An episode of police brutality shook the community of Phoenix, Arizona after two police officers brutally beat Tyron, a black man, deaf and suffering from cerebral palsyafter a false accusation of theft. The images of the event are heartbreaking.
The incident began when a white man pointed at Tyron outside a store, accusing him of stealing his cell phone and pushing him. Without any other proof than this accusation, the police quickly approached the young man. “Stop where you are!” one of the police officers shouted at him before violently throwing him to the ground. Without further explanation, they began to repeatedly punch him in the back, arms and face, while Tyron tried to protect himself. During the attack he was also subjected to multiple electric shocks with a Taser gunwhich intensified his suffering.
Despite a witness on the scene warned After telling police that Tyron was deaf and appeared to have cerebral palsy, they continued their attack. “Put your hands behind your back!” the police ordered, but the man’s cries of pain did not seem enough to stop the violence.
Tyron’s attorney, Jesse Sohwalter, described the police intervention as “excessive, unnecessary and unreasonable”. “My client had done nothing wrong and the brutality with which he was treated constitutes a flagrant violation of his rights,” he said.
For their part, the Arizona police opened an internal investigation, even though the officers involved claim that Tyron resisted and that one of them was even bitten. In the meantime, The young man spent 24 days in prison and now faces three serious charges.
