#FREEMATTHEWRUSHIN

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MEET MATTHEW RUSHIN

Matthew is 21 years old and was diagnosed with ADHD and Asperger syndrome at a young age and then with an anxiety disorder later in his life. However, he turned his disabilities into abilities and was a very productive member of his community. Matthew graduated Landstown High School in 2016 and continued onto Old Dominion University as a Mechanical Engineering Student.

During a blizzard on Jan 6th, 2017, Matthew was involved in a single car accident after taking a friend to Urgent Care. He sustained multiple injuries to include Traumatic Brain Injury, two collapsed lungs, severe brain haemorrhaging and was unconscious for several days. The recovery from this accident was a struggle but Matthew did not let that hold him back. Matthew continued to exemplify what it meant to be a productive member of our community. Due to this accident, Matthew stopped taking his medication due to severe weight loss but was recently seeing a psychologist to get back on an appropriate medication.

On Jan 4th 2019, Matthew left his home to go to Panera on Hilltop in Virginia Beach where he worked to get some pastries. As Matthew was entering the Hilltop Shopping Centre, he made a right turn and clipped a car coming out of the shopping centre.

Matthew panicked, left the scene of the accident, drove down First Colonial while attempting his breathing exercises to calm down. He then realised that he should return to where the accident happened. He made a U-turn and lost control of his vehicle. Matthew tried to regain control of his vehicle before hitting a Ford Explorer. He clipped the driver’s side and both vehicles spun out of control. Another car travelling on the same road hit Matthew’s vehicle from behind.

When Matthew finally emerged from the rear of his vehicle (which was his only exit option due to air bags being deployed), he was attacked by a man yelling at him in a confrontational manner and pinning him to the vehicle. A bystander came over to intervene.

Daniel Ramos testified on the behalf of the Commonwealth City Attorney and stated that Matthew’s speech was slurred, he was disoriented, and he was not responsive to the Officers when they were speaking to him. However, Matthew was not at all inebriated as no drugs or alcohol were at all involved in this incident. Daniel Ramos also testified stating that Mr. Thor Wentz, the driver that hit Matthew from behind, was aggressively yelling at Matthew as though he was trying to cause a confrontation with him.

Autistic individuals do not know how to react in situations like this. The man before him was yelling “Are you fucking trying to kill yourself?” repeatedly. So what did Matthew do? He agreed with the man in front of him.

Autistic people do not think the same way as neurotypical people. They are very pacifying people. Matthew agreed with the man so that he would leave him alone.

Those words were taken and twisted against Matthew.

Matthew saw the severity of the accident and uttered that he wished he were dead, NOT that he was trying to commit suicide via this collision. None of the officers’ body cameras caught Matthew saying he wanted to commit suicide, yet the officers present testified that Matthew told them he wanted to commit suicide. Over 12 hours of body cam footage from that day was recorded and not once was Matthew ever heard stating that he wanted to commit suicide. When reviewing Matthew’s actual response to questioning, why wasn’t his mental health taken into consideration?

At approx. 9:30pm, Matthew’s family was notified that he was involved in a car accident. Upon arriving at the scene, they were repeatedly asked by officers if the vehicle belonged to them, adamantly suspicious that Matthew had stolen it.

Matthew was being held at the back of a patrol car. That night, after interrogations by numerous officers, Virginia Beach Police charged Matthew with 2nd degree attempted murder. 2nd degree murder is intentional murder that without premeditation, is intended to at least cause bodily harm, and demonstrates an extreme indifference to human life. Matthew never intended for or wanted this collision to happen. Not once did this young man have malicious intent.
What determined this charge?

According to the VBPD, Matthew told three police officers he wanted to commit suicide. None of these officers had body cams on. Matthew was captured on body cam by the first officer that arrived on scene in the first patrol car and was present during Matthew’s relocation to another patrol car, then to an ambulance, and then to a final patrol car. Matthew was always on this officer’s body cam and is not once seen telling the other three officers that he wanted to commit suicide like these officers claimed.

Matthew was never taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Pursuant to the Virginia Beach Police Department general order and protocol, Matthew should have been taken to a hospital, especially if three officers supposedly heard that he wanted to commit suicide.

During the entire time after Matthew was detained, he repeated the exact same thing; that he had lost control of the vehicle. During the interrogation, the police officers lied to Matthew stating that they had videos that showed that Matthew did not lose control of the vehicle and that his actions were deliberate. The Commonwealth could not figure out what to charge Matthew with. During the interrogation, the officers were trying to get Matthew to confess to a crime but Matthew stuck to stating what actually happened.

Matthew requested a bond hearing, and the Commonwealth City Attorney stated that Matthew was a danger to himself. The Commonwealth stated they had all these videos of Matthew driving directly into the other car. The Freedom of Information Act allowed Matthew’s family to retain a copy of the videos. None of the videos were clear, only blurry images from nearby stores. This is the evidence that was presented to the Magistrate to charge Matthew with 2nd degree attempted murder. The Commonwealth knew they did not have any evidence to uphold the 2nd degree attempted murder charge. And so, right before the pre-trial, the Commonwealth added additional charges; two counts of aggravated malicious wounding charge and a hit and run charge. Each aggravated malicious wounding charge, if found guilty, would result in 20 years to life.

The Commonwealth demanded a jury trial, which is frequently done as a tactic to make individuals agree to a plea. Matthew, in a vulnerable state of mind, agreed to the plea, going against his mother’s wishes. Matthew, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger’s, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and an anxiety disorder, agreed to a plea while not understanding or being allowed to understand the severity of it or its outcome. He still does not understand what it meant to sign that plea. Matthew keeps telling his mother “Mom, I signed that plea agreement to come home.”

Since his arrest on January 4th, 2019, Matthew has not received the medical attention he needs. He has a cyst on his pituitary gland and is suffering from constant headaches. Matthew was never received a proper head CT evaluation.

On November 6th, 2019 with almost 40 of people in court to support him, Matthew was sentenced to 50 years with 40 years suspended. The Commonwealth asked for the maximum of each charge even with a plea agreement. Even with his mother present and a psychologist’s testimony, Matthew’s mental health was not taken into consideration.

All his life, Matthew has exemplified what it means to be a productive member of his community. He is loving, caring, compassionate about life and everything that surrounds it. He was student at ODU, worked at Panera and volunteered throughout his community. Matthew has worked at various places including Navy Exchange, and Simon Family Jewish Community Center since he was 16 years old. The Rushins are a loving family; they always give back to the community through their volunteer work and constant involvement with charity events.

Matthew Rushin, an autistic, young, black man was manipulated by authorities, using his disabilities against him, and imprisoned due to an inaccurate charge of 2nd degree attempted murder. Matthew never intended for this collision to happen. He never once harboured criminal intent and yet he is serving a 50 year jail sentence. There are murderers and rapists, actual criminals with malicious intent, who receive much shorter sentences or walk freely amongst their communities without ever facing consequence.

We must bring Matthew home to his family.

[cited from Lavern Rushin’s written description on change.org]

READING + RESOURCES

• TWITTER: @justice4mrushin

• TWITTER: @neuroclastic

• INSTAGRAM: @justice4matthewrushin

• FACEBOOK: Free Matthew Rushin

• neuroclastic.com

• thecolorofautism.org

• blacklivesmatter.com

• themighty.com

• National African American Autism Community Network

• The Arc Virginia

• FACEBOOK: Virginia Autism Project

• Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee

• The Asperger/Autism Network

• Free Matthew Rushin

• Protect People Living and Working Behind Bars From COVID-19

• Police Must Be Required to Wear Body Cameras

• Mandate Police Force Academies to Take Racial Bias Training/Test

• Reform Virginia Police