On January 7, 2021, the day after the US Capitol was stormed by angry mobs of Trump supporters, Mr. “Two judges in America, one for us and one for white people,” Odieno wrote on Facebook.
Mr. Mehrtab, like his own parents, and his friend Ivor gradually learned about the entrenched racial injustices of his new country, which were not evident from abroad. “One of the things they realize is that you’re not going to be trusted, they’re going to take someone else’s word over yours,” Mr. Mehrtab said. “They understand that this system is anti-African-American.”
Over the years, Mr. Odieno and his mother learned to live with his mental illness. When he was on medication and seeing a doctor, there was long-term stability, Ms Ogo said. But there were outbursts — Mrs. Ogo would take him to the hospital, and Mr. Odieno should be controlled.
“He said to me, ‘Mom, why do they have to tie me to the bed?’ she said.
Sometimes these episodes occurred while he was at home with her in a quiet subdivision of single-family homes outside Richmond. The police would come with a medical team, she said; They will take him to the hospital where he will be treated.
That more or less happened on the afternoon of March 2, when they responded to a neighbor’s call about a “suspicious situation,” according to Henrico County police. Mr. Otieno and his family confirmed it. A mental health issue, not a criminal matter.
