Acquitted of civil rights charges, Eric Parker returns to work

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Eric Parker, the Alabama police officer acquitted of federal civil rights charges arising from a video recording of an Indian man being slammed to the ground is returning to work.

Parker was recorded slamming Sureshbhai Patel, then 57, to the ground in February 2015. Patel was out for a walk in his Indian American son’s suburban Huntsville neighborhood and was approached by police after a neighbor who called 911 reported a thin black man walking through the area looking at houses.

Parker said his actions were a result of Patel’s resistance to his investigation, he added that both he and Patel had slipped as he tried to take him to the ground. Patel, who doesn’t speak English, said through an interpreter that he hadn’t understood the orders Parker was giving him. He was seriously injured in the fall, and a neurosurgeon who treated Patel after the encounter said the man suffered spinal trauma and that he removed a vertebrae to make room for the man’s spine.

Watch for yourself how Patel was left partially paralyzed:

A judge acquitted Parker of federal civil rights charges in January after two trials ended with deadlocked juries. A state judge dismissed assault charges in May.

Parker appealed his dismissal from the force.

Major Jim Cooke, the acting chief, said in a letter sent to the department that after reviewing all departmental and court documentation in the case, he found Parker didn’t violate department policy.

Cooke is serving as the acting chief because Larry Muncey was put on leave after he was found guilty of contempt of court in April for talking to Parker’s colleagues about their testimony in his first trial. He is appealing that ruling.