Miami Police Officer Caught Attacking Handcuffed Man
Miami authorities are investigating a Thursday incident in which a video depicts a Miami police officer jumping on a handcuffed suspect while he sat in the back of a police cruiser. The person who recorded the video is now being shamed by the police union for allegedly “making the situation worse.”
New York Daily News reports that the police officer, still unidentified at this time, escorted a younger, handcuffed male to the back of a patrol car. A female witness, identified as Shenitria Blocker, recorded the officer talking to the man under arrest and within seconds, jumping on top of him.
Although it’s still unclear exactly why the police officer attacked the young man, Blocker said that the altercation occurred after the suspect asked why he was being arrested.
“The cop told him he didn’t have to tell him why he was being arrested, and the officer jumped in the car, got on him and hit the man a couple of times. After that, another officer came up to me and told me to stop recording, that I can’t record.”
Blocker alleges that the other officer slapped at her hands as she recorded with her phone, but her mother took the phone and hid it. Later on that day, Blocker’s friend uploaded the video to Facebook. By the end of the day, the video had already been viewed over 80,000 times. It’s since been removed, but the video can still be viewed on YouTube.
Per Maj. Delrish Moss of the Miami Police Department, the officer in question has surrendered his badge and gun while the investigation continues. Moss didn’t mention why the suspect was arrested.
“We have launched a full internal affairs investigation into the matter. We take that responsibility very seriously.”
Lt. Javier Ortiz of the Miami police union states that Broker’s actions made the problem worse. In a statement released to the public, the police union indicated that “social media has placed a very negative tone on law enforcement nationwide.”
Ortiz also said that the problems arising against police officers after being blasted on social media is something no one wants to talk about, but that in most instances, the police are only protecting the community and doing their job.
“It seems that no one cares to address this. Social media has focused so much on #blacklifematters/alllifematters campaigns, yet nobody targets the root of the problem our community faces today.”
While the suspect was released on bail, the Miami police are waiting for the investigation to close to determine what, if any, actions will be taken.
[Photos Courtesy of Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
