With mom by his side, Andrew Brundidge, 9, watched the tragic viral video of Philando Castile.
"He said, Mommmm, he's dying," said Sheletta Brundidge. "I said, 'Yes, I know.' And we rehearsed what you do when the police tell you to do something."
Andrew decided to write a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton after seeing the video posted by Diamond Reynolds moments after her boyfriend was fatally shot by a St. Anthony police officer. Andrew is worried about his three younger siblings, who are autistic.
Andrew read the letter to me Monday as mom was driving him to basketball camp: "I think there should be a law saying that officers must have a true and good reason to shoot someone. Plus, they must look at the required license. I myself on behalf of black people everywhere don't think it's right. … I have three siblings with autism. One of them can't talk. I will not let him die because of that. I hope you can make a difference. Sincerely, Andrew Brundidge."
Andrew and Sheletta tried to deliver the letter in person, but couldn't get through the crowd outside the governor's residence. So it's arriving by mail.
"His concern," said Sheletta, a former Twin Cities radio personality and TV producer, "is … If the police tell me to stop, I understand what they are saying, Mom, and I will stop. But what if they tell Daniel to stop? He can't talk yet. What's going to happen to him, Mom? What if Brandon doesn't understand what they are telling him to do or he starts running and jumping? Are they going to shoot him? I don't want my siblings to die because they have autism and don't understand what police are telling them."
She and her husband, Shawn, are back in Minnesota, where Andrew was born, after several years in her hometown Houston, Texas, "because Shawn got a great job and we missed y'all. There isn't anything like coming back here. We've got all our old friends and our old church. We have so much love here. We missed all of that."
She has had to adjust because in Houston is Sheletta's mom, a great help when their family expanded to include Brandon, 3, Cameron, 2, and Daniel, 1. All are on the autism spectrum.