ravishingravi Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/ndian-man-paralyzed-after-alabama-cop-body-slams-him-for-walking-in-wealthy-white-suburb/ lice officers seriously injured a 57-year-old Indian man they stopped after a neighbor reported him acting suspiciously while walking near his son’s Alabama home. The man’s son, Chirag Patel, said officers threw his father to the ground during questioning, leaving him partially paralyzed and hospitalized with fused vertebrae, reported AL.com. Madison police said a neighbor called shortly before 9:30 a.m. Friday to report a man he didn’t recognize was walking into driveways and looking in garages as he walked around the residential neighborhood. Two officers approached Sureshbhai Patel, a farmer from the small Indian town of Pij, and patted him down, and they said the man repeatedly told them he spoke no English and pointed toward his son’s house nearby. Patel’s son said his father speaks only Gujarati and some Hindi, and police officers noted a “communication barrier” in their statement about the incident. One of the officers suddenly grabbed the elder Patel’s arm, pulled it behind him, and threw him face-first to the ground, said the family’s attorney. “The subject began putting his hands in his pockets,” reads the police statement. “Officers attempted to pat the subject down and he attempted to pull away. The subject was forced to the ground, which resulted in injury.” The attorney said officers needlessly escalated the encounter and left the man lying bleeding and temporarily paralyzed on the sidewalk. “This is broad daylight, walking down the street — there is nothing suspicious about Mr. Patel other than he has brown skin,” said attorney Hank Sherrod. The elder Patel has limited motion in his arms and left leg, but his right leg remains paralyzed, and he had surgery to fuse two vertebrae due to swelling in his spine. Patel’s son, who brought him to the U.S. to help his wife care for their 17-month-old son while he studies for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, said he fears he made a terrible mistake by inviting his father to his home in the mostly white and affluent Huntsville suburb. “This is a good neighborhood,” said the younger Patel, who came to the U.S. a decade ago to study and has been a citizen since 2012. “I didn’t expect anything to happen.” The officer who threw Patel to the ground was suspended, and the use of force is under investigation. Police wished Patel, who was not charged or cited with any crime, a “speedy recovery.” I guess Martin Luther King would have been in tears today with all the racial intolerance.
HippoSucks Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I'm all in favor of police using force when necessary (e.g. in the Ferguson fiasco) but this is utter nonsense. You can't paralyze a guy just because he is looking at garages and doesn't speak your language.
Precambrian Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 The man had no business checking out other people's garages. But that said, absolutely reprehensible behaviour by the police. Should sue their asses out.
HippoSucks Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 The man had no business checking out other people's garages. But that said' date=' absolutely reprehensible behaviour by the police. Should sue their asses out.[/quote'] I doubt any 57-year old man not speaking the native language would attempt to steal in a foreign country. He was just innocently curious... To add to that, since when do police have the right to push anyone if the person is not causing any harm (or potentially causing harm) to anyone? And we aren't even factoring his age yet. You can't push a 57 year old man unless he has a knife/gun/bomb in his hand held towards you (especially not for looking at garages). Injuries like this at such an age can easily be fatal. Immobility is the worst thing for any senior.
Cricketics Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I feel it's one of those cases where you know how India Uncle-Aunties are really curious to see what's happening around. It is pretty typical of our elders from India to do so as they often do the "walk in the park" in India I feel sorry for the man that he had to pay the price for it in such away. His intention might not have been bad, it's just his curiosity caused a stir among people and hence this reaction. I am not defending police here, who I feel, could have been a bit lenient here, but I do feel that it's not any racial crap which people would propose it as.
HippoSucks Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I feel it's one of those cases where you know how India Uncle-Aunties are really curious to see what's happening around. It is pretty typical of our elders from India to do so as they often do the "walk in the park" in India I feel sorry for the man that he had to pay the price for it in such away. His intention might not have been bad, it's just his curiosity caused a stir among people and hence this reaction. I am not defending police here, who I feel, could have been a bit lenient here, but I do feel that it's not any racial crap which people would propose it as. Most police officers are extremely nice people who genuinely care for our safety. However, I think it is likely that an officer who pushes seniors for fun might be racist.
Raghav_12 Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I feel it's one of those cases where you know how India Uncle-Aunties are really curious to see what's happening around. It is pretty typical of our elders from India to do so as they often do the "walk in the park" in India I feel sorry for the man that he had to pay the price for it in such away. His intention might not have been bad, it's just his curiosity caused a stir among people and hence this reaction. I am not defending police here, who I feel, could have been a bit lenient here, but I do feel that it's not any racial crap which people would propose it as. It is clearly racial. No doubt about that.
vvvslaxman Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 If it were to be white reaction would not have been this bad. From what i gather the place where this guy lived was a posh area where you could see varied cultures. He shouldn't have been shocked. It was a combination of Paranoid redneck and stupid police work. Until last year Alabama had the worst anti illegal immigrant law there last year they removed some parts of the law. This is the law http://www.repealhb56.org/ http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidnoriega/alabamas-draconian-anti-immigrant-law-dies-with-a-whimper#.uwm1JarAmQ looks like these guys still have the habit. This law legitimized racial profiling
Gollum Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 Perhaps that bastard Obama must preach racial tolerance to his country rather than lecturing to us about religious tolerance. Scum country, racist people, what does our idiot PM see in Obama that he sucks up to him like a poodle. Feeling very very sad after reading this, thinking about my parents. Hope he recovers from this soon and things get back to normal.
Texy Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 This happened 7-8 yrs ago. It was December 24th Christmas eve. I was visiting a desi friend at University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Me, him and 2 of his desi roommates decided to walk around the campus and check out the architecture. We were walking around....not a soul in sight, empty campus. Suddenly out of the blue 2 cop cars started following us slowly...w/o siren for about 5 mins and then turned on their lights and siren and surrounded us. They patted us down for weapons and asking all these inquisitive questions. The other people were on student visa so they didn't say a damn thing but I was like WTF. So I started talking back and asking what's going on....they said, there has been a burglary near by and the suspect fits our description. Which was a clear BS. Some of these cops are more racist than ordinary people. That police dept. better get sued. That's the only thing that will force them to change their attitudes.
South_Paw Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I heard the pay for policemen here is way lower than the normal salary of an Indian. They know that very well which I think fuels their racial attitude.
Raghav_12 Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 I heard the pay for policemen here is way lower than the normal salary of an Indian. They know that very well which I think fuels their racial attitude. Not only for policemen but for a lot of other people salary would be much lesser than what an average Indian earns in US.
Clarke Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 MLK would have been shocked at this as well: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/11/us/chapel-hill-shooting/index.html
G_B_ Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 shoot first ask questions later..... This kind of cowboy mentality needs to be stopped.
Shivaji bhonsle Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 no coverage in US media that's bad. Imagine if an American citizen got treated like this in India. Absolutely shameful.
coffee_rules Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-protests-police-assault-on-Indian-man-in-US/articleshow/46222692.cms No media coverage, but a softball diplomatic inquiry into the matter.
Brainfade Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 Wrong. Sad. Condemn it. But it's the exception to the rule. And have you considered the possibility that y'all are indulging in profiling the South? You may could research NY's stop-and-frisk law and see if AL's law is any worse. The NAACP President named NY as having "America's worst racial profiling program." And BTW, of the 20 states that don't prohibit racial profiling, only 3 are South of the Mason-Dixon line. But let's not let facts get in the way of a good story about the racist redneck from Birmingham, AL. And maybe we all need to take a long look in the mirror and see that religious and caste-based profiling is the rule. Not the exception. Even among expats.
CSK Fan Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 I'm all in favor of police using force when necessary (e.g. in the Ferguson fiasco) but this is utter nonsense. You can't paralyze a guy just because he is looking at garages and doesn't speak your language. Yes of course, police killing unarmed men all over the world is absolutely necessary. Some human beings are sick and glorify in that these incidents cannot happen to them. As long as it's others, the price for shop lifting should be instant death with police acting as judge jury and executioners
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