30 march to protest police violence

The sister of a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome who was fatally shot by Calumet City officers was among a group of 30 people who marched Saturday at Daley Center Plaza to protest police brutality.

“The police were called to the house for a disturbance, and two police officers pretty much shot and killed him,” said Renee Watts, sister of Stephon Watts. Watts was among one of several families at the protest who claimed their relatives were victimized by police. The demonstration was organized by a group called the Illinois Campaign to End the New Jim Crow.

At the time of the Feb. 1 shooting, Calumet City Police said Stephon Watts had lunged at officers with a knife, cutting one in the forearm. Renee Watts said Saturday that the knife was a butter knife. Officers had been called to the home 10 times for domestic disturbances involving the teen — usually, when he was off his medication — and many of those incidents were violent, Calumet City Police said.

Less than two months before he was shot, police said, officers had responded to a report that he had punched his mother in the face. In that case, he tried to cut them with a knife, and officers used a Taser to subdue him, Calumet City police said.

“The police officers knew Stephon,” his sister said.

The family has filed a lawsuit in the case.

Asperger’s syndrome is sometimes referred to as a form of high-functioning autism. People with Asperger’s often are of high intelligence but struggle with social skills.