This story is truly a sad one. 29-year-old Daniel Harris was shot and killed by police. Harris was not only unarmed but deaf and mute. He got pulled over for a speeding violation. Witnesses say Harris was killed almost immediately after stepping outside of the car. So sad.
Witnesses say Harris was trying to communicate in sign language. Neighbor Mark Barringer said,
“They should’ve de-escalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation. You’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped. To me, what happened is totally unacceptable.”
Police claim Harris kept driving as they were trying to pull him over. Being that he is deaf, he couldn’t have heard the sirens which would explain the delay. Harris’s family is also disabled. The family made a GoFundMePage saying,
“Our family is raising funds to cover his memorial and cremation expenses (details pending). Any monies left over will be used to set up a foundation in his name to educate and provide law enforcement proper training on how to confront Deaf people. Subsequently, we hope to change the DMV registration system by requiring states to set up a ‘DEAF’ alert to appear when law enforcement look up a car’s license plate. With this change, Daniel will be a hero in our Deaf community.”
Prayers go up to this family.
Source: NYDailyNews
