Dr. Armen Henderson was arrested while helping homeless people, but that is not his biggest concern — he fears that the police sergeant who placed the handcuffs on him might have infected him with the coronavirus.
Last Friday, the doctor parked a van in front of his home where he was unloading boxes of tents that he and his team had planned to give to those in need and are now facing the coronavirus pandemic that has infected 587,337 people and killed 23,649 others in the country.
As he was doing so, a Miami-Dade police sergeant, who was not wearing a protective mask, quizzed him about his actions and demanded that he produce some form of identification.
When the African-American doctor said he did not have any on him, the Miami-Dade police sergeant, who was not wearing a protective mask and gloves, started yelling at him and attempted to arrest him.
Dr. Henderson decided to scream for his wife to come to his rescue with identification papers. According to Henderson, the sergeant did release him once he proved who he was.
Henderson slammed the sergeant because he is aware that the Miami-Dade Police department has six officers who had tested positive for the coronavirus, and another 125 had been quarantined pending test results.
The health expert stated: “He put me at risk. Now I feel like I should get tested, honestly. Most likely, I will because he definitely was spitting in my face. I could feel it while he was yelling at me.”
A video of the incident has gone viral on Facebook and Instagram, and many people have stepped up to show support and to encourage him to continue with the good work.
Henderson, who is well known for his charitable works and is a staff member of the University of Miami Health System, has vowed to keep on fighting the good fight.
He penned a thank you note and revealed that he plans to address the issue later this week: “Thank you for all of your concerns, calls, messages, and love at this time. You are all greatly appreciated. Before all of this added exposure, Dream Defenders, Community Justice Project, and all the organizations involved in the community emergency operations center-mounted a campaign around the county and their gross negligence in handling both the homeless population and those that are stuck in jail because they can’t afford bail or don’t have a place to come home to. We were also drawing connections between homeless trust and county jail populations.
My declaration pertaining to the lawsuit against the county jail is here: https://static1.squarespace.com/…/Witness%2Band%2BExpert%2B…
We are using this momentum to turn it up.
A press conference is on Friday.”
The Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina said he is aware of the matter, and an investigation will take place to get to the bottoms of things.
The doctor has announced that he will sue the police.
