Man Who Took Out Monument Suffers From Mental Illness

<p>The man accused of running his car into the Oklahoma Capitol's Ten Commandments monument back in 2014 has done it again in Arkansas.</p>

Wednesday, June 28th 2017, 7:04 pm

By: Karl Torp


The man accused of running his car into the Oklahoma Capitol's Ten Commandments monument back in 2014 has done it again in Arkansas.

Michael Reed, 32, was arrested Wednesday morning after driving into the Ten Commandments monument at the Arkansas Capitol building in Little Rock and streaming it on Facebook live.

Reed was heard yelling “freedom”, just before crashing into the monument.

After hitting the monument in Oklahoma City three years ago, it was fixed and moved just down the street to the private property of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs at NE 13th and Lincoln.

Court records from 2014 show Reed was found to be “a threat to himself and others and mentally ill.”   

Reed was never criminally charged in Oklahoma.

“We shouldn’t criminalize mental illness,” said mental health advocate Cathy Costello.

In 2015, Costello lost her husband at the hands of her mentally ill son and successfully pushed lawmakers for better out-patient care for the mentally ill.

Now it’s easier for patients to receive therapy and medication for a full year after they are released from a facility.

“That could have helped Michael,” said Costello, who tries to help others deal with mental illness through her website cathycostelloforhope.com.

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