"When you come to the U.S. we expect you to follow our laws and speak our language," said attorney, Robert Tuten in defence of Eric Parker, an Alabama police officer who has been charged with a civil rights violation that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison for slamming an Indian citizen to the ground in February. Sureshbhai Patel, the 57-year-old victim, had claimed that he couldn’t speak English and he was forcefully taken down by Alabama police officer, Parker.

Tuten in his defence told the court that Patel understood the term ‘stop’ and even after continuous orders, Patel kept walking and reached for his pockets. This prompted Parker to retaliate, slamming Patel to the ground in a shocking video that went viral. After the incident, Patel reported having severely injured his spine, leaving him paralysed.

Yet according to Parker's defence, what happened is Patel's fault. “From the very beginning, let me say, this is a tragic situation and everybody feels real bad for Mr. Patel but Mr. Patel bears as much responsibility for this as anyone”, Tuten explained to jury.

The case taking several twists and turns ended up in a hung jury last month with US Department of Justice seeking to imprison the officer for 10 years for this act. Assistant US Attorney Robert Posey told the jury that Patel wasn’t a potential threat since he mentioned “no English” to the officer five times. He also said “India” three times while pointing his finger towards his son’s home and didn’t make abrupt movements.

In the featured dashcam video, Parker can be seen kicking Patel’s leg out before he finally makes it to the ground. According to Posey, Parker also threatened the old man. Testimony for this case is supposed to start before the Federal courthouse in Huntsville, Alabama on Tuesday.

American police have always been in news for forcefully bringing down civilians, especially African-Americans. About two days ago, a video of a white male police officer at a South Carolina high school brutally slamming a teenage black girl sparked massive outrage on social media.In the video, the girl is seen sitting calmly before the Sheriff comes and pushes her on the ground ruthlessly.