My heart just breaks for this family....

[Myira]

Any of you read this?
http://whnt.com/2015/02/12/madison-p...badly-injured/

I will never be carefree next time my MIL/FIL visit us from India and go for a walk around our neighbourhood. Although they can speak English I am sure they have a difficult to understand accent and surely would be flustered enough to not exactly get the point of the question when confronted by a police officer when they are just innocently strolling in the neighbourhood. I read the family has filed a lawsuit but just keep thinking that nothing can make up for the trauma they have been put through.

All I can say is I hope this brings to fore the whole issue of cultural sensistivity with regards to law enforcement.

[twowhat?]

I saw this yesterday. We have several Indian families in our neighborhood and the elderly absolutely love to go for those slow, wandering walks around the neighborhood and stop to take in scenery or look at other houses (out of curiosity, not malice). I feel so bad for this man. I don't know what the officer was thinking??? He clearly didn't speak English. He wasn't a physical threat!! I hope he recovers fully.

[amandabea]

I saw this yesterday. We have several Indian families in our neighborhood and the elderly absolutely love to go for those slow, wandering walks around the neighborhood and stop to take in scenery or look at other houses (out of curiosity, not malice). I feel so bad for this man. I don't know what the officer was thinking??? He clearly didn't speak English. He wasn't a physical threat!! I hope he recovers fully.

it's absolutely heartbreaking.

[citymama]

This story is just sickening. Both the 911 call that a "skinny black man" is walking where the caller thinks he shouldn't be, and the police's use of force on an elderly grandfather out on a walk bothering absolutely no one (other than by the color of his skin, apparently). The way they shove him and then grab him up is horrifying especially when you learn it caused him spinal injuries and paralysis. The only bright side I see to this is the kindness of strangers who have contributed to his medical care. Probably still far from enough to cover his injuries and nothing can compensate for being paralyzed. When will this stop?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

This story is just sickening. Both the 911 call that a "skinny black man" is walking where the caller thinks he shouldn't be, and the police's use of force on an elderly grandfather out on a walk bothering absolutely no one (other than by the color of his skin, apparently). The way they shove him and then grab him up is horrifying especially when you learn it caused him spinal injuries and paralysis. The only bright side I see to this is the kindness of strangers who have contributed to his medical care. Probably still far from enough to cover his injuries and nothing can compensate for being paralyzed. When will this stop?

I cannot describe how much this story enrages me. Both the call to police and the police officer's actions demonstrate downright xenophobia..thoughts of skinny brown person = doesn't belong here and must be up to no good. Ugh.

I live in TX, in a mostly white neighborhood and sadly, i could see a call like this happening. On our neighborhood FB page, there's always ppl posting warnings abt "suspicious people" e.g. a guy selling magazines door-to-door, or whatever and 99% of times it's a black guy. People suggesting to each other to call the police over this sort of things. There's just limited exposure to people of different backgrounds and people get stupid ideas in their heads. There's also the component of the whole "we have to protect our land" mentality running rampant and folks getting some sort of thrill catching people in the act of doing something. There was a local news story that someone shared on FB, where a man complained to the USPS over a delivery of $$$ electronics that was broken, and his security cam footage showed the delivery lady (obviously black from the footage) tossing it on doorstep and rushing off. The guy acted like it was some sort of horrific injustice that this mail lady was so "lazy" to toss a fragile package on his doorstep. Cue the comments on how "wow, people are so lazy and disrespectful these days" and so on.

We are moving to a new neighborhood this summer few towns over with a large Indian/Asian population and I am so looking forward to it (and i'm not indian or asian). I just am SO over this whole vigilante mentality. It's sad, really.

[georgiegirl]

Truly horrible. My FIL doesn't speak much English and we worry about him mistakenly getting shot or arrested. "Fortunately" he's white, so I guess I shouldn't worry too much.

[elektra]

Sickening. Throwing old grandpas down on the ground?!?

[schrocat]

That's so wrong on so many levels.

[IansMom]

Unfortunately, this is in my area--I live less than 10 miles from the subdivision where the incident occurred. Honestly, I am not surprised. There are many areas around here where "persons of color" are considered suspicious. I am African American/Black and there is a large population of us as well as Indians in the Huntsville/Madison/Limestone area. I am truly sickened that this happened, and I am glad the officer has been terminated. Hopefully, that police precinct as well as the two others in this area will have mandated sensitivity training.

[Globetrotter]

That could have been my fil. He was tall and imposing, and he often walked with his hands in his pockets. I shudder to think what that family is going through..

I hope to think this could not happen here in our diverse area.