Deaf News Briefs: Deaf father shot and killed in New Orleans; Deaf man sues Colorado police
Here are two Deaf News briefs.
Local news in New Orleans reported that a 33-year-old deaf man named Jamaal Sears was tragically shot and killed on Sunday afternoon in the northeast part of the city.
New Orleans police said they found Sears inside a car with gunshot wounds at 12:55 p.m. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Sears’ aunt Linda Saulsby told nola.com that he was a father of two and that he had never been in trouble. nola.com also reported that Sears had a deaf son and a deaf girlfriend.
A local passerby said she thinks Sears was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
News images show a sedan with a bullet hole and shattered glass on the driver’s window side. There is no indication of who the shooter may be — police did not name a suspect.
Deaf people on social media posted messages of shock and grief at the news of Sears’ death. One of his friends told “The Daily Moth” that Sears was well-known in the local deaf community in New Orleans and that he attended the Louisiana School for the Deaf.
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The Colorado Sun and the Washington Post reported that a deaf man named Brady Mistic and his legal team has filed a lawsuit against two Idaho Springs (Colorado) police officers, the city, and the county — Clear Creek — accusing police and officials of excessive force, wrongful arrest, and discrimination against a person with a disability.
The lawsuit said Brady was driving to a laundromat and as he parked and got out of the car, he saw flashing police lights and two officers walking toward him. Brady said he raised his hands and didn’t understand what was happening, but he was grabbed and slammed into concrete. The second officer pulled out her Taser and used the stun-gun mode on him. Brady said he tried to voice, “No ears,” but it didn’t make a difference. He was handcuffed and jailed.
One of the officers, Nicholas Hanning, broke his leg during the confrontation. The second officer, who used the Taser, is Ellie Summers.
Brady was jailed for four months on charges of resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. He said he did not have an interpreter in county jail and could only communicate by writing. Brady said he felt alone, confused, and helpless.
The Idaho Springs Police Department said in a statement that they saw that Brady commited a stop sign violation and that Brady “immediately got out of his vehicle and quickly approached a clearly marked patrol car with the emergency lights activated. The officers gave verbal commands for (him) to get back in his vehicle.” The police department said the officers didn’t know Brady was deaf until later.
The police department said the former police chief reviewed the incident and deemed the officers’ actions to be appropriate.
The Washington Post reported that the same two officers were sued earlier this year by a 75-year-old hearing man who said Officer Hanning Tasered him and roughed him up at his apartment home for no good reason. The man suffered a stroke and a burst appendix. Hanning was fired from the police department and was charged with felony assault on an at-risk adult. So this is the second lawsuit against Hanning this year.
Back to Brady’s case — he said although his charges were dismissed, he still has lasting harm to his physical, emotional, and financial well-being.
That’s the two Deaf News briefs for today.
https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_b1c5d404-1ef8-11ec-9bb8-7b1e9c44d890.html
https://cityofidahosprings.colorado.gov/press-release/response-to-civil-filing
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/23/michael-clark-taser-colorado/