When an officer pulled Bahl over for a traffic violation more than six years ago, the officer “knew Mr. Bahl was deaf, but he thought it would work to just use gestures and use a loud voice to communicate with Mr. Bahl,” Macpherson said, speaking with Bahl at a news conference.
Bahl asked the officer to communicate with him in writing, but the officer sprayed him with a chemical irritant, dragged him out of his car and beat him, Macpherson said.
Deaf motorist who got $93K from St. Paul hopes police learn from arrest incident
At least Bahl survived the police brutality. Not everyone does. Native American man John T. Williams, also hard of hearing, was shot dead by police while wood carving in Seattle four years ago.
(via dangercupcakemurdericing)
What the – if you *know* someone’s deaf, how is being asked to communicate in writing a bridge too far?
Mooncustafer 