Houston police officers used a dangerous four-point hogtying maneuver to detain Alberto Ramos solely based on his race, attorneys say.
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Houton Chronicle
By Michael Murney
A new lawsuit alleges that Houston police officers used a dangerous and potentially deadly hogtying maneuver to detain an innocent Latino man solely based on his race. The suit, filed Monday in the Southern District of Texas, names 11 HPD officers as defendants.
On July 11, 2021, Albert Ramos was walking on a public sidewalk when HPD officer Scott Erwin received notice of a 911 call reporting that a "Hispanic" male had committed an assault. "Apart from race and gender, Defendant Erwin did not receive any physical descriptors of the alleged perpetrator," attorneys alleged in court documents.
"Despite having only those two pieces of relevant information about Mr. Ramos, Defendant Erwin seized Mr. Ramos within seconds of getting out of his police vehicle. Without asking questions or giving Mr. Ramos an opportunity to answer, he grabbed Mr. Ramos’ arm and tackled him to the ground," Ramos' attorneys continued.
Several additional HPD officers then arrived and helped Erwin handcuff Ramos, who "cried out in confusion, distress, and pain, asking the officers to stop and let him go," attorneys allege. Later, even more officers joined: "Defendants Gino Dago, Hallie Smith, and Fredrick Morrison pulled an already-handcuffed Mr. Ramos out of the police vehicle, placed him on his stomach, and tied his wrists and his ankles in a four-point restraint known as hogtying. Defendants did this despite their audible observations of Mr. Ramos’ fragile condition," Ramos attorneys said in court documents.
Ramos was hospitalized for the injuries sustained from being hogtied - a practice that has resulted in at least 23 deaths nationwide from 2010 to 2021, according to NBC News. The U.S. Department of Justice has also warned police departments against using hogtying for nearly 30 years.
“It is unacceptable, especially in a city with such a large Hispanic population, that HPD officers stopped Mr. Ramos because he fit a barebones description of being Hispanic and male. HPD officers’ subsequent unconscionable decision to hogtie Mr. Ramos in the street raises urgent questions about HPD’s ability to keep Houstonians safe," said Kiah Duggins, an attorney at Civil Rights Corps representing Ramos in the case.
"Houston thrives because of its Latinx communities, yet HPD's violence against Latinx men is common and consistent. As a Latina organizer and a resident of Montrose where this occurred, I think it's essential that we share Mr. Ramos's story along with others' like Nicholas Chavez who was killed by HPD during a mental health crisis in 2020," Katya Abazajian, a member of the RISE Houston Coalition, said in a release.
HPD did not immediately respond to Chron's request for comment.