I was confused when it happened and didn’t know what to think. I knew my brother was not a bad person and definitely did not deserve to be beaten. Also, he was in prison for almost a year. He did not deserve that… My brother is not a criminal

… It’s so sad because obviously he was already having problems with his mental health and being in prison definitely made it worse. He probably thought of himself as a criminal and it hurt me so much that there was nothing my family could do to help him. We didn’t have the money to afford good lawyers or anything like that. My mom and I would literally drive out an hour and a half every other day to visit him to try and remind him that he is normal, but I honestly don’t know if it even helped. He has never been the same since.

The whole situation sucked so much. I just know for a fact that had the same thing happened to a white man they would definitely not be treated like that by the police. It’s because my brother is black. Anyways, I remember when he came home finally after they decided to relook at his case and realized that he was not being held for the right reasons. They finally let him leave. I remember he came home wearing the same pajamas he left in that night when he went for a drive. It was so sad. …

It ended up taking 26 hours for me to drive [to mom’s house]. Right when I walked in the door, I already felt a little bit weird. I don’t know how to explain it, but things felt off. The house was messy and grimy and just not well kept. Growing up my brother’s room was always cool, you know, he had posters and stuff that he hung up and it was personalized. But his room there was so bland and just not him at all…

The third day I was there was when the incident happened.

I had driven my brother and I to the park to go on a walk together and a couple minutes in he started saying abrupt and rude comments. I don’t remember exactly what he was saying but it was just rude, and I was getting fed up. So, I started asking him not to talk to me like that. I explained to him super politely that it hurts my feelings when he speaks to me like that especially after all I had done for him. I also explained calmly that even though mommy was probably used to the way he talks that doesn’t mean I am and that I’m more sensitive than mommy. Pretty much I was asking him to be less aggressive and this definitely tipped him off because he cut me off and said, “If you don’t stop talking right now, I’m going to punch you. I am seriously going to punch you so hard.” In the moment I was positive he was just threatening me. He had never hit me before, so why would he right? But when I started talking again, he did it. He punched me really hard in the stomach…

I was shocked and terrified. He knocked the wind out of me a little. It didn’t hurt too bad, but the fact that he even did that was so scary. I ran straight to my car, got in and locked the doors. I drove away because I was so upset and scared and honestly didn’t know what to do in that moment. I was crying and needed to be alone, but I also knew my brother couldn’t be alone, so I called my mom and told her to go pick him up. I told her that he hit me and that I left him there, and that I would be home later that night. Then, I just went for a drive and ended up going to the beach for a little bit to just be alone. I slept in my [converted camper] car that night not necessarily because I was scared of my brother but because I wasn’t ready to confront him or my mom. The next morning, I went inside, and he apologized to me right away. I wasn’t really sure if it was for punching me or just for upsetting me… I forgave him because I know he didn’t mean it. In the back of my mind I was kind of still worried about pissing him off again because you just never know how people are going to react or what they will do.

Later that morning, I was eating cereal in the yard and my brother came outside and tried to take my cereal out of my hands. When I told him to stop and said he couldn’t have it, he aggressively tried to throw it at my face. I started sobbing and ran inside, because enough is enough. I knew his aggression was getting out of hand and something needed to be done about it. So, I ran in and starting yelling at my mom about how she isn’t taking the necessary steps to help my brother with his mental health and now he is acting crazy because of it. I pretty much blamed it on her because she has been with him this whole time I’ve been at college and should’ve done a better job getting him the help he needs. I know my mom doesn’t react well when I yell at her like that, but I didn’t know what else to do. I was so upset, so I just left her room and went into the bathroom. I guess my mom started stressing out because I freaked her out.

The next thing I know the police show up at my house. I see them approaching and all I could think was why in the world are the police here. So, I ran back into my mom’s room and asked her why they were there, and she said she called them because I told her she never does anything to help my brother. This was the only thing she could think of at the time. When the police came inside, they asked me about the situation and if my brother hit me. Obviously, I had to say yes. It broke my heart though to say that and give my brother up to the police. It was so hard, and I was literally sobbing the whole time so that probably didn’t help his situation either. They told me they were going to arrest my brother for domestic violence.

I did that. I was the reason my brother was arrested that day

… I became a victim of domestic violence and for the second time my brother was not given the help he needed to improve his mental health. He was just sent to prison. The police always resort to locking people up. It’s all they know. I told them when they asked me about the incident that it was because he has mental health issues that we have not gotten him help for and I know the reason they didn’t care had to do with the fact that my brother is black

… Black people are always wrongfully arrested and treated poorly by the police and this was no exception. If the same situation were to happen to a white male, I don’t think they would have been arrested. I just felt so guilty… The last thing I wanted to do was send my brother to prison again. Last time it took months for us to get him out and I was so scared that he was going to have to go through that again or that we all were. Luckily, because of COVID, they didn’t keep him for long…

I saw such a sad video recently of Daniel Prude’s arrest, which ended up killing him. He suffered from mental health issues, just like my brother, and was suffocated with a bag because he was Black and thought to be a “threat” by the police. Prude’s brother was the one who called the police because he was worried his brother was experiencing a mental health episode. He even said on the phone not to kill him because this thought automatically crossed his mind. What the heck, right?! This could have been my brother. My mom’s phone call could’ve ended in my brother’s death just like Daniel Prude. That is just disgusting. How are the police allowed to act with such violence and brutal force? I guess that’s why I didn’t even think to call the police that day because of all the overwhelming incidents of black people becoming victims of police brutality that I have seen in the media. It scares me so much and makes me so angry.