*UPDATE* on elderly Indian man left paralyzed by police

[dixiegrrrrl]

Last edited Sun Apr 26, 2015, 12:03 PM - Edit history (1)

The family of Sureshbhai Patel, the 57-year-old grandfather who was left partially paralyzed after an encounter with Alabama police last week, have been overwhelmed with donations and offers to help with his medical bills and other expenses.

The family of Mr. Sureshbhai Patel would like to express their heartfelt appreciation for the ongoing support provided over the last few weeks. While Mr. Sureshbhai Patel still faces a challenging road to recovery, he has made significant progress in the recent days. With the help of the global community, this GoFundMe was able to raise over $209k – these funds will support the medical and medical related expenses incurred as a result of this tragic injury.

Also, the U.S. Department of Justice has indicted the Madison police officer involved for using unreasonable force against Mr. Sureshbhai Patel.

and the family is filing a lawsuit.

(The above info taken from the man's updated Go Fund Me page.)
http://www.gofundme.com/m757pw

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Thank you for posting this. I was just wondering about him today.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. My heart went out to the guy

because he was an unwitting victim of racism and ignorance.
Fortunately his family will keep the pressure on to have the cops held responsible.

[elleng]

2. Thanks. Too bad most of the funds will go to medical expenses.

Notice how our sympathetic impulses are often diverted from the harmed individuals to medical firms and administrators? Kind of bugs me.

[haikugal]

4. Our system is set up to funnel all money upward to the 1%..

[glinda]

7. yes and it really truly sucks

[daleanime]

15. True....

and disgusting.

[okaawhatever]

10. The cop has been indicte by the DOJ and the family is filing a lawsuit. I think he'll get a pretty

decent settlement to help him in the future. I'll bet the state of Alabama won't even let it go to court.

[elleng]

11. Right, he probably will,

but only after some aggravation. I do hope they speed it up.

[chillfactor]

3. Thank you for the update....

good to know the asshat cop was indicted....

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. thx for the update

[MrModerate]

8. Money to this GoFundMe page makes much more sense . . .

Both ethically and financially, than any donations to Bigot Pizzeria in Indiana.

[Fuddnik]

9. Boy, do I ever love your sig line.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. I stole it from Mr. Dixie

Great minds and all that......

[NBachers]

12. Let's not forget the anonymous shithead who called the cops on him and started this whole atrocity.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Yeah...that's the ignorant part..

I have such a love/hate relationship with people in this state.
They will give you the shirt off their back, I never have to worry about being stranded in my car for more than 2 minutes,should it come to to that,
and in the same breath, they will come out with the most crazy shit I have ever heard.

Bearable because, since I am not a native, I practice "when in Rome......" and keep a detached distance in most interactions.

Rick Bragg, a genius with the written word, often talks about his kin in Ala. in the same perplexed way.
"They're my people, but they can be crazy as a skunk on moonshine".

[NBachers]

16. I'm sure if I lived there, I'd find plenty of common ground to get along with people

And I've experienced plenty of the charming easy goin' country boy and girl attitude. Even the worst snakes can have a reassuring way of making you feel at ease in friendship with them. It's just a gracious, friendly, and disarming way.

In Florida, where I lived for a long time, there are yankee transplants; there are also Florida Crackers. I knew a clan like that; they were the easiest, friendliest people to be around. A guy I worked with had grown up with 'em. I really enjoyed their company and hospitality.

My friend also told me rumors of services they allegedly used to provide. I won't go into detail here; but it still fills me with horror to think about it. So there was always the dichotomy of charming, gracious, friendly people, who were also capable of unspeakable atrocities.

I watched an old 1955 movie this weekend called The Phenix City Story. It was based on true events in Alabama, centered on wide-open local graft and reform. It was a movie worth watching.

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. Phenix City...guy named Patterson that tried to clean it up.

did not know there was a movie..I will go look for it.
There are a couple books about it, I have but not yet read them.

[bearssoapbox]

18. "They're my people, but they can be crazy as a skunk on moonshine".

Describes most of my conservative friends and relatives.

[beam me up scottie]

17. Thank you.

Thinking about him still brings tears to my eyes. He must have been so terrified.

[bearssoapbox]

19. I was thinking about him earlier.

Thanks for posting this. I'm glad he's doing better and I hope he gets a big enough settlement to take care of him for life but no amount of money will offset the pain and misery that he and his family have gone, or will go through for the rest of their lives.

What in the world is it going to take to stop this crap.

Can police depts. and others be sued enough so that it eventually stops?

Or is it to late to stop their abuse of their authority?

Their "you will comply with my complete authority" mindset.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Stopping this crap.

Something wonderful is happening out there, thanks to Egyptian Spring
and to technology which provides fast communication.


We are seeing serious and continuous protests about this.
The latest, in Baltimore, has now created a community based protest.

So, GOOD news is that the people affected are actively seeking change, which is as it should be.
The GOOD news is that it is happening EVERY day since Ferguson, all across the country.

The BAD news is that it is happening all across the country because there are than many police murders.

[bearssoapbox]

30. I agree

Technology will have a big impact on exposing, and hopefully stopping, the extremely aggressive stance that the police have taken over the years.

Hopefully the police will realize that sooner, rather than later.

[sabrina 1]

20. Do you have a link to his gofundme page?

It's getting to the point that people need form of protection from Americas Civilian police.

I think it's time to appeal to the International community for protection for Americans, particularly minorities. Because our government isn't doing anything to stop these crimes against the people.

I hope he recovers. I'm glad he lived through it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Hey, Sabrina...here it is:

http://www.gofundme.com/m757pw

I will add it OP also.

He is gaining some mobility.

[tblue37]

24. Here's a link to a thread about another completely unwarranted. violent bidy slam

by cop, in which a woman is slammed, facedown, so hard to the pavement (in front of her terrified, screaming 6-year-old daughter!) that she is knocked unconscious. Despite the video, that PD's idiot police chief insists that the cop was following prooer procedure for such situations.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6561270

[libdem4life]

25. I love this new trend. People get to actually get to vote for something with their own money...

how strongly they feel or how much they have...most importantly by choice. Mostly thanks to cell phones, but I see it becoming a wonderful trend.

[malaise]

26. Thanks for the update

This was racism on steroids.

[Politicalboi]

27. Spending all that money for medical

[GarColga]

28. Elderly?

dixiegrrrrl you must be very young if you think a person of 57 is "elderly." You'll be there soon enough and I hope you remember saying this and have a good laugh.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. That was a headllne I copied.

And just for the record, I would LOVE to see 57 again!