Screenshot/The Intercept
Police performed a “wellness” check on whistleblower and Senate candidate Chelsea Manning with weapons drawn last month, according to security video obtained by The Intercept. The video shows “three officers enter[ing] the home with their guns drawn, while a fourth points a Taser” after one officer was able to unlock the front door. Police checked on Manning after she sent out a series of tweets suggesting she was contemplating suicide. Manning “was out of the country” when the check happened, and a friend tweeted that she was “recovering and in the company of friends” shortly after. Her friend, Janus Cassandra, told the website that had Manning been there “she would be dead.” Montgomery County Police Captain Paul Starks told The Intercept that its up to officers whether to perform welfare checks with weapons drawn, and claimed that officers receive training to deal “with people who may be having emotional episodes or issues.” According to the ACLU, police have killed at least 64 people who were suicidal or had other mental-health issues in 2018 alone.