A viral hug is now a friendship. Officer Anthony Johnson of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department reunited with 9-year-old Mark Braster, the deaf boy he first met at a Colts preseason game in September, when the two visited IMPD North District together with Mark's mother, Veronica Ochoa, at his side.
The reunion capped a whirlwind stretch for the pair. Johnson first spotted Mark in the crowd at the Indianapolis game, and the two struck up a conversation entirely in American Sign Language, according to Fox 59. Ochoa captured the moment on video — the two signing “hi, how are you” before Johnson asked, “Can I have a hug, man?” — and it has since drawn 14 million views online, per the same report.
Mark was born deaf and communicates using his hands, and this wasn't his first brush with viral attention. In October 2025, a separate video showing Mark using ASL with Indianapolis Colts cheerleader Morgan McLain before an NFL game went viral, drawing coverage on national broadcasts including ABC World News Tonight, according to The Mirror.
A Family's Move and a City Built Around ASL
Mark and his mother relocated to Indianapolis specifically so he could attend the Indiana School for the Deaf, a tuition-free public institution that serves students from early childhood through high school, as detailed in a Facebook video shared by the family and relayed by WTHR-TV. Founded in 1843, the school was established by William Willard, according to Assistive Technology at Easterseals Crossroads.
Statewide, more than 500,000 deaf people live in Indiana. The Indiana Association of the Deaf, an advocacy group, has represented Hoosiers since 1886.
An Officer's College Training Meets the Street
Johnson, who has served with IMPD for seven years, studied American Sign Language in college — a background that let the September encounter unfold naturally rather than through a formal interpreter. He told the outlet that communicating with deaf community members tends to make them look visibly relieved, and that officers sometimes wish they had learned sign language only after they've already encountered someone who is deaf. Most officers are taught some Spanish at the academy, Johnson said, but sign language currently isn't part of that training.
That gap is starting to close elsewhere in the state. In June 2025, the Indiana University Police Academy became the first police academy in Indiana to formally train recruits in Deaf culture awareness and American Sign Language, a curriculum developed in partnership with IU faculty members who are themselves deaf, according to Indiana University News. Johnson said he is continuing to learn more ASL signs of his own.
The Legal Backdrop and Small Fixes on the Road
Federal law already requires agencies to bridge this gap. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that state and local law enforcement take steps to ensure effective communication with deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, offering qualified interpreters, written notes, or visual aids at no cost, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The department estimates up to 9 percent of the U.S. population experiences some degree of hearing loss, a figure it expects to grow as the population ages — meaning encounters like Johnson's are increasingly routine rather than rare.
Some agencies have already built small procedural fixes around that reality. In August 2024, Indiana law enforcement agencies began distributing visor-mounted communication cards to deaf drivers, a low-tech tool meant to de-escalate traffic stops and keep drivers' hands visible to approaching officers, according to the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office. The reunion took place at IMPD's North District headquarters.
A Mother's Message to Other Families
For Ochoa, the reunion was also about momentum. She said the original interaction has inspired law enforcement members across the country to bring more awareness to ASL, and she's encouraged people to take a first step toward learning sign language, however small. Fluency isn't the point right away, she said — starting is.
For Johnson and Mark, the connection has already outlasted the viral clip — it's become an ongoing relationship built one sign at a time.
