Phoenix officers placed on leave to investigate the violent arrest of a disabled black man

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, have been placed on administrative leave while a formal investigation into the incident, police said Tuesday.

Tyron McAlpin, 34, was punched and beaten by two Phoenix officers named Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue, body camera footage from 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 spokesman said in an email Tuesday.

Officers were on duty last week.

The video of the August incident was aired by several media outlets last week after it was released. NBC News reported that one of McAlpin’s attorneys shared police body camera video and surveillance footage of the arrest. He also said there was no indication officers knew McAlpin was deaf or had cerebral palsy prior to his arrest.

CBS News and NBC News said police were called to a store where a man claimed he was assaulted when he tried to stop a robbery 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.

The civil rights organization Arizona NAACP had asked that the officers be placed on administrative leave until a full investigation is conducted.

The Phoenix Police Department has come under scrutiny in the past, with the US Department of Justice saying in June that it discriminated against minorities and used excessive force.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)