By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – Two Phoenix police officers whose violent arrest of a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy was widely condemned by human rights advocates were placed on administrative leave as a formal probe proceeded into the incident, the police said on Tuesday.
Tyron McAlpin, 34, was tasered and punched by two Phoenix officers named Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue, body camera footage of his arrest in August showed. McAlpin was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest, charges that were dropped late last week.
“The officers remain on administrative leave,” a police spokesperson said in an email on Tuesday.
The officers were on duty as of last week.
Video of the August incident was aired by multiple media outlets last week after its release. NBC News reported that police body camera video and surveillance footage from the arrest was shared by one of McAlpin’s attorneys. It also said there was no indication that the officers knew McAlpin was deaf or had cerebral palsy before his arrest.
CBS News and NBC News said police were called to a convenience store where a man claimed he was assaulted when he tried to stop a theft while pointing to McAlpin as the culprit. CBS News said McAlpin did not face charges related to those claims.
McAlpin’s lawyer said there had been no wrongdoing on McAlpin’s part. McAlpin spent 24 days in jail before making bond, according to CBS News.
Civil rights organization Arizona NAACP had called for the officers to be placed on administrative leave until the full probe was conducted.
The Phoenix Police Department has previously been under scrutiny, with the U.S. Justice Department saying in June it discriminated against minorities and used excessive force.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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