Robert Ethan Saylor, 26

Robert Ethan Saylor, 26

Police officers who killed a man with Down’s Syndrome who would not leave a movie, have not been indicted, it has been revealed.

After appearing in front of a grand jury in Frederick County, Maryland, officers Lt. Scott Jewell, Sgt. Rich Rochford and Deputy First Class James Harris, who were involved in the death of Robert Ethan Saylor, 26, will not be charged.

The killing happened when cops arrived to force Saylor to leave a movie theater after he wanted to see “Zero Dark Thirty” a second time.

Officers claimed that Saylor had verbally and physically resisted their attempts to remove him from the theater.

They said the fact that Mr Saylor was obese contributed to his death by “making him more susceptible to breathing problems”, although they failed to explain how.

This was the same reason given in the Eric Garner case.

Officers claimed that because of his large size, the officers say had to use three sets of handcuffs on him and placed him on his stomach for ‘one to two minutes’.

Mr Saylor was also unarmed.

Meanwhile, over in England, Bedfordshire PCs Christopher Thomas and Christopher Pitts were found not guilty of misconduct in a public office by chasing Faruk Ali, 33, in a police car and mocking the fact that he has a learning disability.

They were also cleared of racially aggravated assault. The court was told PC Thomas and PC Pitts, 39, from Bedford, were recorded laughing as they drove after Mr Ali, who was walking in the street near his home after going to take the bins out.

PC Thomas was said to have got out of the car and grabbed Mr Ali, knocking over bins outside the family home in Whitby Road, before punching him in the face.

As Mr Ali, who was described as having the mental age of a five-year-old, tried to get into his house, PC Thomas was said to have bundled him into the hallway and punched him again.

The prosecution said the officers followed Mr Ali for “fun” and “their own amusement” rather than any legitimate policing reason.

PCs Christopher Thomas and Christopher Pitts were cleared after mocking and being accused of assaulting a disabled man

PCs Christopher Thomas and Christopher Pitts were cleared after mocking and being accused of assaulting a disabled man

In making his decision, the judge concluded that laughing “was not a crime”.

The case comes just months after Down’s Syndrome teenager Abdul Al-Faisal, 19, was arrested for “burglary” after trying to collect his favourite baseball cap from a school in London.

Downs teenager Abdul Al-Faisal was arrested after trying to retrieve his favourite cap

Downs teenager Abdul Al-Faisal was arrested after trying to retrieve his favourite cap

The teen has a mental age of between 10 and 12 years old and was left terrified in a cell for nine hours.

The family say Abdul was handcuffed, had his fingerprints taken, swabbed for DNA and had his details put on record – all while his parents did not know where he was.

His family only discovered his whereabouts after they became concerned that he was missing and rang the police.

Ms Al-Faisal said: “He doesn’t realise the situation. He is shaken up and so distressed. He has never been in trouble before.”
His father, Muhammad Al-Faisal, said: “When they found out my son had Down’s Syndrome it should have been dismissed immediately. We said they were making a terrible mistake.”

The teen was then given a caution for burglary even after explaining to the police what had happened.

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