Victor Perez was a 17-year old, brown, autistic person with Cerebral Palsy. He was non-verbal. On April 5th 2025, he was shot 9 times at a family barbecue in Pocatello, Idaho by police responding to a 911 call after Perez had somehow gotten hold of a knife.
He’d found the knife and his sister was trying to get it away from him. His aunt, Ana Vazquez, said the family was never in danger and that Perez was never threatening them. However, the 911 caller had told police that a man who appeared to be inebriated was wielding a kitchen knife and chasing people around the yard.
When police arrived, they arrived with their weapons drawn. They gathered up to the chain-link fence around the yard and ignored family members’ protests and explanations of Victor’s disabilities. Within seconds of arriving on the scene, police opened fire without making any attempts to de-escalate the situation.
Brad Andres, who filmed the incident, said to The Associated Press that police “appeared to be like a death squad or a firing squad.”
“They never once asked, ‘What is the situation, how can we help?’ They ran up with their guns drawn, they triggered a mentally disabled person to react and when he reacted… they shot him.” Andres said.
Victor Perez was taken to hospital in critical condition after the shooting where he was placed on life-support and had his leg amputated. He later passed away after his family decided to take him off life-support on Saturday after he was declared clinically brain dead.
Officers were placed on administrative leave after the events.
As shocking and as devastating as this news is, it does not come as a surprise. White supremacy, racism, and ableism are all largely linked to police brutality.
Oppression of marginalised communities is so systemically integrated that it often also operates invisibly. Embedded in laws, institutions, cultural norms, and everyday practices – making it seem ‘normal’ even to those that are harmed by it.
It isn’t just about individual biases or prejudices; it’s about systemic practices rooted in colonialism, slavery, and segregation. These systems have framed people of colour as inherently “suspicious” or “dangerous”, normalised excessive surveillance and force in racialised areas, and minimised accountability for violence against black, indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC).
Police lack the training required to effectively de-escalate situations involving people with disabilities and disabled people are often seen as “non-compliant” simply because they cannot respond to commands in a way the police expect. When someone is both racialised and disabled, the danger they can face multiplies. These identities don’t exist in isolation; they compound.
Police brutality isn’t just about a few “bad apples” being on the force – it’s about a system designed to actively control and oppress those who fall outside of the set standards of whiteness, ability, and behaviour.
As a white person, I’ll never know what it’s like to fear law enforcement, or anyone for that matter, due to the colour of my skin and it’s disgraceful that we still live in a time where that is a privilege and not a given. I notice a lot of people hesitating to speak on this matter because they’re not sure if their voice belongs in the conversation. Truthfully, the only thing that made me second guess this blog post was that I wasn’t sure if I had a big enough platform. But matters like this need as many voices as possible regardless of ethnicity or platform. Talk about it! Because Victor Perez’s story is the terrifying reality for so many people and whilst the world moves on and news platforms will stop talking about it, Victor Perez’s family will never get back what was taken from them.
Train law enforcement to recognise disabilities and how to work with them. Train them to not target BIPOC. Train them to not shoot defenceless disabled teenagers through a chain-link fence.
My heart goes out to Victor Perez’s family and the families of many many more victims. This has to stop. It never should have begun.
Rest In Power, Victor Perez.
Link for a GoFundMe supporting Victor’s family here.
Some more info on the staggering number of police brutality victims in the US and the UK:
List of people killed by police in the UK
Black Memorial: Documenting police brutality victims UK
The Washington Post – police shootings database 2015-2024
If there is anything I have missed or should be changed, don’t hesitate to comment but do so with kindness. This is my first time addressing something like this on here and I’ll always aim to give the most accurate information I can.
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