Cops Tase a Deaf Man For Not Listening

By Elyse Wanshel, HuffPost

Brady Mistic, who uses American Sign Language to communicate, has sued the city of Idaho Springs, Colorado, and the officers who arrested him. Two years ago, Brady Mistic of Colorado was approached by a pair of police officers, who’d followed him into a parking lot after he allegedly ran a stop sign.Mistic, then 24, did not comply with the officers’ demands. He had no idea what they were saying to him, according to his attorney, because he is deaf in both ears and does not lip-read, communicating primarily through American Sign Language.

The subsequent encounter would lead to Mistic suing the officers, the city of Idaho Springs and the Clear Creek County Board of Commissioners. Mistic argues in his lawsuit, filed in federal court this month, that Officers Nicholas Hanning and Ellie Summers violated his civil rights when they violently arrested him. He is seeking compensation for physical and emotional harm, as well as pain and suffering.