US authorities have arrested Alabama police officer Eric Parker and charged him with severely assaulting 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel, a shocking encounter that left the Indian visitor laid up in hospital, partially paralysed and in need of surgery to fuse two vertebrae. A Federal Bureau of Investigation has also been ordered even as a video of the incident shows the brutal manner in which Parker and another officer slammed Patel to the ground on a sidewalk near his son’s home in Madison City, completely immobilising him.
The horrified Patel family, aided by a civil rights attorney, has filed a lawsuit against the Madison Police Department, alleging that the elderly visitor’s constitutional civil rights were violated. The suit seeks damages for “physical and emotional injuries” and the medical bills and other expenses in its wake.
“I sincerely apologise to Mr Patel, Mr Patel’s family and our community. We strive to exceed expectations,” Madison City Police Chief larry Muncey told reporters. Releasing the telltale dashboard camera footage of the encounter, Muncey also disclosed that he has recommended dismissal of officer Parker for his third-degree assault, saying the actions “did not meet the high standards and expectations” of the department.
The disciplinary action and FBI probe all came about after the Indian Government took up the issue prominently with US Embassy officials in New Delhi on Thursday. The FBI is taking up the case as a civil rights investigation and will submit its findings to the Justice Department. Muncey’s announcement came not long after the Patel family filed the lawsuit in a federal district court. Attorney Sherrod believes Patel, who speaks only Gujarati, was accosted because of his dark brown skin. The police came on the scene after a phone call from a neighbour, complaining about “a skinny black guy” peering into garages.
“First, I’m hoping that the truth will come out, second that this case might bring to life the real issues we have in this country about the police abuse of power where someone can’t try to blame it on the victim,” Attorney Hank Sherrod told The Washington Post. “Here we’ve got someone who is truly blameless and innocent. He was brutalized, and hopefully will, but may never, walk again,” Sherrod said, recalling the February 6 incident when Patel was taking a morning walk in the neighbourhood.
leaving his wife behind in Nadiya in Gujarat, Patel had arrived in the US just a week earlier to assist his son and daughter-in-law in taking care of their 17-month-old baby.