A hospital patient suffering from double pneumonia went for a walk with his boyfriend and brother before all three were arrested in what they argue was an incident of racial profiling. Shaquille Dukes, a 24-year-old black male, tells CNN he was wearing a hospital gown and hooked up to an IV drip on the property of FHN Memorial Hospital in Illinois on June 9 when a security guard asked if he was to trying to "leave the hospital and sell the IV equipment on eBay." Even though Dukes notes that a doctor had approved the walk on hospital property, per WGN, the guard called Freeport Police, claiming he had "three black males attempting to steal medical equipment," Dukes says. Dukes adds that he was told he was under arrest for attempted theft, though police now say there was likely no attempt to steal.
"Had they been able to engage in a civil discourse with hospital security, we wouldn't have been called at all," Lt. Andrew Schroeder tells the Journal Standard. He adds video footage offers only "a snippet of a longer incident" so "people need to be careful about rushing to judgment against the police," who've hired an independent investigator. Dukes, meanwhile, has filed an official complaint against the officers, who charged all three men with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and two with misdemeanor resisting arrest. Dukes says he passed out after his IV was removed during the arrest, then suffered a seizure and asthma attack as officers withheld his inhaler. He's now working with an attorney, according to a Facebook post describing Freeport as "truly one of the most racist cities in America." (More racial profiling stories.)
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