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If you know me, then you likely know about Miles Hall. Miles was our dear friends' son and big brother. He was smart, talented, and loved by all who knew him. Miles also lived with a mental illness - a disability that deserves the same level of compassion and understanding we extend to any other disability. If one were blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair, we wouldn't blame them for not doing what an able-bodied person could, would we? We wouldn't fear or criminalize them, and we certainly wouldn't kill them for it. Yet, this is exactly what happened to Miles Hall on June 2, 2019 while he was experiencing a mental health breakdown in need of urgent medical care. Miles couldn't process and respond like people who aren't in a mental health crisis. His family called 911 for help to get Miles to the hospital that day because - like so many others who have a mental illness - Miles didn't understand that he was sick and needed medicine. But instead of responding to a call for help with compassion or seeing Miles' humanity, Walnut Creek Police sent inexperienced, inadequately trained officers. They arrived in ominous body gear, shouting and pointing guns, which terrified Miles. Frightened, Miles ran away from them twice, but that didn't stop the newest officer from shooting him as he ran past her toward home. He was just 23 years old. He had not threatened anyone and had committed no crime. Let me repeat that, Miles had committed NO crime. Nevertheless, police treated him like a criminal to be taken down.  

Police should not be judge, jury, and executioner. They should not interface with vulnerable, mentally ill people if they lack the experience, training, exposure, and empathy for people with disabilities. Police certainly should not have the power to kill whomever they want, but in the absence of any real or systemic accountability, that's exactly what happens all too often. Other developed countries around the world manage to not shoot their mentally disabled citizens. Yet, the statistics inform us that in America, 50% of all police shootings are at disabled people and Black people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police! Miles therefore had a double target on his back as a disabled, young Black man. America's epidemic of gun violence, police brutality, racial bias, and prejudice against people with disabilities has real life and death consequences. As a society, we should expect and demand ways to protect vulnerable people, NOT the violent systems that harm them. 

Since Miles Hall's unjust, senseless death, The Miles Hall Foundation was formed to educate and advocate for people with mental illness and their families. This life-giving work is a labor of love by Miles' loved-ones and the ever-growing coalition of organizations that turn pain into purpose every day. Each year, we come together to run, jog, walk, and move in honor of Miles Hall! My family and I will complete a 5k turkey trot in Miles' honor on Thanksgiving Day!

Miles' tragic death will not have been in vain. His legacy lives on in the form of this important justice work. The recent Assembly Bill 988 - The Miles Hall Lifeline Act - signed into law by California's Governor Gavin Newsom, is only the beginning! Join us, sign up, and please DONATE today. 

Innocent lives like Miles need and deserve our advocacy. Thank you for reading this and for your tax-deductible donation that goes 100% toward The Miles Hall Foundation's ongoing work. No contribution is too small. 

Learn more at: 

The Miles Hall Foundation

Photos of Miles and grassroots changemakers can be seen at www.JusticeForMilesHall.org