A Black Florida doctor who has been testing homeless people for COVID-19 was stopped outside his home and handcuffed Friday for—get this—unloading old boxes from his van for curbside pickup, he told the Miami Herald. Dr. Armen Henderson, who was earlier featured in the Herald for his heroic work to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, told the newspaper that by the cop’s account, police had been getting complaints of people illegally dumping garbage in a Miami neighborhood. So a sergeant patrolling the area stopped Henderson and asked him for his identification, and when he didn’t provide it and turned to his van, the cop handcuffed him, Henderson told the Herald.
“He said ‘you should refer to me as sir, or sergeant when talking to me,’” Henderson told the Herald. “I never said I was a doctor. But I didn’t cuss. He just grabbed my arms and cuffed me.”
Home surveillance video Henderson provided media outlets shows the doctor, a University of Miami Health System employee, wearing a mask and the sergeant without one. Henderson told ABC News that was his main concern because the sergeant got "all up in my face." Three days before the encounter with the sergeant, Miami-Dade Police Chief Jorge Colina said at least six officers had tested positive for COVID-19 and 125 had been quarantined awaiting test results. “Wearing cloth face coverings in public settings are mandatory in Miami-Dade County to help slow the spread of #COVID19,” the Miami police department retweeted Friday.
Although Colina didn’t address why the sergeant wasn’t wearing a mask in a department video posted on social media Saturday, the chief said his department doesn’t condone any kind of profiling. “There is a cargo van that is parked in front of that home. It appears to be trash that is being off-loaded,” Colina said. “That is the genesis of the stop. Now what happens after that, what’s being discussed, the actions taken, etc., all that needs to be investigated. And it will be investigated.” Colina said Henderson hasn't contacted the department to make a complaint. “I just got accosted by police,” the doctor told the Herald. “Why would I call them?”
