July 2. 2020

A police officer has been terminated from his positions over an act of excessive force that occurred at Miami International Airport on Wednesday. A black woman was brutally punched in the face, after refusing to leave the vicinity and arguing with police officer, Antonio Rodriguez.

She angrily moved forward and stood an inch from officer Rodriguez's face, while arguing over being told to depart the area. She stated to the non-black officer, "You acting like you white when you really Black...what you want to do?"

However, he remarked "she headbutted me" and proceeded to viciously punch the woman, in an act of police brutality. Rodriguez's fellow officers aided him in wrestling her to the floor and slapping cuffs on the woman.

For the record, the bodycam video does not support the officer's claims of being headbutted. As such, Miami-Dade Police Department director, Alfredo Ramirez, fired the officer over the fracas and asked the state attorney to investigate the incident.

Ramirez stated, "I am shocked and angered by a body cam video that I just saw involving one of our officers. I’ve immediately initiated an investigation and ordered that the involved officers be relieved of duty."

The video is barbaric. It looks bad. What the public saw of the bodycam footage is not good policing. He could have detained her for refusing to leave the airport (but if he was later proven in the wrong for doing so, it would lead to legal issues).

However, to deck a woman like that is astonishingly bad. He chose one of the worst responses possible, which escalated rather than deescalated the situation, and has lost his job for it. As it stands, she can sue him, his fellow officers and the police department over the incident.

STORY SOURCE

MDPD Director Alfredo Ramirez announced he has “initiated an investigation and ordered that the involved officers be relieved of duty.”

July 1, 2020 - A police officer in Miami is facing discipline after punching a woman in the face in an episode that was recorded on body camera footage, according to Alfredo Ramirez, the director of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Mr. Ramirez appeared to be referring to a video circulated on Twitter by Billy Corben, a filmmaker, that showed a woman arguing with two officers at what Mr. Corben said was Miami International Airport on Wednesday. The woman stood inches away from one of the officers before he punched her forcefully on her left cheek, sending her hurtling backward.

He then pushed her to the ground as officers converged on her, and one can be seen getting out his handcuffs. “She head-butted me,” one officer can be heard saying, though the video does not show a head-butt...

https://www.nytimes.com

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