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

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

Acting on false claims from a white man under investigation, body camera video shows officers unexpectedly go after McAlpin, punch him in the head at least 10 times, Taser him four times, and wrap their arms around his neck.

  • SeaJ
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    2 months ago

    The violent arrest stems from a morning call from Circle K employees who reported that a White man was causing problems and wouldn’t leave the store, records show.

    While being trespassed, the man claimed he was assaulted by a Black man and pointed across the street at McAlpin.

    Obviously the assault is fucked up but this also pisses me off. They were called because a white dude was causing issues at a store. Instead of arresting the guy, they listen to him spout a lie and just assume what he was saying was true. Why would they give him the benefit of the doubt on that?

  • @lath@lemmy.world
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    552 months ago

    If you need to beat a suspect to do your job, you’re incompetent and should pursue another line of work. Unless of course your job is to beat people…

  • 2ugly2live
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    492 months ago

    How fucking horrid.

    Not only did they immediately beat the ever living shit out of him, they charged him with assault and resisting arrest!

    The guy causing trouble just pointed to him. They didn’t ask the store, or witnesses, just drove over and started swinging. They didn’t give him a chance to try and communicate and just started beating him. That’s fucking insane. Did the guy causing the issues ever even get in any trouble? They asked him to “wait” and just left. Didn’t take him with them, they didn’t come out swinging, they spoke with him and were like, “a negro you say? Say no more.”

    • @jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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      2 months ago

      When I was in Uni, I watched a (white) guy blow up a toilet with a cherry bomb. The police came running as he was quickly exiting the bathroom.

      The dude who did the crime saw the police on his way out and, without hesitation, shouted at the cops “two black guys just went running that way!” and pointed to the stairwell.

      The cops didn’t think twice. Those racist fuckers went charging past the actual criminal in the direction of nonexistent men of color.

      I learned an important lesson in systemtic racism that day.

      • 2ugly2live
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        102 months ago

        Yup. The only person who pointed him out was the white guy they were called out for in the first place.

  • @vxx@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Resisting against arrest should be a human right, but instead it’s used as an excuse for murder.

    If you hurt someone during arrest, the usual laws apply, so I don’t see a reason for an extra law that punishes humans fight or flight response.

    • @jonne@infosec.pub
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      512 months ago

      Usually the arrestee wasn’t even resisting. Cops are just trained to yell 'stop resisting’regardless of the situation because they know the body cam footage won’t show what’s actually happening because it’s strapped to the chest of the guy doing the punching.

      • Stopthatgirl7OP
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        242 months ago

        They also know it can affect the memory of any eye witnesses Memory is malleable and they try to screw with it and implant the idea that the person they’re arresting WAS resisting.

        • Flying Squid
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          112 months ago

          I’d normally say good luck successfully arguing the deaf guy with cerebral palsy was resisting you in any way that required the need to retaliate that way, but these are cops, so the judge would probably say, “not guilty and also someone give these brave boys in blue a medal!”

      • @vxx@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Absolutely. I wouldn’t comment scrapping that law if it wouldn’t be abused, and in my opinion it doesn’t serve any positives that would outweight it.

        Just reduce sentences for cooperating or something. It would be the first incentive of rehabilitation right at the moment of arrest.

        • chingadera
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          112 months ago

          The way you’re thinking is not wrong.

          That said, resisting is a felony and rehabilitation was never part of the plan. Private prisons exist.

  • @some_guy
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    362 months ago

    The violent arrest stems from a morning call from Circle K employees who reported that a White man was causing problems and wouldn’t leave the store, records show.

    Of course you get called about a white guy and end up assaulting a Black guy. That’s pretty much the job, sadly.

    • @basmati@lemmus.org
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      122 months ago

      All cops need to be removed from interaction with the public, permanently; and new light duty police with no authority for violence need to be trained for at least half a decade from a population without any violent tendencies, including a history of playing violent contact sports or previous military experience.

      • @floofloof@lemmy.ca
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        102 months ago

        But then how would they violently enforce white supremacy and the interests of capitalists?

  • JaggedRobotPubes
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    232 months ago

    Names and addresses of the officers would be a good thing to have out there in public.

    • SeaJ
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      112 months ago

      The names are in the article. Wouldn’t be hard to find their addresses.

      • @extremeboredom@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I find it’s actually increasingly difficult. More and more of these government thugs have access to private tailored services for LEOs which wipe their online presence entirely. A measure of privacy not offered to the filthy peasants. Some even go under different names, which makes you wonder why they’re so ashamed of their profession.

    • @BobGnarley@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Kyle Sue is the stupid piece of shit that did this and also wore sunglasses and a hat to court.

      I’d start with his.

  • @Mobilityfuture@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Disgusting. There need to be assault charges on the officers and the department needs a overhaul and oversight. Watch the video if you don’t agree

    • @EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world
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      92 months ago

      Closest to oversight or charges we see in this country is paid leave funded by taxpayers for a few weeks and a transfer to another dept to wash away any wrongdoing that was caught by civilians.

  • DominusOfMegadeus
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    102 months ago

    I feel like we need neighborhood patrols of white people (sadly) looking to prevent the police from murdering anyone.

    • Well last century is the was the black panthers… and that lead to gun control by a republican governor. So… how about a mix and black and white people on patrol to see if we can scare them into wanting gun control.

      • DominusOfMegadeus
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        102 months ago

        I like where your head is at. Let’s include a variety of skin tones and ancestral nationalities. But the white component is key, so we don’t get murdered.

        • @NABDad@lemmy.world
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          132 months ago

          If the BLM protests taught us anything, it was that if you don’t cower before police authority, they’ll kill you regardless of your skin color.

          We should still do it. However, don’t pretend cops won’t kill white people. Just because they prefer to kill brown people it doesn’t mean they’re not willing to branch out.

          • nickwitha_k (he/him)
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            102 months ago

            And if the murder of Daniel Shaver is any indication, cowering before police authority isn’t a sure bet against being killed either.

          • DominusOfMegadeus
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            2 months ago

            My plan is for us to all be armed. Plus, police seem to really dislike being filmed while they murder people for some reason.