Carl Dupree
Deaf man who died in November 1990 as a result of a “chokehold” used by Gallaudet University campus police at Gallaudet University in Northeast Washington.
D.C. police ruled that the death of Dupree was a homicide, meaning that it was caused by another person. An autopsy report concluded that he died of asphyxiation.
The chain of events was recited in a lawsuit.
On the morning of Nov. 9 when Dupree, who had withdrawn from the university several weeks earlier, went to the English Department at Gallaudet. He spoke with his English professor about the grade he had received in his English 50 course, a Gallaudet requirement that has been the subject of several student protests.
Dissatisfied with his morning meeting, Dupree returned to the campus that afternoon to meet with English Department Chairwoman Nancy Kensicki, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit includes this account of what followed: About 3 p.m., Carl Dupree picked up two of his children from Gallaudet Elementary School, then met his wife in front of the nearby Hall Memorial Building.
Avis Dupree agreed to wait with her children inside Ely Center, the student union building, while her husband met with Kensicki.
Two Gallaudet campus officers were in Kensicki’s office during the meeting. When the meeting ended, the two police officers followed Dupree as he walked toward Ely Center.
Dupree entered Ely Center by a side entrance, followed by the two police officers.
Inside the center, Dupree “was set upon by eight or more Gallaudet campus police officers,” the suit said. They “threw him face-down onto the floor, forcing Dupree’s arms behind his back in order to handcuff him, thereby restraining him and cutting off his only means of communication — sign language,” according to the suit.
One officer “deliberately wrapped his arm around Dupree’s neck and pulled up on Dupree’s throat, choking him,” the suit said.
Other officers pushed Dupree’s shoulders and head in the opposite direction, toward the floor, eventually causing “the breaking of Carl Dupree’s neck,” the suit said.
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