Phoenix, Arizona police officers repeatedly Taser Black, deaf man with cerebral palsy, Tyron McAlpin | VIDEO

PHOENIX — A Black man, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, is facing aggravated assault and resisting arrest charges after he was repeatedly punched and tasered by a pair of Phoenix police officers.

The violent and swift arrest of Tyron McAlpin raises serious questions and could serve as a test case for Phoenix and the Justice Department as the two battle over whether the police department in America’s fifth-largest city needs federal oversight , KNXV reported.

Acting on false claims by a white man under investigation, the body camera video shows officers unexpectedly chasing McAlpin, punching him in the head at least 10 times, Tasering him four times and wrapping their arms around hit his neck.

“It’s hard for me to see how the city can come out and say with a straight face that it is directly complying with the DOJ report, while this man is being charged with assaulting police officers over this incident,” said Jesse Showalter . , one of McAlpin’s lawyers.

Phoenix police did not answer specific questions about the arrest but confirmed it is under internal investigation.

A spokesperson emailed the following statement:

“This incident is the subject of an ongoing investigation and was assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau on August 30, 2024.”

But Phoenix police and Maricopa County prosecutors continue to pursue a criminal case against McAlpin. During a recent preliminary hearing, Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Nick Saccone found there was probable cause for his arrest on August 19, 2024.

McAlpin was arrested by officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue.

In their police reports and court testimony, the two officers stated that McAlpin would flee, take a fighting stance, throw repeated punches and disobey commands.

McAlpin’s attorneys said body camera video and surveillance footage show the officers’ claims are false and said there is a clear explanation why he couldn’t comply.

‘The answer is simple. He’s deaf. He couldn’t understand what they were doing. And he had done nothing wrong,” Showalter said. “All I see in that video is Tyron just trying to avoid being harmed by these officers, and that just causes them to increase the escalation and violence that they use.”

The arrest came two months after the Department of Justice released a historic and serious report outlining a long list of systemic deficiencies within the Phoenix Police Department.

Among the issues cited by the DOJ, McAlpin’s arrest also raises the following issues: racial bias, excessive force, dangerous use of Tasers and chokeholds, and violating the rights of people with disabilities.

The violent arrest stems from a morning call from Circle K employees reporting that a white man was causing trouble and would not leave the store, records show.

While being stepped on, the man claimed he had been attacked by a black man and pointed across the street at McAlpin.

Officers Harris and Sue took the man’s claims at face value and left him to pursue McAlpin. (The man’s assault charge was later refuted by store employees and surveillance footage, records show.)

After handcuffing McAlpin, his girlfriend arrived at the arrest and told officers he was deaf and had cerebral palsy, body camera footage shows. None of the officers on scene included any information about McAplin’s disabilities in their reports.

Both Harris and Sue were called to testify at a preliminary hearing on October 1, 2024.

Harris testified that within a second he immediately engaged McAlpin because he thought he was going to run and fight.

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“He raised (his hands) in a way that he was going to hit me,” Harris said during cross-examination. “What that made clear to me is that I was about to be attacked, not that someone was giving up.”

Harris also testified that he did not know if it was possible that McAlpin raised his hands to protect himself from Harris’ sudden punches. In response to a question from the prosecutor, Harris said the whole thing could have been avoided if McAlpin had only identified himself as deaf.

“I would have made him sit down, motioned with my hand for him to sit down, and then I would have gotten a pen,” Harris testified.

As for Officer Sue, he also testified that he saw McAlpin throw punches and claimed he was bitten on the wrist during the arrest.

Officer Sue’s body camera fell off at the beginning of the arrest and only shows the ground. When asked to identify the moment the bite occurred on Officer Harris’ body camera footage, Sue stopped when the camera was pointed upward and McAlpin was not in view.

Defense attorneys asked Sue if it was possible that he grazed his wrist on the ground or McAlpin’s open mouth as they punched, choked and tasered him.

But Sue said no and denied using a chokehold on McAlpin.

In a bizarre moment to refute the defense’s claim about the cause of the abrasion on Sue’s wrist, the prosecutor asked him to put his hand in his mouth and rub his teeth with it.

When Commissioner Saccone ruled that he had found probable cause to pursue the misdemeanor charge, he offered no explanation.

Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) President Darrell Kriplean released the following statement regarding the incident:

“We are aware of an incident that occurred on August 19, 2024, where an individual resisted arrest after immediately becoming combative with our officers who sought to question him regarding his involvement in a previous attack on a community member.

“While some in the media are making this incident about race and discrimination, in reality it involves two police officers in full Phoenix police uniforms driving fully marked police cars and being immediately attacked by someone who is alleged to have committed a crime. Our officers did that. the right to defend oneself against attack by using reasonable and necessary force based on the circumstances at the time.

“After reviewing all evidence presented, Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Nick Saccone determined that there was sufficient evidence to support a misdemeanor charge against the suspect for his actions against the officers. We stand behind our officers and would like to caution the community in making judgments about the incident until all evidence has been reviewed rather than a snippet of bodycam footage.”

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