Deaf Man Beaten, Tasered and Choked by Police

Deaf News: California Deaf man beaten, tasered and choked by police for not understanding commands awarded $55,000 settlement.



LOS ANGELES, CA -- PINAC News: After mistaking a Deaf man for a thief, beating him, tasering him and choking him because he was unable to understand their commands, the Hawthorne Police Department in southwest Los Angeles has settled a lawsuit for $55,000. The settlement was approved by the City Council on Tuesday in California.



The Deaf man identified as Jonathan Meister and co-plaintiff Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness Inc. will receive the settlement on the basis of civil rights violations under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.



Meister was at a friends house in February 2013 gathering items from his vehicle when a neighbor called police thinking he was a car thief, according to NBC Los Angeles.



Although there were four officers that responded to the call, Officers Jeffrey Salmon and Jeffrey Tysl were identified as the aggressors.



Once on scene, they yelled out to Meister and he in return motioned that he was Deaf.



The officers motioned for Meister to come towards them, which he did, but then they grabbed his wrists and placed his hands behind his back – a very uncomfortable position for Meister given the fact that he is Deaf and uses his hands to speak.



The lawsuit, which can be read here, describes how officers Salmon and Tysl got close to Meister and roughed him up. Amidst the miscommunication, Meister ran away from the officers who gave chase, only to catch him, fight with him more and taser him.



The officers pushed Meister up against the wall. Officer Salmon put Meister in a choke hold and subsequently kneed him twice in the abdomen.



Officer Tysl then punched Meister in the face repeatedly.



That was when Salmon shot Meister with a Taser X-26 which brought Meister careening to the ground. Officers kicked and elbowed Meister repeatedly while another officer shocked him a second time with the taser.



After a second choke hold and third Taser shock, Meister lost consciousness.



According to the suit, the officers, “shot taser darts into Mr. Meister, administered a number of painful electric shocks, struck him with fists and feet, and forcibly took him to the ground.”



“They ended up grabbing his arms and turning him around, and if you do that to a deaf person, it’s like gagging them. It would be like if I put my hand over your mouth if you try to tell me something,” says Meister’s lawyer John Burton.



Meister was arrested, taken to the hospital, and then into custody at the county jail, but officials dropped the charges at the jail due to the circumstances.



The suit claims Meister suffered, “extreme physical pain and suffering, humiliation, hardship, anxiety, and indignity, and severe mental and emotional anguish pain.”



Meister is a graduate of the University of Ohio and holds a Masters degree in Architecture. In a recollection of events, Meister’s wrote:



“I didn’t mean to resist — it’s ultimately my responsibility. But, with claustrophobia, logic gets pushed down a bit! I did not mean to resist, only to put space between myself and the officers so I could communicate.”



Per the settlement, the Hawthorne Police Department has pledged to change its communication and use of force policies regarding Deaf civilians. The new policy includes providing qualified interpreters to jailed deaf suspects, a booking video and transcript to describe the arrest process, and a video or TTY phone.



Just a few months ago in Charlotte, NC a Deaf man was shot and killed by a state highway patrol officer. The man lead officers on a brief high speed chase. When the chase came to an end, the Deaf man exited his vehicle charging at the officer on foot who in return fatally shot the man after repeated verbal commands to stop.



The North Carolina Highway Patrol officer has not yet been charged with a crime because the investigation is still pending.



SOURCE

Deaf Rape Victim Dies in Acid Attack

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Deaf & mute rape victim dies in acid attack in West Bengal - English Subtitles.



KRISHNAGAR, WB -- A 28-year-old Deaf and mute woman of a village in Nadia district died of severe burns after an unidentified man threw acid on her while she wassleeping, police said today.



The woman, who was allegedly raped last month by an unidentified man of her village, was sleeping in her house late last night at Betai Natunpara village when acid was thrown at her through an open window, Nadia SP S R Jhajharia said.

Suffering from severe burns, she was first taken to a hospital at Tehatta from where she was referred to a hospital at Krishnagar, the district headquarters, he said.



The woman succumbed to her burn injuries shortly after she was admitted to the hospital, Jhajharia said, adding her body has been sent for a post mortem.



The family is suspecting the hand of a villager who allegedly raped her last month and asked her not to make a police complaint about the crime, the SP said.



But the woman did file a police complaint following which a spot inquiry was conducted by the police a week ago, he added.



SOURCE



Times Of India's Official YouTube Channel by Culture Machine Media Pvt Ltd.

Elderly Deaf Couple Recovering After Brutal Home Invasion

VIDEO: Deaf News: Three Memphis men were arrested and charged with a home invasion in the Wesson Height subdivision in Olive Branch, Mississippi.



OLIVE BRANCH, MS -- WREG: A couple was terrorized, beaten and robbed.The couple said it was God that helped get them through.



Through sign language and translation help from their son, Diann and Jimmy Kelley said they were in their kitchen when three men Charles Gayles, Jeffrey Richardson, and Charlonte Smith broke through a back bedroom window, entered their home, shut the lights off and attacked them.



Diann Kelley, 68, said the men flipped over the kitchen table, tied her up with duct tape over her mouth, wrists, and ankles, and beat her husband over and over with the ends of their rifles.

"He says they just kept beating him with the guns. He can’t count how many times they hit him," the Kelley's son, Kevin, said through translation. "His hands are all swollen they hit his hands because he was trying to cover his head. They broke that finger. They broke his ribs."



When the men left with duffle bags worth of their belongings, Diann was able to rip the tape off her mouth, find a knife to cut the tape from her ankles, and run for help.



Jimmy is now back at home after suffering two broken ribs, an ear that had to be stitched back together, and gashes in his head.



"She has no idea why,” Kevin said. “Maybe because they are Deaf, they are taking advantage of them not being able to hear. They weren't satisfied the first time with what they were able to get out?"



This wasn’t the first time the couple was targeted. Earlier in July, the couple said the same men entered through their garage door, but Jimmy was able to reach for a gun and start shooting, which caused the men to run.



Multiple police agencies searched for the men after Diann got help. One of the men was found in the attic and another was found several houses down. Diann said the man in the attic actually fell through the ceiling, and that is how officers found him.



"She said, ‘why should she let three boys win over her and scare her?’ She's not going to allow it,” Kevin said.



The family said thanks to prayers, they are making it through.



SOURCE



Related:

Elderly Deaf Couple Had Been Dead Inside Home

Deaf/Blind Teen Brutally Beaten By TSA Agents

VIDEO: Deaf News - TSA sued for brutal beating Deaf, partially blind teen girl recovering from brain surgery at the Memphis Airport.



MEMPHIS, TN -- A teen just released from brain surgery was beaten by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents inside the Memphis International Airport last year, a recent lawsuit alleges.



The TSA is listed as a defendant in a suit accusing them of injuring a mentally disabled teen after she was unable to understand or comply with orders at a security checkpoint.



Newly surfaced photos show the aftermath of the June 30, 2015 incident, in which agents roughed up 19-year-old Hannah Cohen leaving her bloodied and bruised.

“They wanted to do further scanning; she was reluctant. She didn’t understand what they were about to do,” her mother Shirley Cohen told WREG.



The lawsuit claims before Hannah had brain tumor surgery at St. Jude’s hospital, she already had “a physical and mental impairment that substantially limit one or more of her life activities.”



“More particularly,” the lawsuit continues, “Hannah has damage from radiation and removal of a brain tumor that substantially limits her ability to speak, walk, stand, see, hear, care for herself, learn and work, think, concentrate, and interact with others.”



“This substantial limitation is obvious upon sight and was obvious” on the day of the incident, the lawsuit filed in US District Court states.



“She’s trying to get away from them,” Hannah’s mother described, “but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. And I looked and there’s blood everywhere.”



All the while Shirley was kept from being able to help her daughter, causing her “extreme emotional injury as she watched the personnel assault her daughter,” according to court documents obtained by Infowars.



The Memphis International Airport Police Department is also included as a defendant in the suit for “arresting her for no cause.”



“Hannah was arrested, booked and on the night she should have been celebrating the end of her treatment, she was locked up in Jail East,” reports WREG.



“Here we were with nowhere to go, not even a toothbrush, our bags had gone to Chattanooga,” Shirley said.



TSA did not comment on the case, but referred travelers with special accommodations to call their TSA Cares hotline. The Cohens’ are asking for $100,000 in damages.



SOURCE

Deaf Man Brutally Beaten & Suspects Arrested

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The raw footage of brutal beating and robbed a Deaf man. Two men taken into custody in Riverside, California.



The following video contains footage of graphic vioence which may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewers discretion is advised.



RIVERSIDE, CA - Riverside Police Department say that a man was beaten at 1 a.m. May 19, 2015, at the coffee shop on Mission Inn Avenue in Riverside, California. Two men attacked and robbed a Deaf customer outside The Coffee Bean Cafe at Mission Inn and Main. The suspects fled the area on foot. A MacBook was stolen from the victim.



Two 22-year-old Riverside men are behind bars on suspicion of beating and robbing a Deaf man of a laptop computer last month in that city at a downtown coffee shop, police say.

Daniel Allen Estremera and Dawone Anthony Finnell both were arrested Tuesday, June 30, for investigation of robbery, conspriacy, and parole violation, police said.



Surveillance video shows the victim being approached by two men who beat him to the ground and escaped with what police described as his MacBook laptop computer.



The device hasn't been recovered, said Milby, who declined to say what specific evidence connects the two suspects to the crime. Source