Vaccine censorship? A senator’s autism inquiry sparks media outrage



Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) used the legacy media's airwaves on Sunday to ask a question that polite society forbids.

The topic: vaccines.

“I think they should be questioned,” Mullin declared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

The question: “Why is America highest in autism? What is causing that?”

“Is it our diet?” Mullin continued. “Or is it some of the stuff we’re putting in our children's system?”

The question is important and needs to be asked, Mullin explained, because autism “used to be almost not even heard of.” Just one or two generations ago, autism was rare. Today, it's extremely common.

If a hierarchy of denialism existed, 'anti-vaxxer' sits just behind 'Holocaust denier' and 'election denier.'

In fact, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in the United States has skyrocketed from 0.1–0.4 per 1,000 children in the 1980s — the same decade vaccine manufacturers were immunized from civil liability for vaccine-related injuries and deaths — to 27.6 per 1,000 children in 2020, an exponential increase.

“What is causing that?” Mullin asked again.

“And if it is the vaccines, there’s nothing wrong with actually taking a hard look and finding: Is that what’s causing it?” he continued. “Is it something else that we’re putting in our systems? We do know we’re not as healthy as we should be right now. We’re the most developed country in the world, so all things should be on the table. And if that’s scrutinizing vaccinations, then that is exactly where we need to go.”

Moderator Kristen Welker responded to Mullin's question by repeating scientific dogma.

“I just have to say, no credible expert or study has shown a link between vaccines and autism,” she said.

Anti-vaxxer?

The label “anti-vaxxer” is a modern-day scarlet letter.

In the hierarchy of denialism, “anti-vaxxer” sits just behind “Holocaust denier” and ”election denier.” Each pejorative epithet functions to discredit a person prime facie, a rhetorical move that signals a person is so detached from reality that debating them is pointless.

And unfortunately, Mullin was summarily assigned this scarlet letter after his “Meet the Press” interview.

Mediaite accused Mullin of spouting “anti-vaccine talking points.” Left-wing journalist Aaron Rupar claimed Mullin went “full anti-vaxxer.” The Daily Beast accused Mullin of pushing a “bonkers vaccine conspiracy.”

But is this true? Is Mullin against vaccines?

Not according to Welker, who noted in the interview that Mullin has “been on the record saying” that he does “believe vaccines are safe and effective.”

Never once did Mullin question the efficacy of vaccines in the interview. Rather, he asked a basic question inquiring why the United States is experiencing skyrocketing rates of autism while arguing that “all things” should be investigated to understand the worrying trend.

That Mullin is being labeled anti-vax for merely asking a question — the first step of the scientific method, after all — proves Peter Thiel's point that “science” has become overly dogmatic.

“What has become ‘science’ — I’ll use scare quotes around science — is something that is more dogmatic than the Catholic Church was in the 17th century,” Thiel said in a recent interview.

Speaking of the lack of skepticism on vaccines specifically, Thiel added:

I don't particularly think that vaccines lead to autism. If they did, I don't think our science is capable of figuring it out because the results would get suppressed because it would undercut the lobby for vaccinations. There obviously are a lot of good vaccines, too. If there was some truth to it, that would undercut it. I'm pretty sure that question isn’t being investigated. There has been a dramatic increase in autism in recent decades. We don’t have particularly good explanations for it. Surely it’s something we should be thinking about more.

Yeah. So again, I don’t think vaccines lead to autism. I do think it’s the sort of question that it would be healthy if we were allowed to ask a little bit more than we are. And of course, we just went through this crazy exercise with the COVID epidemic where we somehow cut off skepticism so prematurely so many times where not only was the skepticism healthy, but the skeptics were right.

Questions beget questions

Polite society lectures people like Mullin for even raising a question about autism prevalence while uttering the word “vaccine” in the same breath.

But Mullin’s question — what is causing the high prevalence of autism in the U.S. compared to recent history and other developed countries — raises another question: Why don’t we have a satisfactory, science-based answer for the sharp rise in autism?

Today, the rise of autism is attributed to greater societal awareness of autism and improvements in diagnostics. This explanation implies that autism was always prevalent but previously went unrecognized and was misunderstood because of societal and cultural norms.

Like Thiel, I find this explanation unpersuasive. But we owe it to our children and our children's children to find a satisfactory explanation and course-correct if we can.

The journey to finding that answer must include asking difficult questions — not shutting down anyone who dares question the dogmas of “scientific truth.”

Planned Parenthood helped transmogrify an autistic teen. The mutilated victim is now seeking amends.



Planned Parenthood was founded by the infamous eugenicist Margaret Sanger, who stressed the need to "apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization, and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is already tainted or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring."

In Sanger's own words, "morons, mental defectives, epileptics," along with criminals, the poor, the illiterate, and the unemployed, were unfit to breed and should therefore be precluded from doing so.

While the organization eventually became synonymous with the wholesale slaughter of the unborn in America, Planned Parenthood — which receives $670 million annually in government funding — appears nevertheless keen to keep sterilizing vulnerable Americans.

The Free Press indicated on the basis of insurance claim data that the organization has become one of the country's leading providers of sex-change hormones for young adults, the sustained use of which invariably impacts fertility. Such drugs are reportedly available at roughly 450 Planned Parenthood locations and were made available to at least 40,000 patients just in 2023 — roughly 40% of whom were ages 18-22.

In recent years, numerous victims of the sex-change regime have taken legal action against the medical practitioners who left them mutilated and sterile.

Luka Hein filed a lawsuit last year against the University of Nebraska Medical Center and numerous UNMC medical practitioners alleging that their "misleading descriptions and false claims" pertaining to sex-change mutilations were in violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act.

In an apparent first, a detransitioner has taken legal action against Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

According to her medical malpractice suit filed earlier this year, Cristina Hineman "is an example of the growing number of young people who have been victims of so-called 'gender-affirming care,' characterized by the immediate, no-questions-asked 'affirmation' of one's desired gender identity, irrespective of the underlying reasons for such desire and without any mental health assessment."

While struggling earlier in her youth with then-undiagnosed autism, Hineman "never felt any discomfort with her gender or expressed any desire to be a different gender." However, after enrolling in public school and becoming steeped in propaganda about "gender identities," she began to fixate on the notion that perhaps she was "non-binary" or even a man trapped in a woman's body.

"It's a medicalized version of normal teen rebellion," Hineman told the Free Press. "And I got completely sucked into that."

'Pieces of my body are missing.'

During her immersion in gender ideology, Hineman, now 20, also began to suffer from "anxiety and major depressive disorder, social exclusion disorder, self-harm, and passive suicidal ideation," said her complaint.

These mental health issues were compounded by the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The Free Press indicated that facing some pushback and skepticism from her parents, Hineman waited until her 18th birthday in 2021 to make an appointment at the Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood to start the process of medically indulging her mental sickness.

Hineman's lawsuit states that after a single 30-minute visit, she was prescribed testosterone gel — having only days earlier settled on a male identity.

The clinicians at that Planned Parenthood would continue to prescribe her testosterone without question for well over a year, and in fact would increase her dosage at Cristina’s request (rather than their own clinical judgment).

The effects of testosterone on women seeking to pass as men include: emotional instability; impaired fertility; deepened voice; liver damage; cancer; diabetes; cessation of menses; acne; facial hair growth; weight gain; fatigue; cramps; and vertigo.

Planned Parenthood allegedly did not request or require any previous medical or mental health records from Hineman before starting her on a regimen of this life-altering hormone.

Hineman subsequently had her healthy breasts cut off "all the while cheered on by her supposed mental health providers."

Following her double mastectomy, she realized she had made a terrible mistake.

"She experienced profound regret and realized that transitioning was not resolving her mental health issues but was in fact worsening them, that surgery and hormones had not made her a man," said the complaint.

"I wanted a flat chest, but you don't understand that you're not just going to have a man's chest," Hineman told the Independent Women's Forum. "It's going to be numb, so tight all the time, you’re not going to be able to feel. It's going to feel like empty space because it is."

Shortly after her elective surgery, she saw a beautiful woman on television and realized she missed her femininity.

"I had the realization this never should have happened," said Hineman. "Pieces of my body are missing."

Hineman soon stopped taking testosterone and began de-transitioning. It dawned on her as natural hormones began doing their job uninterrupted by Planned Parenthood that she wanted children — children she would now be unable to breastfeed.

At the outset of her de-transition, Hineman indicated she returned to Planned Parenthood for answers.

"I wanted to know what was going to happen to my body, and [the nurse with whom she had the initial consult] had no idea," said Hineman. "She kept saying, 'It's different for everyone. There's no way to know.'"

"That was the moment I just realized, like, 'Wow, this woman doesn't even know what she's talking about.' I don't understand how my consent could have been informed if the person prescribing it to me doesn’t even know what happens if I stop, let alone me knowing," added Hineman.

Hineman is seeking unspecified damages from Planned Parenthood and the other health care providers who had a hand in her transmogrification for negligence and a failure to obtain informed consent.

The Independent Women's Forum indicated that Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment but has denied Hineman's allegations in court documents.

Campbell Miller Payne, the Texas law firm that took up her case, stated:

Like so many other vulnerable and struggling girls and young women, she sought help for her mental health struggles but was instead recklessly sent down a path of medicalization that began with cross-sex hormones and sadly culminated in a double mastectomy of her healthy breasts. We are honored to represent her in holding Planned Parenthood and others accountable for the damage they have done and continue to do.

"I don't want this to happen to other young people like me — young people with mental health problems who struggle to find their identity," said Hineman.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

What this canceled doctor just revealed about Big Pharma is “so spicy, so juicy,” you can’t miss it



On this special episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” your favorite spicy Latina invites former G.I. surgeon and medical researcher Dr. Andrew Wakefield — who Wikipedia labels as a “fraudster, discredited academic, [and] anti-vaccine activist” — to challenge the mainstream narrative surrounding Big Pharma.

Also joining the show is Matthew Marsden, BlazeTV contributor and star of Wakefield’s new film, "Protocol-7,” which is a bombshell “whistleblower story” that chronicles the true events of the lawsuit against Merck for the firm’s allegedly harmful MMR vaccine.

Together, the three discuss what Sara calls “epic levels of Big Pharma corruption.”

So, how did Dr. Wakefield become “Big Pharma's number one enemy?”

Simple. He spoke the truth even when the truth was inconvenient.

Turns out when you “confront government policy and you threaten pharmaceutical industry profiteering,” you “take a relatively promising medical career and flush it down the toilet,” says Dr. Wakefield, adding that he’s been embroiled in this battle for “30 years now.”

The longstanding narrative surrounding Dr. Wakefield is that he claimed “vaccines cause autism.”

However, that’s not even close to the full story.

“In 1995, I started getting calls from parents saying my child was perfectly well ... and then they had an MMR vaccine, then they had a seizure, and they were never the same again; the lights went out, and they were ultimately diagnosed with autism,” he tells Sara.

While Dr. Wakefield was not trained in matters related to autism, parents continued to call him because their children were simultaneously experiencing painful “intractable bowel problems,” which was within his scope of practice.

However, “The doctors and nurses I talked to dismissed this. They said, ‘This is just autism, get used to it, put them in a home, forget about them, move on, [and] have another child.”’

Thankfully, instead of silently complying, Dr. Wakefield “put together a big team of eminent doctors and the world's leading pediatric gastroenterologists at the time.”

“We investigated these children, and the parents were absolutely right,” he says. “The children had an inflammatory bowel disease, and when we treated that bowel disease as we might treat Crohn's disease or colitis with anti-inflammatories, then not only did the bowel symptoms get better, but they started speaking again.”

“We did it 183 times before I left the Royal Free [Hospital], and it happened virtually every single time.”

When it had become clear “that the medical profession was wrong on virtually every count” related to the effects of its vaccines, Dr. Wakefield suggested “dissociating these vaccines into their component parts ... given perhaps by separation of one year.”

In other words, he never suggested not taking vaccines but rather just taking them separately in order to better study the effects of each individual vaccine.

So while he drew “no conclusions,” made “[no] definitive statements,” and per protocol, suggested a “more detailed study” based on the case series he’d drawn up, his words were twisted and manipulated, eventually leading to his expulsion from the medical field altogether.

To hear more of Dr. Wakefield’s story, as well as the details of his film “Protocol 7,” watch the clip below.

Or head over to get.blazetv.com/sara for the full, 100% uncensored, and FREE episode.


Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

'They took my trust and spit on it': School district bus aide caught on video allegedly torturing autistic, nonverbal child



A Colorado school bus aide was caught on video allegedly torturing an autistic, nonverbal 10-year-old child — and the victim's tearful parents are expressing outrage.

What's more, the boy reportedly isn't the only victim of the now-former Littleton Public Schools paraprofessional.

What are the details?

KCNC-TV reported that the suspect allegedly caused injuries such as fractured bones, a knocked-out tooth, and deep bruises to at least three students with autism while they rode a bus the district provides, which brings the students to the Joshua School — one of the state's most highly regarded private schools for students with autism.

The families of the victims asked that their last names not be shared, KCNC added.

"They took my trust and spit on it," Devin, the father of 10-year-old Dax, tearfully stated during a press conference, the station said.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Dax's parents wanted the disturbing video of what happened to their son made public without blurring his face, as they said their nonverbal boy's facial expressions and body language are what speak for him, KCNC reported.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"It was a heavy decision to make to uncover it, but we cannot bring attention to this if we don't look at it," Dax's mother, Jess, said, according to the station. "It's ugly to look at, but it's important to see how confused and afraid he was in that video. It just speaks to his vulnerability, and it speaks to the terror he had to endure while on that bus."

More from KCNC:

That video was shared Tuesday morning, showing Dax aboard that LPS bus sitting next to paraprofessional Kiarra Jones. It was recorded March 18 and captures Jones, 28, physically abusing the 10-year-old boy – repeatedly elbowing him in the stomach, slapping his face, and stomping on his feet.

"How could someone that I trusted, someone that I was so friendly with, do this to my little boy?" Jess asked tearfully, the station said. "The torture and torment of my sweet boy could've been stopped."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

KCNC reported that Jess said she began noticing bumps and bruises on her son dating back to September 2023, after which she told Joshua School staff, who confirmed with her that Dax didn't suffer those injuries while in their care.

She added to the station that she pivoted to LPS, but they said there was nothing to be concerned about. After Dax's injuries worsened, Jess told KCNC she demanded answers from the district.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"I notified LPS on March 18, and on March 19 got a phone call from Littleton police informing me that an LPS employee had severely abused my child," she added, according to the station. "I went to the LPS transportation building and was in utter shock."

Then, Jess was informed that Jones allegedly abused other children as well, KCNC noted.

"My son does not have the ability to tell me when someone's hurting him," another victim's father said, according to the station. "My son does not have the ability to tell me that he was forced to watch someone hurt his friends."

'Traumatized and tortured'

Now, the parents of these three students are prepared to sue the school district, KCNC reported, adding that they claim LPS knew about their abuse concerns for months and did nothing.

"They had everything they needed to stop it faster, and they didn't," attorney Ed C. Hopkins of the Rathod Mohamedbhai law firm stated, according to the station. "They had notice, and they ignored it. These children have been traumatized and tortured because they failed them."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

KCNC added that Jess said she wants to bring attention to an issue that is "unfortunately more common than you would think. There needs to be change."

Anything else?

The station said the school district declined multiple requests for an interview but shared a letter a district spokesperson said the superintendent emailed Friday to LPS parents. The letter states that an internal investigation began March 19, Jones was fired, and police were notified, KCNC reported.

"This kind of behavior cannot be and is not tolerated," the letter reads, according to the station. "As parents, you trust us with the well-being of your children and you should never have to worry about them being harmed when they are in our care."

More from KCNC:

The letter also claims Jones was hired in August 2023 "after satisfactory reference checks and after passing through a background check." Jones was arrested on April 4 after the incident was reported to the Englewood Police Department by Littleton police on March 28. She was released from the Arapahoe County Jail on a $5,000 bond on April 5.

Jones is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Arapahoe County Court on May 3 at 1:30 p.m. on charges of crimes against at-risk juvenile third-degree assault and crimes against at-risk juvenile-injury.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Healthy people with autism in their 20s set to be euthanized by both the Dutch and Canadian regimes



Two relatively healthy autistic women are set to be executed by their respective governments — one in the Netherlands, the first country to legalize so-called euthanasia, and the other in Canada, another northern nation where more than 4% of all annual deaths are now the result of state-facilitated suicides.

Zoraya ter Beek, a 28-year-old Dutch woman, and a 27-year-old Canadian woman identified as M.V. in court documents have both applied for state-facilitated suicide despite neither of them suffering a terminal or debilitating physical illness.

Ter Beek's boyfriend is apparently willing to hold her hand as she jumps into an early grave. M.V.'s father, alternatively, is desperately fighting to pull her away from the grips of Canada's suicide regime, which was originally scheduled to kill her on Feb. 1.

Both cases highlight the increasing willingness of the liberal-run countries to expand their state-facilitated suicide offerings to those who may be unable to provide informed consent along with the remainder of society's most vulnerable members.

Calling it quits on the couch

Ter Beek, set to be executed in May, told the Free Press that she wanted to become a psychiatrist but failed to see it through. The ill-fated Netherlander attributed her abortive attempts at a career to depression, autism, and an alleged borderline personality disorder.

Despite having a nice house, pets, and a supposedly loving 40-year-old boyfriend, ter Beek desperately wants her government to snuff her out while sitting on her couch at home. She apparently made the decision when her psychiatrist indicated they had tried everything, and it's "never gonna get any better."

"I was always very clear that if it doesn't get better, I can't do this anymore," ter Beek told the Free Press in a text message.

"Where the tree of life stands for growth and new beginnings," wrote ter Beek, "my tree is the opposite. It is losing its leaves, it is dying. And once the tree died, the bird flew out of it. I don't see it as my soul leaving, but more as myself being freed from life."

Ter Beek set the scene for how she was going to slough off this mortal coil.

"The doctor really takes her time. It is not that they walk in and say: lay down please! Most of the time it is first a cup of coffee to settle the nerves and create a soft atmosphere," wrote ter Beek. "Then she asks if I am ready. I will take my place on the couch. She will once again ask if I am sure, and she will start up the procedure and wish me a good journey. Or, in my case, a nice nap, because I hate it if people say, 'Safe journey.' I'm not going anywhere."

Ter Beek's boyfriend, who evidently has failed to dissuade his lover, will apparently wait around while a government official kills her. Afterward, he will find "a nice spot in the woods" to dump ter Beek's ashes.

"I'm a little afraid of dying, because it's the ultimate unknown," said ter Beek. "We don't really know what's next — or is there nothing? That's the scary part."

Fighting to save the vulnerable from the regime

M.V.'s father, identified as W.V., has long cared for his daughter with whom he lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Despite being relatively healthy and certainly not dying, M.V. was approved in December for what is euphemistically referred to in Canada as "medical assistance in dying," or MAID.

Canadian state media reported that by law, two doctors or two nurses have to approve a patient for MAID. M.V. managed to get one doctor's approval but was turned down by a second doctor. M.V. was offered a so-called "tie-breaker" physician, who then cleared her for execution on Feb. 1.

The day before M.V.'s scheduled execution, her father successfully obtained a temporary injunction.

The Calgary Herald reported that Sarah Miller, a lawyer for the father, stressed in her written brief for Justice Colin Feasby of the Court of King's Bench Alberta that M.V. "suffers from autism and possible other undiagnosed maladies that do not satisfy the credibility for MAID."

W.V. has indicated that his daughter "is generally healthy and believes that her physical symptoms, to the extent that she has any, result from undiagnosed psychological conditions."

Moreover, W.V. believes his daughter is "vulnerable and is not competent to make the decision to take her own life," according to Feasby's summary.

Miller further indicated that there "are genuine concerns with respect to impartiality" with regards to the tie-breaker physician who effectively signed the autistic woman's death warrant.

"There's no evidence before this court that she has an irremediable condition," added Miller.

Feasby ruled late last month that preventing the woman's execution would cause her irreparable harm.

"M.V.'s dignity and right to self-determination outweighs the important matters raised by W.V. and the harm that he will suffer in losing M.V.," wrote Feasby. "Though I find that W.V. has raised serious issues, I conclude that M.V.'s autonomy and dignity interests outweigh competing considerations."

While Feasby cleared the way for M.V.'s state-facilitated suicide, he nevertheless granted W.V. 30 days to appeal to the Alberta Court of Appeal.

W.V. has seized upon this last opportunity to protect his vulnerable daughter from the state.

Miller filed the appeal Tuesday on W.V.'s behalf, asking the province's top court to reinstate the injunction and compel the prospective victim to answer critical questions about her MAID application, reported state media.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, noted, "Canada's euthanasia law was not designed to protect vulnerable people. The law is designed to protect the doctors who are willing to kill."

Culture of death

Blaze News previously detailed the findings of a report released last year by the Trudeau government, which indicated that in 2022, 4.1% of all deaths across the country were the result of state-facilitated suicide.

The federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau passed the Medical Assistance in Dying Act in 2016, legalizing euthanasia nationwide. Originally, applicants had to be 18 or older and suffering from a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" causing "enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable" to them.

The rules have clearly been loosened since, allowing the country's eugenicist-founded health care system to execute those with PTSD, depression, anxiety, economic woes, and other survivable issues.

Whereas in its first year, MAID claimed the lives of 1,108 Canadians, that number spiked to 13,241 in 2022.

In a country with socialized health care, more deaths apparently are beneficial for the regime's bottom line.

Canada's Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer noted in an October 2020 report that "expanding access to MAID will result in a net reduction in health care costs for the provincial governments" — saving them hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent on saving lives and providing human beings with they treatment they paid for as taxpayers.

The Netherlands has reportedly also seen a spike in euthanasia cases. As a proportion of all deaths in Holland, doctor-assisted suicides increased from under 2% in 2002 to over 4% in 2019. The number of euthanasia deaths have continued to climb in recent years — from 6,361 reported cases in 2019 to 8,720 cases in 2022.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

‘Fight Like Hell’: Autistic Detransitioner Draws Standing Ovation For Slamming Therapists, Trans Activists

‘Don’t think for a second that this is just a California issue,’ Cole said

Shocking video shows UK police arrest crying autistic girl who said officer looked like her 'lesbian nana'



Police in the United Kingdom arrested a crying autistic girl who allegedly said an officer looked like her "lesbian nana."

Around 1 a.m. on Aug. 7, West Yorkshire Police brought the teenager home after a relative informed authorities that the girl was "intoxicated in the city center." After the teen was transported home, the autistic girl allegedly told a police officer that she looked like her "lesbian nana."

"Upon returning her to the address, comments were made which resulted in the girl being arrested on suspicion of a homophobic public order offense. The nature of the comments made was fully captured on body-worn video," police stated.

Video uploaded to TikTok by the girl's mother shows seven police officers at the family's home in Leeds.

The offended officer is heard on video saying, "She's getting arrested."

The mother explained that her daughter is autistic.

The officer responded, "I don't care."

The girl is seen hiding in a nook. As people are shouting, the 16-year-old begins hitting herself in the head in "distress."

The mother said that her daughter's "nana" is a lesbian who is married to another woman.

"She's not homophobic," the mom said of her daughter. "Go away from my teenage daughter."

The mother asked the police to leave, then said, "There's something wrong with you."

The teen begins crying and screaming as police officers get near her.

While officers are arresting the girl, she drops to the ground. The mother said her daughter had a panic attack after police allegedly "manhandled" the teen.

The girl was later interviewed and then released on bail.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said the teen was arrested on suspicion of a homophobic public order offense.

“West Yorkshire Police takes its responsibilities around the welfare of young people taken into custody and around neurodiversity very seriously,” said West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Oz Khan, according to the BBC.

"We also maintain that our officers and staff should not have to face abuse while working to keep our communities safe," the spokesperson added.

"We are fully reviewing the circumstances of this incident and ask that people avoid reaching any conclusions about it solely on the basis of the social media video," Khan said. "Officers had their body-worn video cameras activated during their wider involvement with this young girl which provides additional context to their actions."

Khan continued, "West Yorkshire Police takes its responsibilities around the welfare of young people taken into custody and around neurodiversity very seriously."

On Friday, the West Yorkshire Police Department said it had "now reviewed the evidence and made the decision to take no further action" against the autistic teen.

"This concludes the criminal investigation and immediately releases the girl from her bail. Her family has been updated," the statement read.

The U.K. police department said it "will take on board any lessons to be learned from this incident."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

— (@)

Reports: Boy with autism living at hospital for weeks after dad abandons him; government human service workers refuse custody



A 13-year-old boy with autism has been living in the emergency department of a Colorado hospital for weeks after being abandoned there by his father, the Denver Post reported Friday.

The boy was brought to UCHealth's Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont, Colorado, June 6 on an "M1" and was abandoned by his father, the Longmont Leader reported, citing email records obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request.

An "M1" is a reference to a Colorado law regarding involuntary mental health treatment for people experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

The boy was in LPH's emergency department without an adult, "unsupervised apart from hospital staff," the Leader also reported, citing an email from Chantell Taylor, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at UC Health.

When the boy was medically and psychiatrically cleared for discharge from LPH June 7, his father refused to pick him up. Staff reportedly attempted to place him in an inpatient psychiatric facility, but found he did not meet admission criteria, according to email records acquired by the Post.

A police report for neglect and three reports to Child Protective Services did not resolve the problem, the Post also reported.

Colorado state Rep. Judy Amabile got involved in the case when a hospital employee asked her to intervene, CBS News reported.

The employee reportedly told Amabile that Boulder County Human Service workers at first agreed to take custody of the boy, later refusing to take custody because the boy was "safe" in the emergency department.

"Boulder County DHS has not spent more than five minutes with this child since his arrival three weeks ago," the employee who wrote to Amabile for help reportedly said.

"I don't know whether the dad may or may not have reached out and ask for help but may not been able to get any help. Like we just ... we don't know, but what we do know is that you can't just leave a 13-year-old in an ER for weeks on end with no end in sight," Amabile said, as quoted by CBS.

State and county workers are trying to find placement for the boy after he has been forced to live at the hospital for almost a month, the outlet also said.

It is not clear whether the boy is still living at LPH.

The Colorado Department of Human Services told CBS News the department could not comment on the case based on health privacy protections.

"While we cannot share or confirm protected health information, UCHealth hospitals, staff members and providers always strive to provide excellent care and a safe environment for anyone who enters our facilities. Patients are always our top priority. However, hospitals are not equipped to provide long-term services for people who do not need acute medical care," Kelli Christensen, UCHealth's public and media relations manager, told TheBlaze in a statement.

"We rely on our partnerships with city, state and county organizations to assist us in finding appropriate solutions when patients are ready to leave and need a safe place to go."
TheBlaze sent a request for comment to Colorado state Rep. Judy Amabile (D) Monday morning, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Parents of severely autistic woman who rotted away for a decade and 'melted' into family couch are re-charged with her murder



The remains of Lacey Ellen Fletcher were found last January "melted" into her parents' living room couch in Slaughter, Louisiana. The shocking discovery of the 36-year-old autistic woman's body, which may have been stuck there for well over a decade in the lead-up to her death, was said by the overseeing coroner to have been "something you make horror movies about."

The victim's parents, Sheila and Clay Fletcher, were indicted on May 2, 2022, for second-degree murder in their daughter's death — shortly after Sheila resigned from her role as town alderman.

Their trial was set to begin last week; however, in May, District Judge Kathryn Jones dismissed the indictments against the couple, citing defective language in the charging affidavits, reported the Advocate.

Following through on his promise, East and West Feliciana Parish District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla has re-charged the 65-year-olds with murder.

D’Aquilla previously underscored that "this case was so horrific. ... You don't treat anybody or animals like that."

What's the background?

TheBlaze previously reported that Lacey was found in a partial state of undress, sitting upright on a couch in her parents' home on Jan. 3, 2022, "covered in feces from head to toe" with "insects all over her body," according to East Feliciana Parish coroner Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III.

Bickham ruled the death a homicide resultant of "acute medical neglect" dating back well over a decade.

This neglect allegedly "led to chronic malnutrition, acute starvation, immobility, acute ulcer formation, osteomyelitis which is bone infection which led finally to sepsis."

Lacey had reportedly not seen a doctor since she was 16.

"The scene was sickening. I've seen some horrible things in my life but nothing like this," said Bickham, a 30-year practicing physician. He estimated that Lacey was likely sitting sunken into a hole she had made in the couch after not moving from it, possibly for years.

"When I first walked in the house, it smelled of feces, fecal material, however you want to put that politely, it stunk. And when I got to the body, the individual was basically sitting in a hole, filled with liquid stool and urine," Bickham told WAFB-TV. "It’s the worst form of medical neglect I’ve ever seen. I don’t know any other adjectives or adverbs to add to that."

According to the Advocate, when East Feliciana Parish sheriff's deputies found the victim, her emaciated body weighed 96 pounds and was infected with COVID-19. Lacey was covered in maggots, ulcers, and other sores. Fecal matter was crushed into her face and across the supermajority of her body.

While Lacey was reportedly diagnosed with "severe" Asperger's and social anxiety, her parents claimed she was "of sound mind to make her own type of decisions" and content to rot away on the couch, right next to Sheila Fletcher's recliner in front of the family television.

"The question on everybody’s mind is, how could they be caretakers living in the house with her and have her get in a condition like that?” said Aquilla. "It’s cruelty to the infirm. We can’t just let it sit."

Bickham told the Daily Mail that when he was presenting the case and showed the pictures to the grand jury, everyone was in utter shock, "Like the clock on the wall never moved again. ... There was complete silence. Some jurors were gasping in horror. Some were staring in disbelief."

WBRZ-TV reported that upon their grand jury indictment for murder charges carrying possible life sentences, the victim's parents turned themselves in and were booked into jail.

One day later, Sheila Fletcher bonded out at $300,000. Clay Fletcher bonded out shortly thereafter.

Bungled indictment

The Fletchers' defense attorney, Steven Moore, filed a motion to quash the indictments early last month, stating that D'Aquilla's office served a different indictment to the defendants than the one filed with the Clerk of Court.

"In sum, the indictment in the record is either a substitute or a different indictment returned by the grand jury," Moore wrote in his motion.

Moore also suggested that the original indictment lacked a signature from the grand jury foreperson as required by law to validate the charging document, reported the Advocate.

According to WAFB, Judge Jones rejected the arguments from the defense that there was no specific intent and that the indictment was not signed by the foreperson, but agreed that the wording had been botched. As a result, she tossed the indictments during a May 30 hearing.

D'Aquilla indicated he'd reindict the Fletchers on June 19, the date their trial was originally scheduled to begin.

Take two

D'Aquilla revived the case and on June 19, brought it before another grand jury, which determined the Fletchers should be tried for second-degree murder in the death of their daughter.

The couple was re-arrested but once again made bond.

D'Aquilla said in a statement, "We will ensure there is justice for Lacey and the public knows that caregivers will be charged for neglecting or abusing a person in their care."

The Fletchers are expected to go on trial this fall.

Woman ‘melted’ to couch; autopsy showed she was eating it, parents out on bond youtu.be

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!