Brother: Deaf man shot by North Carolina state trooper was afraid of police

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A deaf man shot to death by a North Carolina state trooper after a chase was scared of police after several misunderstandings with officers, his brother said Wednesday.

Standing beside a memorial where his brother died near the family’s home, Sam Harris said police are all too often inaccessible to deaf people, relating his own story about how he ended up with a gun in his face because he, too, is deaf and couldn’t follow the officer’s shouted orders.

Daniel Kevin Harris “had times where because of the inaccessibility with police, there were misunderstandings that led to him being afraid of the police,” his brother said through an interpreter near a large picture of Harris with “Police Brutality Domestic Terrorism” written underneath.

Daniel Harris had arrests in several states on minor charges, including three for resisting police officers. But those charges in 2010 in Florida and 2008 in Denver were dropped. He pleaded guilty to interfering with or resisting police in Watertown, Connecticut, in 2010. Details of the arrests were not available.