Deaf Las Vegas Mother Handcuffed Because She Could Read Lips Of Masked Cops

To be stupid is one thing. To be evil is another. To be both…*sigh*

Source: kali9 / Getty

We’ve long known that police officers aren’t necessarily the brightest bulbs in the box. We’ve long known that police officers can be completely inept at their jobs. We’ve long known that police officers seem to lack the ability to rationally assess a situation and act accordingly. This story is just another example that proves those facts true.

According to Fox 5 Vegas, a Black woman named Andrea “Dre” Hollingsworth was handcuffed and pushed onto the curb in front of her 11-year-old twin daughters because she was unable to understand what they were saying to her. Dre Hollingsworth is deaf and under COVID-19 protocol, the officers were wearing masks. Despite being told that she was hearing-impaired, the yet-to-be-identified officer handled Dre aggressively as if she was failing to comply with his commands. Dre live-streamed the entire incident on her Facebook page.

“I don’t know, I’m being pulled over and he is interrogating me … I am black, I am deaf, George Floyd just happened,” Hollingsworth recalled as the encounter first started. “The police officer pulled my arm … and I was like, ‘whoa, why?’ I have never experienced anything like that in my life,” Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth said she was on her way to collect rent money back as she had just moved out early. That’s when her former landlord called the police. You can watch the harrowing exchange below.

https://youtu.be/euVvaBXsbqM

The twin girls were also asked to step out of the car so that they could translate to their mother. A clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act says lawyer Andrew Rozynski.

“Requiring an 11-year-old to interpret in a police situation is against the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are regulations in there that expressly prohibit children from being used as interpreters,” Rozynski said.

We’ve seen numerous people broach this issue over the past several years and in this climate. Now, the message needs to be amplified. At this time, according to PubMed.gov, there are close to 1,000,000 “functionally deaf” persons in the United States. On any given day, they may find themselves interacting with masked police officers. These interactions could easily become fatal. Dre Hollingsworth is very conscious of this.

“I really want all of Las Vegas police to change, because it is really scary how deaf people are treated. If my kids weren’t with me, then I would have died that day. My kids saved my life,” Hollingsworth said.

We hope she runs that police department’s POCKETS. Take it all, sis. Every red cent.