Mark Linn – Staff Writer
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The suburb of Huntsville, Ala. became a center of controversy after a city police officer forced an Indian grandfather to the ground resulting in partial paralysis (Photo by Casey Marley).
Alabama has once again found itself in national and international news, this time over a police brutality incident involving an Indian man severely injured in a confrontation with Madison city police.
The incident took place on the morning of Friday, Feb. 6 in the suburban North Alabama town. Madison city police officer Eric Parker and a trainee responded to a call by a neighbor who reported what they described as a “skinny black guy” allegedly peering into garages, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The man in question turned out to be Sureshbhai Patel, a 57-year-old Indian man who had only been in the U.S. a few weeks. He was brought to the U.S. by his son, Chirag Patel, to help care for his 17-month-old grandson while Chirag pursues an engineering degree at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
According to the Patel family’s attorney, Hank Sherrod, Patel was not peering into garages, nor on any private property.
“This is broad daylight, walking down the street. There is nothing suspicious about Mr. Patel other than he has brown skin,” said Sherrod.
A dash cam inside the police car shows the two officers walking up to Patel and attempting to speak with him. Patel does not speak English, a fact he relayed to the officers, along with his son’s house number, according to Sherrod.
The police statement says that Patel put his hands in his pockets, and the officers attempted to frisk him. Patel tried to pull away, and was “forced to the ground, which resulted in injury.”
In fact, the Associated Press reported that he suffered an injury to his spine, requiring surgery to fuse two vertebrae. He remains hospitalized and partially paralyzed, unable to lift his left leg or make a tight grip with his hands.
Because Patel does not have insurance, a family friend created a crowd source funding page on GoFundMe, which has raised more than $175,000 to help pay for his medical bills.
Another funding page was created for Parker, and has raised around $3,200 to “help with Parker’s bills, etc.”
Parker was fired and arrested after the incident, and is charged with third degree assault, to which he has since plead not guilty. Madison Police apologized in a press conference, saying that Parker’s actions did not meet the standards of the police department.
Governor Robert Bentley issued an apology on Feb. 17 to the government of India for the incident. According to the letter, issued to Consul General of India in Atlanta, Bentley said that he deeply regretted the “unfortunate use of excessive force,” according to a report from National Public Radio.
