The Chicago police officer who ignored the pleas of a woman being harassed by a drunk man for wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rico flag on it has resigned, NBC News is reporting.
Officer Patrick Conner has resigned from the Forest Preserve of Cook County’s security force, according to an emailed statement from the agency. Similarly, a tweet (which spells his last name as “Connor”) from the agency indicates that the officer is no longer with the agency.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , on June 14, Mia Irizarry was at the picnic space she had rented at the Forest Preserve when she started being harassed by a drunken park-goer. The man, later identified as Timothy Trybus, 62, began harassing the woman for wearing a shirt bearing the flag of Puerto Rico.
“You should not be wearing that in the United States of America.”
Irizarry simultaneously tried to patiently explain to Trybus that Puerto Rico is part of the United States (Puerto Rico was acquired by the U.S. in 1898, and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917), and tried to get the attention of a Forest Preserve officer – Conner – who could be seen looking away and doing nothing.
“Officer, I’m renting this area, and he’s harassing me about the shirt I’m wearing.”
You can see video of the incident below.
https://www.facebook.com/m.i.a.paperplanes/videos/1909901335697359/?t=0
Eventually, more officers arrived on the scene and took Trybus into custody. He was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.
@Timothy G. Trybus I am a US citizen! pic.twitter.com/OXSWeh9Ztj
— Ariel Montanez (@motivusinc) July 10, 2018
The incident even made it to the attention of Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, who demanded that Conner be fired.
“Today a video surfaced of an undignified event in which a Puerto Rican woman was brutally harassed by a bigot while an officer did not interfere. I am appalled, shocked & disturbed by the officer’s behavior.”
In the aftermath of the incident, Conner was reassigned to desk duty pending an investigation. Forest Preserves Chief of Police Kelvin Pope said that an investigation was launched on June 14, the day of the incident, and that Conner had been placed on desk duty on June 24, 10 days after the incident. He also noted that Conner had been disciplined before for working a part-time job and for not carrying proper credentials.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Forest Preserves of Cook County said that, though Conner has been let go, the investigation will continue.
“But that isn’t where our work ends. We are further addressing aspects of this incident.”
