LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The police dragged Hamada toward an armored van close to the Presidential palace in Cairo. Broadcast on television, it horrified and angered Egyptians nationwide. 

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's office promised an investigation of the incident. The attack followed eight days of protests in which 60 people have been killed, decried as the deadliest wave of bloodshed of President Morsi's seven-month rule.

The incident has fueled criticism from Morsi's opponents, who say that it proves that he has chosen to order a brutal crackdown like that carried out by Hosni Mubarak against the uprising that toppled him in 2011.

"Morsi has been stripped bare and has lost his legitimacy. Done, tweeted Ahmed Maher, founder of the April 6 youth movement that helped launch the anti-Mubarak protests.

A protester was shot dead last Friday and more than 100 were injured, many seriously, after running battles between police and demonstrators who attacked the palace with petrol bombs.

Dozens of protesters were shot dead in the Suez Canal city of Port Said. Morsi responded by declaring a curfew and state of emergency there and in two other cities.

None of the previous brutality has been as resonant as the fresh images of six policemen abusing a man at their feet . the victim helpless, prone and no possible threat whatsoever.

"Stripping naked and dragging an Egyptian is a crime that shows the excessive violence of the security forces and the continuation of its repressive practices - a crime for which the president and his interior minister are responsible," liberal politician Amr Hamzawy said on Twitter.

The incident called to mind the beating of a woman by riot police on Tahrir Square in December 2011. Her beating became a rallying symbol for the revolution and undermined the interim military rulers who held power between Mubarak's fall and Morsi's rise.

Morsi, the first freely elected leader in Egypt's 5,000-year history is probably the single most important change achieved by two years of revolts across the Arab world.

However, seven months since taking office, Morsi has failed to unite Egyptians. Street unrest and political instability threaten to render the most populous Arab state ungovernable.

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