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Photo: Stefan Sauer / picture alliance / Stefan Sauer/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
In the USA, the police arrested a visually impaired man – probably because he was carrying a cane.
As reported by NBCNews, among others, 61-year-old James Hodges was briefly taken into custody.
The police officers involved have since been suspended.
The incident happened on Monday last week in the city of Lake City, Florida.
As a video from the bodycam of one of the emergency services shows, Hodges was walking down the sidewalk when a police officer spoke to him.
She asked him what he was carrying in his jeans pocket.
Hodges responds defensively: 'What's the problem?
Are you a bully?” he asks the law enforcement officer.
This in turn reacts irritably and now wants to record the personal data of the visually impaired.
In the video, Hodges does not indicate that his vision is limited.
Sheriff apologizes for wrongdoing
Finally, the 61-year-old pulls out his folded cane and swings it at the camera.
But that doesn't change the minds of the police officers: they handcuff Hodges and put him in the emergency vehicle.
In the meantime, the responsible sheriff Mark Hunter has apologized to the 61-year-old for the behavior of his colleagues.
"This behavior is unacceptable," he said in a video posted on Facebook.
He does not believe that the police officers acted in this way on purpose - nevertheless, following their training, they should show different behaviors.
lmd