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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.

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[-] kescusay@lemmy.world 111 points 1 month ago

They should be charged with assault and battery, like anyone else who did that would be.

[-] Speculater@lemmy.world 54 points 1 month ago

It should also be a hate crime against a vulnerable person. Put those fuckers away for 10 years.

[-] Samvega@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 month ago

Sadly, hate is a legitimate political position, and those in power are not unanimously against hatred being a dominant force within society.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Trump's holding rallies that explicitly promise a violent dictatorship and call for killing some of the most oppressed groups of people, and he's about to be elected President for the second time. Then people like these cops are going to be celebrated and encouraged.

[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

And make that 10 years a mandatory minimum. Meaning no getting out on good behavior.

[-] ruk_n_rul 25 points 1 month ago

They would conduct an investigation onto themselves and find no wrongdoing.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

This seems like at least attempted manslaughter to me.

[-] deltapi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

You mean assault with a deadly weapon?

[-] EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Manslaughter is accidental, so attempted manslaughter is just attempt of murder.

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[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 91 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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?

[-] Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world 67 points 1 month ago
[-] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago

Racism is almost always the answer when it comes to pigs.

[-] lath@lemmy.world 55 points 1 month 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...

[-] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)
[-] Hegar@fedia.io 12 points 1 month ago

Well that's a lovely phrase to know!

I feel like I've struggled to express this concept in the past, often in arguments about the police. I'm definitely going to be saying that a lot now.

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

Just make sure you say purpose and not propose.

[-] Hegar@fedia.io 5 points 1 month ago

I purpose that it's more fun that way.

[-] jonne@infosec.pub 4 points 1 month ago

The porpoise is doing what it does.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

Not to be pedantic, but you might want to fix that typo. "Purpose", not "propose".

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[-] 2ugly2live@lemmy.world 49 points 1 month 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 26 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Absolutely shameful.

[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 12 points 1 month ago

Also wasn't the 911 call about a white man?

[-] 2ugly2live@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month 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 48 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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 51 points 1 month 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.

[-] Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month 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.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month 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 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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.

[-] whostosay@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month 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@lemmy.sdf.org 36 points 1 month 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.

[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago
[-] basmati@lemmus.org 12 points 1 month 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 10 points 1 month ago

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

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[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago

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

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 11 points 1 month ago

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

[-] extremeboredom@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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.

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[-] extremeboredom@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago

Congrats to Phoenix officers Ben Harris and Kyle Sue, you just made the List.

[-] uberdroog@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Lived in a Vet/Cop suburb of Phx. These fuckers are dumb and crazy.

[-] Mobilityfuture@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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 9 points 1 month 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.

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago

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

[-] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

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.

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month 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 13 points 1 month 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@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 month ago

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

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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.

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this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
464 points (98.7% liked)

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