Miami activists denounce police for shooting Black man having mental health crisis
The multiple organizations that make up the Healing and Justice Center came together Thursday morning to denounce a Miami police shooting that left a Black man in critical condition.
Miami police shot Donald Armstrong multiple times last Thursday in Liberty City after his mother called 911 to help her son who was in the midst of a mental health crisis. Members of the Healing and Justice Center (HJC), a collective made up of the Circle of Brotherhood, Dade County Street Response, Dream Defenders and Touching Miami with Love, contended that Armstrong not only shouldn’t have been shot but that their Freedom House Mobile Crisis Unit would’ve better handled the situation.
“It is a sad, sad grave injustice what they have done,” said Chettarra Thompson, the program manager of the Mobile Crisis Unit. “Time and time again, the police have shown us that they are not equipped or well-trained to respond to mental health crises but yet their budget still increases.”
Read More: Video shows Miami police shooting man repeatedly. He’s in critical condition, police say
Under the hot Miami sun, person after person chastised the police while demanding that the county make more of an effort to fund community violence intervention programs. Dozens of community members flanked each speaker, many of them holding several signs that read “1,234 people killed by police in 2023,” “You can’t have public safety without the public,” “Fund community not cops” and “Instead of police, call 1-866-SAFEMIA,” the number of the Mobile Crisis Unit.
“Until this kind of work is looked at as an equal part of the public safety ecosystem,” said Lyle Muhammad, the executive director of the Circle of Brotherhood, “we will continue to see incidents like this.”
In a widely circulated video, Armstrong can be seen waving around a screwdriver and screaming “Shoot! Shoot in the heart” while several officers point their weapons in his direction. His mother can also be heard pleading with police to not kill her son before at least one officer fires a taser. As Donald begins to fall to ground, another officer unloads multiple rounds into his body. Donald currently is in stable condition, according to Muhammad.
“The police life wasn’t in danger,” said Armstrong’s cousin Lonnie Armstrong, later adding, “That wasn’t called for – they didn’t have to shoot my cousin that many times.”
Started in 2022, the Mobile Crisis Unit was designed to prevent the violent police responses towards people who have mental health issues. Data has shown that people undergoing a mental crisis are 16 times more likely to be shot and killed if the police are called, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center’s 2015 report that HJC Medical Director Dr. Armen Henderson still believes is relevant.
“We brought these ideas to the county and said ‘Hey you should fund us’ and the county said ’No, we’re investing in police instead’ even though all the data shows that police are not equipped to handle situations like this, with or without a case manager or a therapist,” said Henderson, who also serves as executive director for the Dade County Street Response.
Although the county earmarked roughly $8 million in funding for the HJC, which runs the Mobile Crisis Unit, the money came from emergency funds that will run out in 2025. Meanwhile, the Mobile Crisis Unit has expanded since its founding in 2022 to now operate six days a week as well as partner with 211 and 988, the National Suicide Hotline thanks to funding from several entities including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Miami Foundation and the Miami Health Foundation.
The Mobile Crisis Unit needs a total of $162 million a year to fully fund their operation, according to Muhammad. When asked if last week’s police shooting has changed Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s position on funding the Mobile Crisis Unit, the Miami Herald has yet to receive a response.
“It’s really a shame that we live in a place that spends billions of dollars on more police as a solution to all of our problems,” said Rachel Gilmer, the director of the HJC.
