Grandfather visiting AL from India left temporarily paralyzed after stopped by police during a walk

Well, one of these days a cop like that is going to hospitalize the wrong person's grandfather, child, pet, neighbor, friend, etc., and that person will not let such an infraction go unpunished, should the justice system refuse to punish. And who could blame them? If it was me who did that, I'd be serving time for assault! That's why people don't go around beating up anyone they don't like, because they know they will get into a lot of trouble... So what's the motivation for police officers to control Their temper??? I guess we just have to trust that they have good morals, because there is not a thing else in the world to stop them from having their way with you...

And Obama comes to India with that holier-than-thou attitude, preaching India about racism and communalism during his recent visit. He should get his house in order first before pontificating to others about racism.

Reminds me of that song...PAPA DON'T PREACH!

So let me get this straight, if your brown and you can't speak or understand English you are automatically considered a threat. Nice job profiling LEO, prepare to be sued for that when you physically assault somebody like that.

a reply to: Anyafaj

What it boils down to is police have a God complex and they expect EVERYONE to do what they say 1 milisecond after they tell you. And God help you if you are too slow by 1/2 a milisecond or attempt to do anything else. Consider yourself lucky to get away alive and not prosecuted for breaking the officers fist with your battered face.

a reply to: Anyafaj
I just read that the officer has been arrested and charged for this (and apparently the chief recommended he be fired): Wapo Link

An officer involved in the incident is under arrest, and the police chief proposed that he be fired, police said Thursday. . .
Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey told reporters Thursday that he has recommended termination for one of the officers involved in the incident. Officer Eric Parker, Muncey, said, has also turned himself in on charges of assault in the third degree.

As I was watching the video I was amazed at the ignorance and disregard of the cop. His partner is telling him that the man is saying no English, it's obvious that the man can't understand what the cop is saying, but yet the cop keeps telling him, "don't pull away from me, do you understand? Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jesus, and then when the other cops pulls up he even says "he don't speak a lick of English." Then HOW DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO UNDERSTAND YOUR COMMANDS you ***head?

Glad this idiot was charged. Let's hope he loses his job and get convicted.

a reply to: Anyafaj

No, not the department, they need to sue this officer and if he owns a house....GONE, 50% of his income for life....GONE...

There has to be some personal consequences or we'll continue to see the thuggery...

Jaden

Well, there's only one reason you armlock someone prior to grabbing them by the hair on the back of their head and foot sweeping them face first to the concrete using your weight, and that's to injure them on purpose.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

I agree. And as a reply to many other people here who keep suggesting this might have been a call with false information or lies, I say this:

This neighborhood looks a lot like my father's. I can guarantee that in this predominantly white, middle class neighborhood that if an Indian national who they had never seen before was talking a walk there would be calls. These people are scared of anything they don't recognize, they ARE spoonfed fear, and they are busybodies. I've seen it firsthand.

Perhaps this guy *was* glancing at garages as he walked by. He's probably curious about this new place he's in, but that's not against the law, unless he was walking up the driveway and entering an open garage. And if this caller was "tailing" him, and didn't even know how old he was or what his supposed race was, it's just an ignorant fear-based reaction, which is not her fault. It's only her fault if she intentionally lied about she saw or felt.

Sad really, this is what America has become: frightened, irrational, ignorant citizens, and ignorant, authoritarian police.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Just an assumption on my part but not only was this poor man profiled by a so called neighbor but I believe he was also profiled by the Police Officer involved. Profiled as being Brown Skin = Middle Eastern = Muslim = Terrorist. Nuff said.

a reply to: Flint2011
Oh he was profiled,but not for reasons you stated..
a neighbor described Patel as a “skinny black guy” and said that he’d “never seen him before”
the caller guessed Patel was in his 30′s.
Washpost

originally posted by: pheonix358

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Anyafaj

Wooow.
Some pretty weak stuff here. All comes back to a caller that decided to put in a call about a person that may have been false leading to the mistreatment of a person.

Sure doesn't help that he doesn't speak English.

WOW. Just wow!

A man walking down the street gets brutalized by the police and you want to blame the caller, and that fact the visitor to your country does not speak english.

I am flabbergasted at your response!

P

The caller definitely holds some of the blame here. Why would any person in their right mind think that a man walking down the street warranted a call to police, when the man was doing absolutely nothing except walking? Too many ignorant people feel that they have to stick their noses where they don't belong. The caller was probably too moronic to realize that their personal racism is not shared by the majority, otherwise why call the police? All of the blame does not fall on the caller, but some of it most certainly does, considering that it was a racist act.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
We might as well live in wall era East Germany..a society of snitches..and about what?

originally posted by: vonclod
a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
We might as well live in wall era East Germany..a society of snitches..and about what?

Who knows could be as simple as self preservation in some agoraphobic kind of way....

I think with all the terrorist talk in the news people actually believe isis are literally invading our countries and are everywhere ...anyone who fits the profile could be a terrorist .....very sad state of affairs

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
I agree, it's a bummer that more people cannot read between the lies..er I mean lines..fall for it myself occasionaly. Fear is a strong motivator among the fearfull, I don't count myself as fearful but one can get sucked into the spin if it suits your world view.

It is welcoming to see the PD involved to take action..but I think the possible charges are a bit downgraded though from what joe citizen would get.

originally posted by: pheonix358

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Anyafaj

Wooow.
Some pretty weak stuff here. All comes back to a caller that decided to put in a call about a person that may have been false leading to the mistreatment of a person.

Sure doesn't help that he doesn't speak English.

WOW. Just wow!

A man walking down the street gets brutalized by the police and you want to blame the caller, and that fact the visitor to your country does not speak english.

I am flabbergasted at your response!

P

There is no official languge in America, thus he would not have to speak any language. What if he was deaf mute? He should be slammed to the street? All the cop had to do was to pat him down, find no reason to arrest him, and maybe listen to the man when he stated the address to where he was staying an check on it. That is it.

Apparently people in India are upset. He's already had two people from the Indian consulate visit him over this and it's now being reported in the Indian Press.


US cop held for assaulting Indian, may lose job

The Madison, Alabama cop who used brute force to trip down a 57-year old Indian grandfather on his morning walk has been arrested on assault charges pending dismissal from the police force, even as the FBI has stepped in to investigate possible civil rights violation.

Madison police chief Larry Muncey announced on Thursday that officer Eric Parker will be fired, hours after the victim Sureshbhai Patel filed a federal lawsuit through an attorney . The lawsuit says Patel, who is still in hospital, suffered injuries, including partial paralysis, after Parker stopped him and tripped him to the ground even as he was explaining he knew very little English and tried to indicate he was visiting his son nearby.

Madison police concluded from its investigation into the incident that the officer's actions "did not meet the high standards and expectations" of his department, chief Muncey said, while apologizing to Patel, his family, and the community . Muncey added that the FBI was conducting a "parallel inquiry to ascertain if there were any federal violations".

Indian consular officials visited Patel in the hospital after New Delhi took note of the brutal attack, which was captured on police's own videos.

Patel, who does not have health insurance cover in the US, has undergone cervical fusion surgery to relieve pressure on his spinal cord and has regained some feeling in his arms and one leg. Sherrod said doctors were pleased with the pace of his recovery and his client was motivated to improve quickly .

Shakuntala, wife of Suresh Patel, says she is feeling helpless in Kheda even as her husband battles for life in the US. She is a resident of Pij village in Kheda where almost every house has a son or daughter in the US. She was supposed to accompany Suresh on this trip but had to postpone as she was medically unfit. "If this is what awaits people like us, I am scared to go there. When did going out for an innocuous morning walk become a crime that people have started reporting to the police?" said Shakuntala. Her relatives say Suresh Patel had studied only till class IV and, hence, was not fluent in English. Shakuntala is SSC pass. This is the second tragedy for Shakuntala who lost her younger son to illness.

My hope is the FBI sees this cop violated his civil rights and he goes to jail for a long time. Also that his judgment in his lawsuit against him is so high he goes completely broke and is forced to work 3 jobs for the rest of life to even attempt to pay it off!

Oh yeah, no profiling at ALL! [sarc]

Five members of the local Indian community sat in the front row, along with Indian Consul Anil Kumar, to watch the video from the patrol cars and listen to the non-emergency call that led to the violent confrontation.

The caller early Friday morning reports an individual walking on the street near his home. "He was doing it yesterday and today...He's just on foot. He's just kind of walking around close to the garage."

The operator asks what the man looks like. "He's a skinny black guy, he's got a toboggan on, he's really skinny."

He adds: "I've lived here four years and I've never seen him before."

The caller says: "I'm just kind of following from a distance now." He says he is about to go to work and is nervous to leave his wife with the man walking around outside.

The dashboard camera shows two officers, field trainer Parker and his trainee Andrew Slaughter, approach the man just after 8 a.m. on Friday. The man stops and turns and steps toward them. The audio offers a clips of the interaction, mainly just what the officers say.

"What's going on sir?"

"You what?"

"India."

"Where you heading?"

"Where?"

"I can't understand you, sir."

"Where's your address?"

"Do you have any ID?"

"India?"

"Do you live here."

"Sir, sir, come here."

"Do not jerk away from me again, or I will put you on the ground. Do you understand?"

The video continues, with officers trying to get the man to stand. One officer begins picking dirt and debris off of him. The concern slowly becomes evident in their voices.

"He don't speak a lick of English."

"I tried to pat him down but he tried to walk away from me."

"I don't know what his problem is but he won't listen."

"He was trying to walk away."

"Did you bite your lip?"

"He OK?"

Attorney Hank Sherrod filed suit today in federal court, arguing police used excessive force and that they had no cause to stop Patel on a public sidewalk and search him.

Sherrod welcomed the news of the dismissal of this officer, as he called for exactly that on Tuesday. But Sherrod said Madison should never have released a statement suggesting that Patel had been looking into garages or was in any way responsible for the incident.

"They didn't do that on Monday," said Sherrod. "On Monday they were trying to blame Mr. Patel. On Monday they were minimizing this. I'm glad they apparently are starting to do the right thing. But why weren't they doing this on Monday? With those videos."

Members of the local Hindu community, who asked not to be named, said after the press conference that they are known for non-violence. "We don't hurt nobody, that is our principle...we don't hurt the snake."

"I'm afraid to leave my wife alone because is out for a walk that I don't recognize." Some seriously paranoid people on this planet!

Case is now being monitored by the State Department!

Calling a Madison police officer's takedown of an Indian grandfather "brutal" and "shocking," Indian news media and Indian critics of Washington are seizing on the incident to attack President Obama.

Meanwhile, a video released Thursday of the stop and search of Sureshbhai Patel has been played repeatedly on Indian television. The stop ended with Patel hospitalized and in need of spinal surgery, the police officer under arrest and the Madison Police Department facing a lawsuit and FBI investigation. Indian Consul Anil Kumar of Atlanta attended the Madison Police Department press conference on the incident Thursday.

One anchor for The Times of India website said on the air that the video "sending shockwaves across the nation is also raising questions about Obama's claim of tolerance." Another Indian news website said, "Obama's tolerance platitudes fall fatally flat in Alabama."

A Twitter hashtag #StopPreachingAmerica exploded with comments like this one: "#Shame Mr. @BarackObama. Is this the tolerance you were preaching? Is tolerance only for India?#StopPreachingAmerica."

Press reports in India say that country's government has raised the Alabama police stop formally with Washington, and the incident came up in two State Department news briefings late this week.

On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki expressed the U.S. government's concern.

On Friday, an Indian reporter questioned Psaki about the the incident again in the daily briefing. According to a State Department transcript, the reporter told Psaki it has "gone beyond the families of India and the people of India" to the government level.

Psaki replied with knowledge about the case that suggested it is being monitored by the State Department.

It will be interesting to see how far this goes, if at all.

India is disturbed by citizen's treatment in Nw Delhi

The Indian government is "extremely disturbed" by the treatment of a 57-year-old grandfather from that country who was roughed up by police while walking in a suburban neighborhood in Alabama, a spokesman said Friday.

Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry, said the government took the incident "very seriously" and was in contact with the U.S. mission in New Dehli.

The government also will contact officials in Washington and Alabama, Akbaruddin said in response to reporters' questions in New Dehli about the treatment of Sureshbhai (pronounced suh-RESH'-beye pah-TEL') Patel in the Tennessee Valley city of Madison.

"What we will communicate is that we are extremely disturbed," he said. "This is a matter of concern for us, and India and the U.S. as open pluralist societies need to address these issues and find ways in a mature manner so that these are aberrations and are not the norm."

The officer has not commented publicly and court records are not yet available to show whether he has a lawyer.

Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey, speaking during a news conference Thursday, said Patel didn't commit any crime and the officer's actions weren't justified.

"I found that Officer Eric Parker's actions did not meet the high standards and expectations of the Madison City Police Department," Muncey said.

Madison, a bedroom community of about 46,000 people, is located near high-tech businesses, the University of Alabama-Huntsville, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

Let's hope this cop didn't just turn this into an international incident! That would be just what we need right now. SMDH

The dashboard camera shows two officers, field trainer Parker and his trainee Andrew Slaughter, approach the man just after 8 a.m. on Friday. The man stops and turns and steps toward them. The audio offers a clips of the interaction, mainly just what the officers say.

It is also disturbing that this officer is a field trainer. This is field training?

Much is being made of skin colour and language barrier, and rightly so. However I can think of other situations where this violent take down would be somehow deemed acceptable. In so many cases across the US it is somehow dangerous to question in any shape or form the actions of the police. Instant compliance is demanded under the threat of violence. I do wonder what the story might have been if there had been no video.