Police Pepper Spray and Taser Innocent Deaf Man

From Alabama Live (July 28, 2009):

Arrested in silence: Police use Taser, pepper spray on deaf man

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

By ROBERT McCLENDON and MARK R. KENT

Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf and mentally disabled man Friday after they were unable to get him to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, authorities said.

After forcibly removing Antonio Love from the bathroom of the Azalea Road store, officers attempted to book the 37-year-old, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but the magistrate on duty at the jail refused to accept any of those charges...

...Brodrick Love said the officers dropped his brother off in the parking lot of their apartment building without saying what happened or why his brother had been missing for six hours...

...Police were called to the store at 12:22 p.m...When the officers arrived, they pounded on the door but got no answer, Bagsby said. They pounded again. No answer.

Love, speaking in sign language that was then translated by his family, said he was in the bathroom because he was sick to his stomach.

"I wait and sit toilet," Love's note read. "I think about someone try break door. I hold door hard."

At that point, Bagsby said, the officers saw movement from under the door, indicating that there was someone inside. They then shot pepper spray under the door...

From the JFA Moderator:  The story just continues to get more horrifying from there.

>>> To Read the Whole Article

Comment Below: What was most surprising for me, was the total lack of repentance or acceptance of responsibility on the part of the police department as a whole.   Who do you think is most at fault for this egregious assault?  What should be the consequences?

Comments

[ethan B. Ellis]

I hope that a member of the media asks President Obama to comment on this police atrocity at his next press conference and that AAPD does its best to make that happen.

This tragic event is just as significant as the Dr. Gates affair and as worthy of the President's attention. While African-Americans have been subject to this kind of brutality far too long, there should be public recognition that people with disabilities have been victims of it since the beginning of human 'civilization.'

President Obama has the standing to make the status of people with disabilties in this society a matter of serious public discussion by commenting on it to the media. Further, unlike in the Gates matter, he can do so without risking the charge of personal involvement. In fact. the Gates matter provides the perfect backdrop against which to initiate such a national discussion.

[ethan B. Ellis]

I hope that a member of the media asks President Obama to comment on this police atrocity at his next press conference and that AAPD does its best to make that happen.

This tragic event is just as significant as the Dr. Gates affair and as worthy of the President's attention. While African-Americans have been subject to this kind of brutality far too long, there should be public recognition that people with disabilities have been victims of it since the beginning of human 'civilization.'

President Obama has the standing to make the status of people with disabilties in this society a matter of serious public discussion by commenting on it to the media. Further, unlike in the Gates matter, he can do so without risking the charge of personal involvement. In fact. the Gates matter provides the perfect backdrop against which to initiate such a national discussion.

[ethan B. Ellis]

I hope that a member of the media asks President Obama to comment on this police atrocity at his next press conference and that AAPD does its best to make that happen.

This tragic event is just as significant as the Dr. Gates affair and as worthy of the President's attention. While African-Americans have been subject to this kind of brutality far too long, there should be public recognition that people with disabilities have been victims of it since the beginning of human 'civilization.'

President Obama has the standing to make the status of people with disabilties in this society a matter of serious public discussion by commenting on it to the media. Further, unlike in the Gates matter, he can do so without risking the charge of personal involvement. In fact. the Gates matter provides the perfect backdrop against which to initiate such a national discussion.

[Terry]

This doesn't even make sense... and cops wonder why they have such a bad reputation... perhaps they should look at what they're doing!

defense pepper spray

[mary]

Mr. Love is just lucky the cops did not open fire with bullets like they did on my dear friend, Robert "Woody" Woodward. justiceforwoody.net

[Phillip Corona]

WOW!!!!!

I wonder if President Obama made a comment on these police acting stupidly? Because they did. This is something people with disabilities face ALL the time. Our Civil Rights are ALWAYS being taken away from us. WE ARE LOCKED IN NURSING HOMES AND NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE! As President, Obama does NOT support the Community Choice Act that he did as a Senator. As a Senator he supported people with disabilities having the choices of who, where and who they lived. As President he wants us to be locked away without the choices of FREEDOM. Talk about acting stupidly.

[Nancy Young]

Did anyone at the store know this man? It seems as though they would know at least about his deafness. There is no doubt that the police handled this situation like total idiots. I wonder if it occurred to them that it was strange that he didn't communicate with them or that he had to have looked totally terrorized and still no voice. Their judgement on using pepper spray and a taser was absolutely inappropriate. Being public servants and people who meet lots of people, I can't believe that they didn't have a clue that their "bad boy" might have some problems and was not a threat to them or anyone else. Why were the police laughing? There was nothing funny about what they did and I believe they should be fired, pay a large settlement to their victim and go to the police academy again if they even ever went. Take some Psychology classes, take some anger management classes to get rid of their 'attitudes', get pepper sprayed and tasored. This is just showing ignorance and their desire for power and authority.

[Jonathan Bock]

This is absolutely wrong and immoral; this evident that police has no moral obligation to protect peoples' basic right, even worst, in the deaf community.

What we need is one thing: RAGE! For too long we have stood in patience and passion and our gesture went unheard. Now it's time for us to open our mouth and let it ROAR! LET IT RAGE! For Rage Against the Machine will defend our right - the means of RAGE! We must echo out sound, like a shockwave, to wake the police up. ENOUGH BRUTALITISM!!! Otherwise we will burn with vengeance with equal measure!

Sitting or standing idle isn't the answer, peaceful protest only result in slight attention and ignorant from senates and other elite bureaucratics.

Must we repeat 1775 again? Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.. - V.

[Patricia Sprofera]

Unbelievable! AAPD must step forward, at once. The rest of the country, even if its citizens knew of this offense, could care less.

[susan]

How pathetic! Yes I agree what does Obama have to say about this?

[Kathy Podgers]

Obama should say the police acted ignorantly, not stupidly.

[John Smith]

how on earth could the cops have known that the guy inside the toilet was deaf?

once he was outside why didn't he give them a card that said he was deaf?

if he regularly went to this store why did the store call the police to have him pulled out in the first place?

something sounds a bit fishy here. Maybe this deaf and mentally ill guy has been a nuisance at the store for a while and they were just fed up. While this does not excuse hurt and abuse by police on the guy, it seems something was wrong in the first place.

so everyone crying that the police are wrong needs to get a grip and realize that police can't see through toilet doors, don't always recognize deafness, and they did answer the call from a store that called them in. Perhaps they'd already tried to get the mentally ill deaf guy to leave the store and he refused.

Maybe the store LOSES A LOT OF BUSINESS EVERYTIME THIS GUY SHOWS UP AND MAYBE HE ACTS "STRANGE" and they don't know how to communicate with someone MENTALLY ILL AND DEAF. There's more to this story than just the civil rights of some defecating deaf man.

[Therese S.]

It seems unfortunate that the police didn't know what to do and chose to be insensitive. I guess they're just like the average hearing person, feeling out of their depth of experience, and reacting badly. Police though have many more dangerous tools at their disposal and the duty to take more care of individuals, even those they don't understand.

[jward52]

Any Cop whom uses a TASER - period is nothing but a Bully and a Chicken-ship!! TASERS should be illegal because many of these Criminal Cops use them needlessly and to enjoy the immense Pain!! Patriots need to unite and rein in these psycho Cops Now!!!

[Nidia Chevez-Lee]

To whom it may conern:

My name is Mrs. Nidia Lee. I am deaf and involve deaf and hoh community to help to get good lawyers and access their rights. For more information, please contact me email at [email protected]. Thanks Mrs. Lee

[Elisabeth Ellenbogen]

Police need training HOW to assess potential disability. This means visibe and INVISIBLE! The man in the toilet did not commit a crime, was not endangering another person, simply did not respond to a knock at the door.

There needs to be an investigation why force was used!

At STATE and NATIONAL levels do initiate at once intensive training for police cadets and incumbent officers to recognize disability and act in accordance with public law and common sense!

[Ajlouny]

The police are supposed to be there to protect us, right? When the police turn against us, and are allowed to attack and kill citizens without punishment, who will be there to protect us from the police?

[herbalist32]

All so-called police-men(?), whom apply Taser torture devices, should first have the Taser used on their' privates(and captains ha),-- thus they might get a better feel for what Justice, and the Constitution are all about!? - Especially, the part about "Cruel-and-Unusual-Punishment", being perversly performed on Innocent-until-Proven-Guilty Citizens!?

[Justin Bambico]

What! The police had no ideal of who was in there or what they were doing. For all the officers know the guy was getting ready to rob the place.