Just this morning, I awoke to another terrible story on the news. It was another police shooting. This time, the man was unarmed and also deaf.
The incident took place just last week not too far from his house in North Carolina. It began as Trooper Jermaine Saunders tried to pull Harris over, but he never stopped. It lasted for a good ways and ended up back in his neighborhood. Witnesses have reported seeing the two cars coming through at a fast speed. Harris then appeared to get out of the car, where an encounter took place, and soon after he was shot.
“They should’ve deescalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation, you’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped,” said neighbor, Mark Barringer.
Harris was most likely trying to communicate with officers via sign language, his only form of communication, when exiting the car. While we don’t have exacts right now, we do know body cams were on the police are being investigated as the officer who shot him is on administrative leave. There were a reportedly 20 highway patrol officers who responded.
As of August 22nd, a total of 753 people have been killed by police. I’m not here to defend each case, as I’m sure some of the cases were justified, but it says something that America has such a high rate of this. Like many asking, there are questions of why wasn’t a taser used or what exactly was such an issue that police had to use such force? Neighbors have stated that this family was incredibly nice and peaceful. Even if they weren’t, such force just doesn’t seem needed as he wasn’t really posing a threat.
Charles Harris, Daniel’s brother, wrote a Facebook status stating they didn’t understand why it happened. He also added that his brother was scared of officers because of the police brutality incidents.
“Worst thing is… my brother Daniel is deaf. How can he communicate with police and be able to feel safe and protect himself from the police? My brother is UNARMED and still got shot by police.” He stated.
The family has set up a fund raiser in memory of Daniel as well. The description the family wrote also raises more questions.
“Our family is raising funds to cover his memorial and cremation expenses (details below). 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.”
While we question as to why this happens, we know the numbers are devastating. Young black men have the highest rate of being killed by police officers. Another group with high numbers was those with disabilities. Yet police are still being trained to shoot and deal with questions later. Harris’ family is about to bury their son over an speeding incident. We must remember to speak up and do what we can.
If you would like to donate to the Harris family, please click here.
