The top prosecutor in Arizona’s Maricopa County announced Thursday that charges against Tyron McAlpin — a Black man who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, and who was seen on video being violently arrested — are being dropped.
The announcement comes after police body camera video of McAlpin’s arrest, which showed two Phoenix police officers repeatedly punching and tasing McAlpin, became public and sparked outcry.
“I have now completed my review and have made the decision to dismiss all remaining charges against Mr. McAlpin,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said Thursday.
McAlpin had been facing three felony charges for allegedly assaulting the two arresting officers and resisting arrest.
Phoenix police officers had been called because a White man was loitering at a convenience store on Aug. 19. That man claimed he had been assaulted and that his phone had been stolen, and he pointed to McAlpin as the culprit. McAlpin was not charged for the incident involving that man and his lawyer says he was wrongfully accused.
In the arrest video, officer Benjamin Harris was seen jumping out of his vehicle and punching McAlpin as officer Kyle Sue rushed over. McAlpin was punched at least 10 times and was also tased repeatedly. Sue can be heard on the video claiming McAlpin bit him and, in the police report from the incident, Harris claimed McAlpin swung at him.
“Tyron is just trying to avoid getting hurt by an aggressive, out-of-control police officer,” McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, previously told CBS News. “He can’t hear any of the commands he’s being given and the assault never lets up and the officers never do anything to de-escalate the situation.”
The arrest video prompted strong reactions from the NAACP and ACLU, prompting Mitchell to announce she would “personally review the entire file, as well as the totality of the video.”
She also noted Thursday that she had “convened a large gathering of senior attorneys and members of the community to hear their opinions as they pertain to this case” earlier in the week.
The arrest of McAlpin came two months after a scathing report from the Department of Justice found Phoenix police have engaged in a pattern of discrimination and excessive force.
Kris Van Cleave
contributed to this report.
