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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Police Beat, Stun Deaf Man After Confusing Sign Language With Threatening Gestures

HAWTHORNE (CBSLA.com) — Jonathan Meister was retrieving some stuff he was storing at an ex-roommate’s home when he looked up to find several members of the Hawthorne Police Department approaching.

The South Bay man claims officers didn’t give him a chance to explain what he was doing before placing him in handcuffs, beating him and using a stun gun to shock him into submission.

The problem began when police reportedly misunderstood Meister’s attempts to speak in sign language as threatening gestures.

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17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good thing we wasn't blind and trying to hit them with that white stick…..they might have just shot him.

Anonymous said...

If you read the article it says he was packing his stuff up and someone called the cops...

Well the first problem was the damn soul who called the cops on this man... Thats part of the problem... Someone sees someone moving their own things out of a house so they call the cops... How does one in the open moving his stuff look suspicious?

you people need to learn how not to be scared and judgemental...

Anonymous said...

Maybe he should always wear a shirt saying, "I'm Deaf and use sign language". For all you know, he could be another alcoholic, or crackhead.

Anonymous said...

Just typical "storm trooper tactics" that police are using these days. Takes me back to Nazi Germany.

Anonymous said...

I agree it's the snitches fault for calling the cops on someone moving

Anonymous said...

In NYC police beat a guy who was deaf and blind so hard that he got his hearing and sight back.I have no idea what he did to provoke the beating,but doctors are calling it a miracle.

Anonymous said...

2:07 So the beating of this deaf guy was actually a good thing? Wow kind of puts a strange twist on things. Wouldn't want to be a member of the new church that springs up from that.

Anonymous said...

My 50 year old brother stutters. He has had this problem all of his life. He was driving home late from work one night a few years ago and accidentally ran over the white line on the right side of the road. He was pulled over by the police. They thought he was drunk because he stuttered when trying to answer their questions. They made him take a sobriety test. He passed the test and they let him go.

Anonymous said...

2:42 So glad to hear they didn't beat him, tazer him or shoot him. He was lucky.

Anonymous said...

3:09 Why do cop haters take 1:10000+ cases, and label all police as bad, or ready to beat everyone to a pulp? Almost every single time that someone is beaten, it's because they resist. Hell, even Rodney King was HIGH, evading officers and resisting, and we saw what that brought us.

Anonymous said...

Can't we all just get along?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, 357, because signing is so threatening and invasive. And no one has ever even heard of it, either! Not even the police, who use translators in court EVERY DAY.

Anonymous said...

1:17, Do I need to wear a t shirt that says I've got a clean record and comply with the law, and I am not deaf or blind????

WTF?

Anonymous said...

I used to stutter pretty bad until one day I just decided to quit.It traumatized the guys who had previously made fun of me.Cold turkey.

lmclain said...

:57...yeah, what it brought us was a video of what would have been TOTALLY denied by the Gestapo --- two cops nightsticking one man on his knees -- 72 TIMES!!, with all the strength they could muster, while a RING of OTHER cops watched and made sure no citizens could interfere. You don't get it.
I suppose you think the ONLY strong arm tactics the Nazi's EVER do are the ones caught on film? And there are THOUSANDS of them. You laugh when the crackhead gets caught hitting the bowl and says it's the first time he's ever smoked it, but think the police NEVER beat, rape, assault, and kill people except when it's occasionally caught on camera???
How in the hell can SIGN LANGUAGE be interpreted as "dangerous" or "threatening gestures" (he was unarmed) by men wearing bulletproof vests and carrying stun guns and Glocks, unless they showed up ready and willing to kick some ace?? Which is exactly what they did....to ANOTHER unarmed citizen doing nothing wrong.
Sissies.

Anonymous said...

I don't blame him.Signing pisses me off too.

Anonymous said...

you people. sounds like you're talking more about the cops.