A crowd gathered in Civic Space Park Monday night for a candlelight vigil held in memory of Kayden Clarke, a transgender man with Asperger’s syndrome who was killed by police.
The 24-year-old was shot by Mesa police earlier this month when they went to his home after receiving calls he might be suicidal. Clarke approached the police with a knife and they returned with gunfire.
As the vigil began, those in attendance began to line the stage with flowers and candles lit in Clarke’s memory. Many who were not lighting candles were talking and hugging each other in support.
“There are many trans groups in the area. A lot of us talk about issues that are affecting us, and we are a very close-knit community, so when we lose one person it affects everyone,” said Ryan Crawford, an attendee at the vigil.
Monica Jones, the organizer of the vigil, said she arranged the vigil to create a safe place for trans people to come together and mourn the loss of a member of their community.
As candles were passed around, the audience, a crowd of approximately 50 to 75 people, gathered to listen to Jones’ speech.
“Kayden showed the world at that moment he was a human being. He showed the world his vulnerability to life. Kayden was taken away from us too soon,” Jones said.
Clarke gained fame after recording and posting a video on YouTube that depicted him having a meltdown due to his Asperger’s syndrome.
“I think that video touched everyone including myself and people around the world, because it talks about mental illness,” Jones said. “It was that Kayden, this trans man, was willing to document his struggles with mental diagnosis.”
Tara Marshall, a co-leader of the Asperger’s Adult Support Group, also spoke at the vigil. Marshall had met Kayden and has been helping his friends in the following days after his passing.
“A lot of people don’t realize that autistic people are one of the groups that are more at risk in dealing with police. We usually see about six to 12 deaths of autistic people that involve the police,” Marshall said.
The vigil concluded with Jones asking anyone from the audience if they would like to say anything in regards to Clarke’s passing. Several people took to the stage to honor Clarke with their own words.
Contact the reporter at Holly.Bernstein@asu.edu.
