All charges faced by a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was caught on camera being punched and Tasered by Phoenix police officers will be dropped.
The Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell vowed to review bodycam footage released this week showing two Phoenix police officers tackling 34-year-old Tyron McAlpin on August 19. On Thursday evening, Mitchell announced she would dismiss all remaining charges against McAlpin.
Surveillance footage captures the officers approaching McAlpin in a parking lot. One officer leaps out of the car, lunges at McAlpin and grabs him. A brawl ensues, ending with one officer dragging McAlpin to the ground before they repeatedly punch and then Taser him.
The officers arrested McAlpin, who was charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault. Nearly two months after the August incident, those charges have been dropped.
“Last Friday, a leader of the local chapter of the NAACP shared his concern with me regarding the prosecution of Mr Tyron McAlpin,” Mitchell said in a Thursday statement.
“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.
“On Tuesday of this week, I also convened a large gathering of senior attorneys and members of the community to hear their opinions as they pertain to this case. I have now completed my review and have made the decision to dismiss all remaining charges against Mr McAlpin,” she said.
One of McAlpin’s attorneys, Jesse Showalter, told CNN after the announcement: “On behalf of Tyron and his family, we are overjoyed.”
Showalter called the charges brought against his client “unjust.”
“This case highlights continuing issues with the city of Phoenix, Phoenix police and its police culture. We look forward to obtaining accountability and justice from the City of Phoenix,” he added. The Independent has reached out to Showalter for comment.
A June report by the Justice Department found that the Phoenix Police Department “discriminates against Black, Hispanic, and Native American people when enforcing the law” as well as those with behavioral disabilities and routinely uses “excessive force” while on the job.
The Phoenix Police Department previously told The Independent that this incident “is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation and was assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau on August 30, 2024.”
Both officers involved in the incident— Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue — are still actively working in the police force and are not on administrative leave, a Phoenix Police spokesperson told The Independent on Thursday.
Police had approached McAlpin because, according to a police report, a white man had accused a black man — later identified as McAlpin — of “trying to take” his bike in a Circle K store before they got into a physical fight. McAlpin faces no charges related to these allegations.
Footage captured officers pinning the 34-year-old to the ground as he screamed. They then placed him in custody.
Not long after, the video shows a woman approaching the group, explaining that McAlpin is her husband and that he was on the phone with her when the incident unfolded.
“Well, he’s under arrest for assault on a police officer,” one officer responds.
She explains that McAlpin has a disability. “He’s deaf and he’s got cerebral palsy. And I’ve been on the phone with him since Circle K,” a convenience store where police said the other incident they were investigating occurred allegedly involving him.
The officer then questioned how she was able to speak on the phone with her husband if he was deaf. She said: “I know sign language. I sign to him.”
