http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-n-police-kill-unarmed-deaf-mute-man-sign-language-article-1.2760714
This is as bad as it gets.
A North Carolina state trooper shot and killed 29-year-old Daniel Harris — who was not only unarmed, but deaf — just feet from his home, over a speeding violation. According to early reports from neighbors who witnessed the shooting this past Thursday night, Harris was shot and killed "almost immediately" after exiting his vehicle.
He appeared to be trying to communicate with the officer via sign language.
"They should've de-escalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation," neighbor Mark Barringer said. "You're pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped. To me, what happened is totally unacceptable."
Police claim they attempted to pull Harris over for speeding, but he continued driving home instead of pulling over. Whether Harris fully understood what was happening, since he could not have heard the sirens, is unclear. His family, including his siblings, are also deaf and could often be seen communicating with each other via sign language in the neighborhood.
An outrageous 752 people have been killed by American police so far this year. While some of the cases posed genuine risks to law enforcement, this one is hard to justify. Beyond being unarmed and deaf, Daniel Harris appears to have been a rather small, thin man. Opening fire could not have been the only option the officer had. What threat did Harris pose? Was a Taser or pepper spray used? Could the officer truly not subdue Harris on his own?
If reports from neighbors are accurate, it doesn't appear the officer even tried, but pretty much shot and killed Harris mere seconds after he got out of the car.
In a widely shared fund-raiser from the Harris family, they wrote:
"Our family is raising funds to cover his memorial and cremation expenses (details pending). Any monies left over will be used to set up a foundation in his name to educate and provide law enforcement proper training on how to confront Deaf people. Subsequently, we hope to change the DMV registration system by requiring states to set up a 'DEAF' alert to appear when law enforcement look up a car's license plate. With this change, Daniel will be a hero in our Deaf community."
Daniel's hearing impairment is no excuse for what happened. While his family is correct — police should absolutely be better trained, and license plates could and should provide smarter alerts to first responders — this case boils down to the "shoot first, ask questions later" training police are receiving all over the country. Virtually any other option the officer could've considered was better than what he chose in this case, but here we are with another avoidable casualty of police violence.
Daniel Harris should be alive with a speeding ticket, but instead his family is raising funds for his cremation.
Here we go again.
The police chased the car for seven and a half miles, and there was significant damage to both vehicles, which may indicate that the police had unsuccessfully tried to physically force it off the road during that pursuit, meaning the deaf driver knew that he was being pursued.
The neighbor said that the shot he heard occurred a few minutes after the cars had arrived at the driver's destination.
The driver had previously been convicted of resisting in Connecticut, and had been tried in Florida for resisting police recovery pursuant to a reported larceny, with those charges ultimately having been dropped. If the car was registered in the name of the driver, then it is likely that the police had learned of those resisting charges and the conviction during the chase. Stay tuned. Or not.
http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/08/22/nice-shaun-king-learned-facts-spouting-ignorance-just/
Quote from: WithoutAPaddle on August 23, 2016, 04:10 PM NHFT
Here we go again.
The police chased the car for seven and a half miles, and there was significant damage to both vehicles, which may indicate that the police had unsuccessfully tried to physically force it off the road during that pursuit, meaning the deaf driver knew that he was being pursued.
The neighbor said that the shot he heard occurred a few minutes after the cars had arrived at the driver's destination.
The driver had previously been convicted of resisting in Connecticut, and had been tried in Florida for resisting police recovery pursuant to a reported larceny, with those charges ultimately having been dropped. If the car was registered in the name of the driver, then it is likely that the police had learned of those resisting charges and the conviction during the chase. Stay tuned. Or not.
http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/08/22/nice-shaun-king-learned-facts-spouting-ignorance-just/
Why is there a "chase" for a minor motor vehicle infraction?
DA: No charges for state trooper who shot, killed deaf N.C. man (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/01/30/da-no-charges-state-trooper-who-shot-killed-deaf-nc-man/97246704/)
USA Today Network WCNC-TV, Charlotte 1:29 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2017
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The North Carolina Highway Patrol state trooper who shot and killed a deaf man in Charlotte last August will not face charges for the incident, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney said Monday.
In August, Trooper Jermaine Saunders chased Daniel Harris nearly 10 miles to the front door of his home in Charlotte's University City neighborhood after trying to stop him for speeding on Interstate 485. When Harris got out of his car, North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials said he and Saunders had an altercation.
According to Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray, Trooper Jermaine Saunders' use of deadly force was not unlawful during the encounter due to Saunders' belief that Daniel Harris posed an imminent threat.
Murray elaborated in documents filed Monday that the critical inquiry in the case is whether it reasonably appeared to Saunders that deadly force was necessary. Murray said that the document does not specifically address issues relating to tactics or whether the trooper followed correct police procedures or Highway Patrol directives.
Saunders told SBI detectives that Harris exited his vehicle and sprinted directly toward him with a metal object in his right hand. When Harris got within 2-4 feet of Saunders, the trooper fired one shot, striking Harris in the chest.
"Trooper Saunders, who had taken a 'felony stop' position consisting of exiting his patrol vehicle and drawing his service gun, had only seconds to decide why Harris was running at him, what the metal object was in Harris' hand and how to protect himself and prevent his gun from being compromised," Murray said in a statement...
well done another pleb killed