by Casey Bastian

Once again, a video of an interaction between a police officer and a citizen has gone viral. Thankfully, the citizen survived this encounter. Alexis Wilkins, a 20-year-old diabetic, was returning from a George Floyd protest in Cincinnati when the car she was in was stopped. Wilkins was forced out and on to the curb. For 30 minutes, Wilkins sat terrified that her Type-1 diabetes might cause a serious medical emergency. The video shows Wilkins begging the officer for her diabetic supplies.

The health of diabetics depends on uninterrupted access to insulin, snacks, pumps, glucose testing strips, or syringes on a near constant basis. If a diabetic experiences unbalanced blood sugar levels, he or she may struggle to process commands, possibly becoming erratic or aggressive.

“A decent chunk of ‘use of force’ cases involve people who ... were in some kind of physical or mental health crisis,” said Matthew Segal, legal director of ACLU Massachusetts. He added, “It’s very common for the police to deal very harshly with people who simply need help.” This issue is neither new nor infrequent.

In 1984, Dethorne Graham, a diabetic who is Black, entered a store to get juice to raise his ...