US city police apologises for NBA player's arrest
Washington, May 24: The police in US city of Milwaukee have apologized to NBA player Sterling Brown for his January arrest that started with a parking violation and escalated to include use of a stun gun, saying some members of the force had been disciplined.
The incident occurred in the early morning of January 26, when a policeman arrested Brown, 23, for parking his car in a space designated for the disabled in the parking lot of a local pharmacy, CNN reported.
"The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members of the Milwaukee force acted inappropriately and those members were recently disciplined," Milwaukee Police chief Alfonso Morales said on Wednesday at a news conference.
"I am sorry this incident escalated to this level," he said, adding that the officers involved in the incident were disciplined for acting "inappropriately", without specifying what the disciplinary measures were.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett had also condemned the use of force in the incident, saying that he felt "offended" by what he saw in the video and that "Brown deserves an apology and I am very sorry the Milwaukee police treated him in the fashion he was treated".
Brown, a Milwaukee Bucks rookie, responded by saying that the incident was "an attempt at police intimidation" and said it "shouldn't happen to anybody".
"What should have been a simple parking ticket turned into an attempt at police intimidation, followed by the unlawful use of physical force," he said.
Brown further noted that "situations like mine and worse happen every day in the black community," adding "the common denominator in all of these situations has been racism towards the minority community, the abuse of power and the lack of accountability for officers involved".
Brown's team, the Milwaukee Bucks, labelled the incident "shameful and inexcusable".
In the footage, an officer was seen confronting Brown while asking for reinforcements. At one point, a group of policemen charged at the NBA player as one of the officers stunned Brown with a taser before handcuffing him.
The police previously said that Brown became confrontational, prompting the officers to tase and arrest him. He was not charged with a crime as a result of the incident, which prompted an internal affairs investigation, the report said.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
