of solitary confinement would be appropriate. Seeing as a CHILD can do it they should be fine, right?
Judge isn’t a hero here either, should have put a stop to it as soon as the word "solitary’ was brought to their attention.
Cameron County prosecutors pushed for Class C felony charges of “terroristic threat” and argued for two more weeks of detention.
It’s important to note that they were arguing for additional punishment but they just sorta forgot about the part where they have to convict him of something first. This is America. This is conservatism. It’s force and violence as a response to inconvenience and discomfort. It’s absolute lawlessness.
This makes me want to cry. That poor boy. His life could be ruined by this. The mental anguish could set him down a path to failure when he was on one to success. He’s going to be afraid of school now. He will have gone from loving learning to fearing the educators.
Removed by mod
At this point, should willingly raising a kid in Texas be considered child endangerment? I’m joking, but it’s starting to get really worrying there
You may be joking, but it totally is. Not in the legal sense, of course, but in the literal sense. Texas is very much an inherent danger to the safety, well-being and sanity of children.
I think raising kids in super rural districts should be considered a factor yes. Not the sole reason. You are setting up your children for a world of hurt.
I grew up in an extremely rural area, but the people that were around were incredibly kind and accepting, especially to others that were different. Now I’m raising my kid in the biggest city in the world, but with the same values they taught me. So I’d say it’s not so much the place, as it is the environment we create there. Which in Texas’ case is utter, total, complete dog shit.
I also grew up in an extreme rural area and didn’t enjoy a single moment of it. I am raising my kids in a small city next to a massive city.
The crime
On September 8, school administrators told Timothy that another student alleged that he made threats against Garza. Timothy denied the allegation, but Garza called law enforcement
Police: Why people hate us so much, whelp?
Also Police:
This country sucks. This kid is being charged with terroristic threats after a school administrator terrorized and threatened him with the cold and callous police. All over a request to join a gifted students program. Now, he’s literally been terrorized into giving up? He’s “afraid” to speak up because of this?
as i understand this isn’t about his request to join gt, and he hasn’t given up. it’s because he asked what happened to the school counselor from the previous year (who helped him cope with his father’s death), and wrote three letters asking about uniform policy.
