Charges have been dropped against a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was beaten by Phoenix police, per The Hill.
34-year-old Tyron McAlpin was punched and tased multiple times and put in a chokehold by Phoenix police officers during an arrest on August 19, body camera footage shows. The arrest occurred after a white man allegedly falsely accused McAlpin of assault at a convenience store.
Officers said McAlpin was throwing punches and taking a fighting stance during the arrest. However, attorneys said the man was trying to protect himself as police violently escalated the situation while he struggled to understand their commands due to his disability.
“The answer is easy. He’s deaf. He couldn’t understand what they were doing. And he had done nothing wrong,” McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, said in a statement. “Everything I see in that video is Tyron just trying to avoid being harmed by these officers, and that only made them escalate the violence they used.”
McAlpin was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest. Showalter said his client spent 24 days in jail after his bail was set at $7,500, which he could not afford.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell dismissed the criminal charges against McAlpin earlier this month following community outrage.
“I promised I would personally review the case, including a large volume of video recordings, police reports, and other materials that have been forwarded to my office,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I have now completed my review and have made the decision to dismiss all remaining charges against Mr. McAlpin.”
Showalter alleged that the charges were referred to the prosecutor's office to limit damage to the city.
“I believe they brought these charges not because they believed that any crime had been committed, but because they wanted to cover themselves from civil liability for the assault on Tyrone McAlpin,” he said. “So I am very grateful to hear that Rachel Mitchell has done the right thing, and I know that she made an independent decision based on the evidence."
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