VIDEO: Phony Interpreter Uses Fake Sign Language at FL Police Press Conference
Video: Phony Interpreter Uses Fake Sign Language at FL Police Press Conference
"She was standing there twisting her hands back and forth. I could tell automatically that interpreters don't do that," said Betti Bonni, a certified deaf interpreter.

When the Tampa (FL) Police Department held a press conference about an arrest made in the highly publicized Seminole Heights homicides case on Nov. 28, many in the deaf community were left in the dark thanks to a phony interpreter.
"She was standing there twisting her hands back and forth. I could tell automatically that interpreters don't do that," said Betti Bonni, a certified deaf interpreter.
Derlyn Roberts showed up at the Tampa Police Department on that night, but as Chief Brian Dugan spoke about the capture of a serial killer suspect, those in the deaf community could tell the interpreter wasn't making any sense, reports WFTS .
Roberts has several fraud arrests on her record, including one conviction that landed her in a state prison.
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