AN ELDERLY Australian man had a heart attack as he was being arrested for not wearing a face mask while exercising OUTSIDE. The unidentified man was walking through Brisbane Botanical Gardens with his partner when he was handcuffed by cops – despite reportedly having a medical exemption allowing him to exercise without a mask. It […]
AN ELDERLY Australian man had a heart attack as he was being arrested for not wearing a face mask while exercising OUTSIDE.
The unidentified man was walking through Brisbane Botanical Gardens with his partner when he was handcuffed by cops – despite reportedly having a medical exemption allowing him to exercise without a mask.
It comes as Australian authorities plunged the nation into one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in a bid to curb rising Covid cases.
The shocking footage, shared online by the man’s furious son, shows the man calmly cooperating with the four officers on Monday morning.
But the police handcuffed him as they said he refused to answer their questions “reasonably”, despite his partner being heard trying to inform them of his details and his exemption.
One cop is heard saying he “was not confident [the man] would comply with directives” if he removed the handcuffs and began leading him out of the park.
The man then terrifyingly fell to the floor and began to spasm and gasp for air as he desperately tried to reach for his backpack which contained his heart medication.
He did not do anything illegal, he did not retaliate in a violent manner. He was conducting himself peacefully and not looking for trouble.”
Joseph Merlino
His family later claimed that the cops disbelieved his heart condition and made a joke about the seizure.
The man’s horrified partner frantically rushed to his side, explaining to the officers his medication was in his bag and saying: “Do you believe me now you pr***s?”
The distressing clip then shows the cops lying the man on his side while explaining they cannot legally administer the dose of medication before his partner takes over.
Another female officer explained an ambulance had been called while the man continued to experience the medical episode on the floor.
The video, which has been viewed nearly 50,000 times, was posted online by the man’s son, Joseph Merlino, who slammed the officers and said the scene made him “ball his eyes out”.
He wrote: “My father answered all these questions. He was here for exercise. He doesn’t need to wear a mask as he was exercising and he is exempt from wearing a mask.
He suffers from heart problems, struggles to breathe. He carries medication with him at all times. He did not do anything illegal, he did not retaliate in a violent manner. He was conducting himself peacefully and not looking for trouble.”
Merlino said the incident “doesn’t make sense” and accused authorities of using “fear and bullying tactics to make people not be able to able to have a voice.”
“This hurt me today more than anything I’ve experienced,” he continued. “Seeing my father get arrested and pushed to the ground by four police as he was having a seizure and having cardiac arrest.
“I haven’t cried for many years and I balled my eyes out seeing him suffering that I couldn’t do anything or be there for him and feeling as a son to protect his father.”
Aussie police confirmed that an ambulance had been called to the scene and were investigating the incident to determine if any offences were committed.
The country has turned totalitarian and a week-long snap lockdown and tough restrictions have been enforced amid spiralling Covid cases due to an outbreak of the Delta variant.
Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young ordered that face masks must be worn everywhere outside the home after 47 cases were recorded in Queensland in just four days.
Australia has managed to maintain relatively low numbers of Covid, recording just over 34,500 cases and 925 deaths since the pandemic began.
But the vaccine rollout has stalled due to differing medical advice, supply constraints, and reluctant residents.
Borders will remain shut until the percentage of the population to receive both jabs jumps from the current measly number of 17 per cent to 80 per cent.
