The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘I Was Hearing the Voices Again’

Posted on | April 6, 2024 | Comments Off on ‘I Was Hearing the Voices Again’

Notice anything about Calvin Haskins? Like the fact that he’s got an Egyptian ankh symbol tattooed in the middle of his forehead? Why would somebody do that? I could refer you to the title of a 1974 Richard Pryor album, or I could cite research that black people “are 2.4 times more likely [than white people] to be diagnosed with schizophrenia.” But it’s not necessary for me to offer evidence that Calvin Haskins is mentally disturbed — demented, deranged, daffy, wacky, bonkers, berserk, off his rocker, nutty as a Snickers bar, a few fries short of a Happy Meal and cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs — other than to mention that until recently, he was being treated at a state mental hospital in Buffalo, New York. Now, however, he’s being held without bond in the county jail:

Buffalo police said three staff members were taken from the Buffalo Psychiatric Center by ambulance after they were stabbed by a patient Wednesday morning.
The incident inside the Forest Avenue facility happened just after 9 a.m. The suspect in the matter, 34-year-old resident Calvin Haskins, has been taken into custody.
“Earlier today, three staff members were injured during an incident at the Strozzi Building of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center campus and we are actively assisting the Buffalo Police Department’s investigation into this matter,” a statement from New York State’s Office of Mental Health read. “The Office of Mental Health’s top priority is the safety of our staff and the individuals we serve, and our thoughts are with the employees who were injured and their families.”
In a conference Wednesday afternoon, Buffalo police said that the alleged attacker used a knife. The incident took place in an area of the complex that can be accessed without being screened for weapons.
The three victims, who were all taken to ECMC, were identified as a 45-year-old man, a 55-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman. A source at ECMC said that all three of the victims are in stable condition.
Haskins has been charged with three counts of assault and a single count of criminal possession of a weapon. He was arraigned on Wednesday afternoon.
Haskins has a history of stabbings. It was confirmed to News 4 on Wednesday that Haskins was charged in connection to a stabbing at the Fountain Plaza Train Station in downtown Buffalo in 2013, where he allegedly stabbed another man. He was charged with attempted murder.

So, a guy with “a history of stabbing” (and a tattoo in the middle of his forehead) was in the state mental hospital when he stabbed some more people. Let’s hear from the suspect’s mom:

The mother of the man accused of stabbing three staffers at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center on Wednesday says her son has suffered from mental illness for most of his life.
Sylvia Haskins said she visited her son, Calvin Haskins, on Thursday at the Erie County Holding Center, where he’s being held without bail after being charged with three counts of first-degree assault.
She told 7 News her son, who is 34, told her “he lost it” on Wednesday when he allegedly stabbed three people just after 9 a.m.
“He said ‘I was hearing the voices again. They wasn’t give me my medication and he said I just lost it’,” she said.
Now, she’s worried about his well-being at the holding center.
She says it’s well-documented that he is mentally ill and should be in the psychiatric ward at Erie County Medical Center. . . .
Sylvia Haskins said her son has been institutionalized since 2013 when he took an insanity plea in connection to an attempted murder charge for stabbing a man 17 times at a Metro Rail station.
She said her son was initially sent to a psychiatric hospital in Rochester and then later transferred to Buffalo Psychiatric Center at 400 Forest Avenue.
About two years ago, she said his condition had improved enough that he was allowed to come and go from the center while remaining a patient. . . .
She said she feels terrible for what happened to the staffers.
“My heart goes out to the three who he stabbed and their families and they are all in my prayers,” she said. “But at the end of the day, the system has failed the mentally ill.”

Let’s recount: Stabs a guy 17 times in 2013, but avoids prison for attempted murder by pleading insanity and ends up in a state mental hospital where, by 2022, “his condition had improved enough that he was allowed to come and go.” And then one day he shows up with a knife and stabs three more people, and his mother is “worried” that he’s in jail, because of his “well-documented” craziness which, she says, should instead qualify him for another trip to the psych ward. Because she’s an expert in such matters, see? And as an expert, she tells us “the system has failed” her son, because never mind whether she, herself, has failed as a mother, having raised a dangerous nutjob who keeps stabbing people.

Just as an aside: Like a lot of violent crazy people, Calvin Haskins says he was “hearing voices.” You see this all the time in news coverage about people getting murdered by a kook who was “hearing voices.” Why is it that the voices in these people’s heads never say things like, “Hey, man, you need to chill out, have a beer and watch a basketball game on TV”? Instead of offering helpful advice like that, the voices are always saying, “KILL! KILL! KILL!” But I digress . . .

Perhaps it is not necessary for me to point out that both Calvin Haskins and his mother are eligible to vote in New York, which may have something to do with how Joe Biden got 56% of the vote in Erie County. Speaking of disturbing thoughts, the fact that Sylvia Haskins is a mother means that, at some point, some guy had sex with her, and I’m sure that mental image will leave many readers permanently traumatized. But try not to let this irreparable trauma completely unravel your mind because, of course: Crazy People Are Dangerous 



 

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Category: Crime, New York

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