The woman recorded video of a Miami cop punching a suspect who had already been handcuffed and put in the back of a cruiser; the video was interrupted by another officer trying to seize her phone.
Afterward, Miami Order of the Fraternal Police President Javier Ortiz released a press release containing images allegedly from the camerawoman’s Facebook page, in which she is posed “with young men armed with handguns.” The press-release continues, “Social media has focused so much on #blacklifematters [sic] /alllifematters campaigns, yet nobody targets the root of the problem our community faces today.”
The woman who recorded the video is not accused of any crime, and, apart from recording the beating, is not accused of being involved in any way with the young man the police officer punched in the video.
Ortiz, a police lieutenant, is elected by his fellow officers.
In 2013, Ortiz was sued by an Ultra Music Festival goer for allegedly beating him over a glowstick. The man says that Ortiz and two other officers beat, choked, and tasered him multiple times. He also claimed that Ortiz lied in an internal report. Of the three officers involved, Ortiz is the only officer still with the force. The other two involved plead guilty to extortion charges stemming from an FBI investigation.
Ortiz has several complaints on his record, including one from current NFL player and former University of Miami player Jonathan Vilma. Back in 2008, a pregnant school teacher accused Ortiz and other officers of roughing her up during a routine traffic stop while her young child was in the car. In another case back in April 2011 he emailed a photograph of an African-American man killed by police to fellow officers, except the photograph had been altered to show the man with bloodshot eyes and large pointed teeth.
Police Union Smears Woman Who Posted Video of Police Beating on Facebook [Kyle Munzenrieder/Miami New Times]
(via Reddit)