Seven months after police brutally arrested a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy outside a Phoenix convenience store, three officers have been suspended without pay for 24 hours in what appeared to be a blatant case of racial profiling. The Phoenix Police Department issued a statement Wednesday, saying only that the “Department identified policy violations” following an internal investigation into Tyron McAlpin’s arrest on August 19. Police said the suspensions require each officer to serve a total of 24 hours off the clock, which amounts to three workdays if they have eight-hour shifts. Phoenix police repeatedly tasered and punched Tyron McAlpin even though they were responding to a call of a white man creating a disturbance. The white man was never arrested but McAlpin is still facing several felony charges. (Photo body camera and mugshot of McAlpin’s arrest) Two of the patrolmen involved will undergo deescalation training, interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan said, however, he still declined to identify the officers involved. “Our priority is always the safety and well-being of our community and our officers. We understand the concerns raised by this incident, and we take them seriously,” Sullivan said. “The decision to suspend the officers reflects our commitment to accountability and maintaining public trust.” A police spokesperson said the department is withholding the names of the officers due to a pending appeal process. However, the two officers caught on video attacking McAlpin were previously named in media reports as Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue, while Jorge Acosta was identified as the third officer involved, according to reports. Despite what many saw as a slap on the wrist, Darrell Kriplean, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, condemned the suspensions, calling them a response to political pressure. “We are appalled by the determination made by interim chief Sullivan to suspend the three officers involved in the McAlpin case,” Kriplean said. “A situation that was previously reviewed internally by subject matter experts of the force evaluation and review unit and deemed to be within policy has suddenly been reversed due to public pressure, based on biased media reporting.” When the 34-year-old McAlpin was arrested last summer, clerks at the Circle K had called the cops on another man who had been behaving aggressively toward other patrons and refused to leave the store.  However, when authorities arrived, the man the store employee wanted trespassed — a 33-year-old white man named Derek Stevens — was confronted by Officer Harris in the store before going outside to talk with Harris, where he played the victim while turning the tables on McAlpin, who happened to be across the street at the wrong time. Stevens quickly pointed him out, claiming he had been attacked by a Black man who stole his cellphone and a bike. Harris immediately jumped into his car and pulled up on McAlpin, whereupon the officer jumped out of his car and forced the Black man to the ground, according to video of the incident. The footage showed the officers roughing up McAlpin and punching the hapless man while using a stun gun to subdue him. While all this was going on, Stevens stood back — knowing full well he was the person who police arrived to confront. Meanwhile, through no fault of his own, McAlpin found himself battered and thrown in jail while charged with felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest — all because he chanced by a store where another man was accused of disturbing the peace.  Moments earlier, the 911 caller said a white man was the aggressor and was still inside the store. Even so, Stevens persuaded officers he was the victim. After taking his word, they turned their attention to McAlpin. When first confronted, McAlpin was on a video call with his wife, communicating through sign language, and was bowled over by the charging officers. The sight of her husband being attacked sent McAlpin’s spouse scrambling to the scene. “You guys arrested him for no reason,” she said, according to body camera footage. “I’ve been on the phone with him since Circle K, and you guys went in there because somebody was f-cking with him. And you guys arrested him?” There is no indication that the officers were aware of McAlpin’s deafness or cerebral palsy before his arrest. In a statement to the media after the incident, the Phoenix Police Department said: “There was nothing that the officers were told or witnessed to indicate Mr. McAlpin was hearing impaired.” The officers sustained injuries during the arrest, but McAlpin’s attorney argued that they were the result of their own “frenzied and violent attack on Tyron.” “I think I broke my hand,” one of the officers can be heard saying after repeatedly punching McAlpin in the back of the head as he was facedown on the ground. In the police report, Officer Harris accused McAlpin of being the aggressor in the incident, saying, “His hands raised to deliver targeted punches at my face/head, and multiple swings with closed fists at my head.” Harris then claimed that McAlpin had a “fighting stance with his legs planted for stability and force delivery” and that McAlpin “made it clear to me in the moment that he was not simply assaulting me in order to get away but engaging in assaults to cause me harm and injury.” However, body camera and surveillance footage showed Harris leaping out of his car first, rushing toward McAlpin, who initially had his arms at his sides. The footage captured one officer ordering, “Tase him,” before officers stunned McAlpin four times while he was pinned to the ground. The body camera footage also showed officers delivering at least 10 punches to McAlpin’s head and back. After reviewing the case, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell dropped the charges against McAlpin in October. But the damage was done months earlier when McAlpin was violently arrested for walking while Black. McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, said police used excessive force and failed to interview the Circle K employee or any other witnesses about what had happened. In the video, “what you see is simply Tyron trying to avoid being struck repeatedly by the officer who repeatedly swings punches at his face,” Showalter said previously. This incident happened months after a June 2024 report from the Justice Department revealed “overwhelming statistical evidence” of Phoenix police discriminating against Black, Hispanic, and Native American individuals, unlawfully detaining homeless people, and using excessive force, including unjustified deadly force. Three months after he was attacked, McAlpin filed a $3.5 million notice of claim against the city and the three officers involved in his arrest. The case is currently in the pre-litigation stage. After McAlpin’s arrest footage was released last year, Andre Miller, vice president of the Arizona NAACP, condemned the officers’ actions, drawing a historical parallel to racial injustices of the past. “This brutal assault was due to the false claims of a white citizen, reminiscent of many falsehoods like Emmett Till that have claimed the lives of black citizens in America,” Miller said. “Tyron was not a suspect in an actual crime, he had not done anything wrong, and he also has communication challenges.” There is no indication to suggest that Stevens faced any consequences for his role in the incident. The short suspension of the officers has sparked outrage in the community. “This is BS. They failed to protect and serve that day. What a slap in the face. No justice was done for Tyron. This is disgusting Phoenix PD,” one resident wrote. “That should be a fireable offense without pension, no excuse in this day and age,” another person added. ‘What a Slap In the Face’: Phoenix Cops Suspended for Just 24 Hours After Violently Arresting Deaf Black Man—While Actual White Suspect Walks Free ...read more read less