Arizona prosecutors drop charges against deaf Black man beaten by Phoenix police

Authorities dropped all charges Thursday against a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was beaten by Phoenix police after he didn’t respond to their orders, an Arizona prosecutor announced Thursday evening.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s dismissed the charges against Tyron McAlpin comes in the wake of widespread outcry over the 34-year-old’s treatment at the hands of police.

A graphic video of the encounter shows two Phoenix police officers pummeling McAlpin and shocking him with a Taser repeatedly after he didn’t answer their commands. McAlpin was facing charges of two counts of aggravated assault on an officer and resisting arrest, according to court records.

Mitchell said she made the decision to drop the charges against McAlpin after personally reviewing the evidence and speaking with senior attorneys and community members. She began investigating the case after a local NAACP leader shared concerns about the prosecution of McAlpin.

“I have now completed my review and have made the decision to dismiss all remaining charges against Mr. McAlpin,” the veteran prosecutor said in a statement.

Many public officials and community members called for Mitchell to drop the case after the release of the body camera footage this week drew national scrutiny. McAlpin's arrest occurred in August.

Arizona State Senator Anna Hernandez and State Representative Analise Ortiz, both Democrats, released a joint statement Wednesday about the arrest, calling it "indicative of the larger systemic problems within the Phoenix Police Department."

"Tyron is deaf and has cerebral palsy and should never have been subjected to this brutal assault at the hands of police officers," the statement read. "To make matters worse, Tyron, who did absolutely nothing wrong, is being charged with resisting arrest."

The pair noted the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into the Phoenix Police Department, which concluded in June and found the department systematically used illegal excessive force and disproportionately targeted people of color.

Advocates say the footage shined a light on what they say is the unjust reality of deaf or disabled people who encounter police.

"Unfortunately . . . these situations are not uncommon," Nikki Soukup, public policy director for the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, told USA TODAY by email. "Fears include being misinterpreted – such as if using gestures, which may be mistaken for aggressive actions – or not understanding the officer’s instructions and being accused of not cooperating."

Police use of force at issue

The case of McAlpin’s violent treatment at the hands of the cops is the latest in which police react violently to civilians who don’t immediately follow orders.

Other similar cases where deaf people unwittingly wind up in trouble with police include:

• In 2019, Brady Mistic, who is also deaf, was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting police officers in Idaho Springs, Colorado. Mistic filed a lawsuit for use of excessive force two years later, claiming the officers forced him to the ground and used a stun gun on him when he didn't respond to commands he couldn't hear. He spent months in jail and was denied an interpreter, he said.
• In 2017, Magdiel Sanchez was fatally shot by Oklahoma City police officers in front of his home when he approached the officers holding a metal pipe and failed to respond to their verbal commands, the Associated Press reported. Witnesses yelled to the officers that Sanchez couldn't hear them, but police captain Bo Mathews said the officers didn't hear the warnings and opened fire. 
• Oklahoma paid $175,000 to settle claims that its highway patrol used excessive force against Pearl Pearson, who sued after being injured during a 2014 traffic stop when he was unable to communicate or follow verbal directions. He was beaten "to a pulp," his lawyer Derek Burch said.

McAlpin survived the beatdown but many who don’t immediately follow police orders wind up killed, especially among disabled people who might have trouble heeding what officers are telling them.

A quarter of people killed by police have mental illness, according to a report from the Treatment Advocacy Center, a group that pushes for improvements in treatment for people with mental illness.

Other cases include:

• Yong Yang, a 40-year-old experiencing a mental health episode, was shot and killed by police on May 2 inside his parents' Los Angeles apartment where he had locked himself inside alone, his brother, Yin Yang, told USA TODAY. Following the release of body-worn camera footage of the shooting, the Yang family called for the Los Angeles Police Department officer involved in the shooting to be fired and charged with a crime.
• In Illinois, in December 2023, officers with the Village of Elk Grove police department shot and killed Jack Murray outside the family's suburban Chicago home after he called 911. In body-worn camera footage of the shooting, the 24-year-old stumbled down the block holding a knife before police shot him. 
• In March, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Ryan Gainer, a Black teenager with autism, after responding to a call reporting that the 15-year-old was assaulting family members and damaging their property. Body camera footage was later released and showed deputies firing at Gainer after he ran at them with a bladed garden tool.

Will the officers be charged or disciplined?

The release of the video footage this week has renewed calls for the Phoenix Police Department to put the officers involved, Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue, on administrative leave while investigating their conduct. 

But cops rarely wind up getting charged over a controversial use of force, even deadly use of force. Data shows the vast majority of officers don’t face charges for killing people while on the job, and internal discipline procedures vary greatly across the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies.

Sean Grayson, a former sheriff's deputy in Illinois who shot and killed Sonya Massey in her kitchen after she picked up a pot from her stove, was a rare exception. He was fired within days of the shooting and indicted on murder charges.

By contrast, authorities indicted Connor Grubb, a Blendon Township police officer who fatally shot Ta'Kiya Young in her car, one year after the deadly encounter in Ohio.

According to Mapping Police Violence, most killings by officers began with traffic stops, mental health checks, disturbances, non-violent offenses, or where no crime was alleged. 

Police killed more than 1,200 people in 2023, according to the Mapping Police Violence project, a number the group said has risen for the last 10 years.

As deaths have risen, so too has the number of police officers charged with violent on-duty crimes, including murder, manslaughter, and assault, the group found. But charges, such as those facing Grubb and Grayson, remain rare and convictions rarer still, data shows. Less than 2% of killings by police result in an officer being charged and 1% result in an officer being convicted, according to Mapping Police Violence.

Contributing: Madeleine Parrish and Taylor Seely, the Arizona Republic