A Miami-Dade County police officer was released on Wednesday after a video showed an officer punching a woman in the face during an argument at Miami International Airport.
“You act like you’re white,” the black woman told the Latino officer before he was hit, the Miami Herald reported.
News of the incident came as interactions between police and the public have been receiving close scrutiny following George Floyd’s death on May 25 in police custody in Minneapolis.
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Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez and Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramírez issued statements condemning the officer’s alleged behavior.
“This is terrible,” Giménez wrote on Twitter. “It is an excessive use of force and unnecessary. That is NOT what our @MiamiDadePD are trained to do. @MDPD_Director Ramirez has ordered that the officer be released from duty and the investigation is ongoing. That is why I instituted body cameras and MDPD is reviewing all the images. “
“I am shocked and angry by a body camera video I just saw involving one of our officers,” Ramírez wrote in a statement. “I immediately launched an investigation and ordered that the officer involved be released from duty.
Miami International Airport (iStock)
Actions like these undermine the hard work we have invested in our community and break my heart for our community and for the vast majority of our officers who dedicate their lives to serving our county. This will not continue, and I assure our community that any officer acting in this manner will be held accountable. ”
The police director’s statement did not include specific details on how the altercation began, nor did he identify the officer, Miami FOX station WSVN-TV reported.
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But the Miami Herald identified the officer as Antonio Rodríguez.
Ramírez has asked Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle to participate in the investigation, according to the report.
