Southern California Police Beat and Taser an Innocent Deaf Man

I cannot imagine being deaf and trying to sign to officers that want to cause an incident (investigate is a nice word). The problem with many of these situations (which bother me about as much as anything) is when a video surfaces the story of the cops and what actually happened catches the cops lying and trying to make trumped up charges stick.. This was a bad situation if the lawsuit and facts are indeed true ? At this point all we can hope for is that justice is served.

www.courthousenews.com...

Officers confronted him on Feb. 13 outside a friend's home as he picked up a snowboard and winter clothes for a trip to Utah, Meister says in the lawsuit.
Meister says he used hand gestures to try to tell police he is deaf and was lawfully at the home.
The cops were having none of it. They "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," he says in the complaint.
Officers kicked and punched him in the back and stomach, choked and Tasered him, delivering "punishing shocks" and intentionally "burning his flesh," Meister claims.
He says four defendant officers took part in the attack: Jeffrey Salmon, Jeffrey Tysl, Erica Bristow and Mark Hultgren.
After he was knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital, he cited for assaulting the officers and released, but the charges were dropped.

reply to post by 727Sky


But WAIT! all the DAILY reports of thuggery..

Not all cops are bad.. even though they ALL ENGAGE in anti- Free Republic acts daily for a paycheck.

Even if 1% of cops were "bad"..

\they should ALL face angry mobs

reply to post by 727Sky


No person is "innocent".

By the same concept most people don't deserve a beat down.

As always there's more to the story. I remain neutral.

The police are criminals but we can't have criminals policing the public.

Im really getting tired of this crap.

Im tired of these so called "good cops" standing by and doing nothing, which makes me believe there is no such thing.

The police are really making it hard for people to look at them with respect.

FTP.

Most people wouldn't recognize if they saw ASL. The article, if indeed it is a true story, doesn't give enough info. Why were they called, why did they think the person was doing something wrong?

Common Good
Im really getting tired of this crap.

Im tired of these so called "good cops" standing by and doing nothing, which makes me believe there is no such thing.

The police are really making it hard for people to look at them with respect.

FTP.

being a "good cop" means as long as there is a worse one to compare to, = good..

good cop analogy..

A girl is called 'easy'. she will deny it and find a girl more easy, call HER a @## and say "hey, ive only been with 100 guys, that girl has been with 200 guys. She is a $%$$"

HanzHenry
Not all cops are bad.. even though they ALL ENGAGE in anti- Free Republic acts daily for a paycheck.

You cannot, by definition, have a good cop that serves and protects a criminal government. Virtually every cop supports these criminals every time he/she is involved in laying charges for victimless crimes.

reply to post by nixie_nox

Meister was removing boxes and bags he stored in the backyard of his friend’s home in the 3500 block of West 147th Street when a neighbor saw him, thought he looked suspicious and called out to him. Meister, who didn’t hear the calls, didn’t respond, so the neighbor phoned police.

The neighborhood had experienced a recent rash of burglaries, so when officers arrived they were concerned about encountering a burglar, according to police reports.

Officers “watched Mr. Meister as he walked through the gate, out of the backyard, carrying some of his personal belongings to his car,” the complaint states. When Meister saw the officers, he put down the boxes and gestured that he couldn’t hear them. He walked over to them but, as he approached, officers grabbed his wrists and turned him around.

From other article www.dailybreeze.com...

reply to post by Deaf Alien


Thank you for the extra link. Over the years I really am getting more jaded when I hear an official statement; it does not matter if it is the cops or the government story.. You can keep your doctor and it will be affordable for all rings my bell.


Confucius Say:

"It's ok to let a fool kiss you, but don't let a kiss fool you". That actually applies to many things with a little creative thought, IMO.

juspassinthru

HanzHenry
Not all cops are bad.. even though they ALL ENGAGE in anti- Free Republic acts daily for a paycheck.

You cannot, by definition, have a good cop that serves and protects a criminal government. Virtually every cop supports these criminals every time he/she is involved in laying charges for victimless crimes.

That's why they don't want like to be recorded.

If a cop knows that other cops are doing corrupt things or sees them doing corrupt things and either let's it happen or doesn't report it then that cop is just as corrupt as the ones doing wrong . So the 1% figure for bad cops has to be a little off .....probably more than a little .

And it is going to get way worse before it gets better if it ever does get better , at this rate there will only be crooked cops, corrupt law makers and shifty bankers left in this county .

So, the Hawthorne "police" are at it again, huh? All responding officers should be placed on leave without pay, pending investigation (though who knows how legitimate that "investigation" would be).

I've seen comments on articles stating that the police need to hire deaf person to the force for situations like this, well, I don't see how that will help when it appears that since the victim was trying to sign to them, and they somehow didn't understand that he was deaf. how would hiring a deaf officer have helped? The deaf officer would only have been brought in once it was understood that the "suspect" was deaf in the first place.

Seriously, it is extremely easy to notice when someone is using sign language; these guys are not looking to communicate with suspects, they are looking to subdue them.

We have WAY too many yahoos in police forces across this country, and it's well past becoming a problem.
With all of these brutality cases piling up, this country is heading to a very dark place in the near future.

I guess, if he would have "remained silent", he would have received the same treatment?