Just one week after arriving in Alabama from Pij, India, Sureshbhai Patel found himself beaten and paralyzed, courtesy of the Madison City Police Department. And there’s video that could reveal the truth about what happened.

Patel, who came to the United States to help his son by being a primary caretaker for his 17-month old grandchild, became the victim of police abuse after a neighbor called the cops to report a “suspicious person.” 

When law enforcement officials arrived, Mr. Patel – who does not speak English – attempted to communicate by saying “no English” and “India,” and repeated the house number of his son’s home. Instead of seeking clarity, Madison police officers wrenched Patel by the arm and slammed him to the ground causing an injury that left him bleeding, paralyzed, and requiring surgery.

Immediately following the incident, the Madison City Police Department released a statement in which they report that Mr. Patel was looking into garage windows. Despite this, the department determined that there was no wrongdoing by Patel – a decision that supports the Patel family’s insistence that their elder family member was doing nothing but walking on the sidewalk.

So why was there a need for police officers to exact such brute force? “I think it was because he looked brown,” says Hank Sharrod, legal counsel to the Patel family. In these times of egregious police overreach and state-sanctioned brutality, Sharrod's speculation isn’t a far stretch.

Now, the Madison Police Department is refusing to release audio and video recordings that could reveal what really happened when the cops rolled up on an elderly brown man doing nothing but walking down and American street. As members of the public, it is our right to know exactly what happened, and what these public servants did when they were supposedly “serving and protecting." 

We demand that the Madison Police Department release all audio and video of the altercation involving Sureshbai Patel. If there’s nothing to hide, then there’s no reason why the proof of what really happened should remain hidden.