Healthcare professional Charles Kinsey, makes his first public appearance in Aventura, Fla., Thursday, July 28, 2016. Kinsey, an unarmed black therapist who was shot in the leg by police last week while protecting his severely autistic client, said he had a joyful reunion Thursday with the man who remains hospitalized because of emotional trauma. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)

An unarmed black therapist is suing the Florida police officer who shot him while he tried to protect his autistic client.

The Miami Herald reports Charles Kinsey filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against North Miami officer Jonathan Aledda, accusing him and other officers of using excessive force and false arrest.

The 47-year-old Kinsey is seeking unspecified damages. Aledda shot Kinsey in the leg July 18 as he lay in the street next to his 27-year-old client. Arnaldo Rios had walked away from the group home where he lives. Kinsey was trying to coax him back when a woman called 911 saying a suicidal man was walking down the street with a gun. Rios was actually carrying his toy truck.

A cellphone video captured events leading up to the shooting.