Bodycam footage shows Phoenix police beating and tasing a deaf, disabled man

PHOENIX (TNND) – Recently released bodycam footage showing two Phoenix police officers yelling at and hitting a Black man who is reportedly deaf and suffers from cerebral palsy sparked outrage among civil rights and disability activists.

Video released by a lawyer shows 34-year-old Tyron McAlpin being tasered and beaten by police as he lies face down on the ground.

Police said in a report obtained by CNN that they attempted to question McAlpin after a man claimed he was beaten by someone who tried to steal his bike. When the man identified McAlpin as a suspect, officers followed him to a nearby parking lot.

McAlpin now faces two counts of aggravated assault and one count of resisting arrest after police say he took a “fighting stance” as officers approached him. On Tuesday, the Maricopa District Attorney’s Office told the media that initial theft charges had been dropped.

Phoenix police told CNN that the officers have not been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

“This incident is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation and was assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau on August 30, 2024,” police told the National News Desk in a statement.

Bodycam footage shows one of the officers telling McAlpin to “stop where you are” and “take a seat” before immediately grabbing him and a fight ensues.

“His hands came up to deliver targeted blows to my face/head and he struck my head multiple times with clenched fists,” one of the officers wrote in the incident report.

The video continues to show McAlpin on the ground as officers yell at him to put his hands behind his back and insult him several times.

Shortly after the altercation, a woman claiming to be his wife arrives at the scene and tells the police that her husband has a disability.

“You’re messing with him for no reason,” she can be heard saying in the video.

When the police asked about his disability, they stated that he was deaf and had cerebral palsy.

“I’ve been on the phone with him since Circle K,” she adds, before police ask how she spoke to him at home if he’s deaf.

“Because I spoke sign language, that’s why I signed for him,” she replied.

The police report states that McAlpin was then taken to a hospital by ambulance “as a precautionary measure.”

The Arizona NAACP condemned the attack and called for the officers to be placed on administrative leave pending a full investigation into their conduct.

“This brutal attack was due to the false claims of a white citizen that are reminiscent of many falsehoods like Emmit Till that have claimed the lives of Black citizens in America,” Andre Miller, vice president of the Arizona State Conference (NAACP), said in a statement . Tyron wasn’t a suspect in an actual crime, he hadn’t done anything wrong, and he also has trouble communicating. His attack occurred just seconds after the police vehicle was pulled into the park. There was no real communication in this encounter.

McAlpin pleaded not guilty and spent 24 days in jail before posting bond, CBS News reported.

The Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing said it was “deeply disheartened by the unwarranted incident during a police interaction with a Black, deaf and disabled person whose language is ASL.”

In June, the Justice Department released a report saying that Phoenix police and the city of Phoenix were “engaging in a pattern or course of conduct that violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law.”

It specifically called out the use of excessive force, unlawful detention or arrest of homeless people, and discrimination against blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans in enforcing the law.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the report was “an important step toward accountability and transparency.”

The National News Desk has reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for comment and has not yet received a response.

An initial preliminary hearing for McAlpin is scheduled for November 13 and a trial for the end of February.