MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Officials from the NAACP Tuesday urged prosecutors to file charges against a Miami-Dade County police officer who was filmed carrying out a rough arrest earlier this month.
“For those who are out there protecting and serving as they’re supposed to do, this officer’s actions are a stain and a slap in the face to them,” said Ruben Roberts, chairman of the Miami-Dade County NAACP.
Tuesday’s news conference was a call for change and a show of solidarity against a Miami-Dade police officer shown in this viral video, taking a young woman down by the neck, after she and a friend called officers for help.
Dyma Loving and a friend were walking in a southwest Miami-Dade County neighborhood on March 5 when they say they got into an argument with a man they knew.
They said it escalated and he pulled out a gun so they called the police.
Bodycam video from the scene shows Loving was upset and had to be warned to calm down by Officer Alejandro Giraldo.
She does, but then Giraldo seems to escalate the situation.
“He didn’t treat me like a human at all,” Loving said.
Giraldo yelled at her, forcefully pushed her up against a fence and then tackled her to the ground.
“If Alejandro Giraldo were an average citizen, he would be facing assault charges at the moment so we want him to be treated just how every other citizen would be treated and we want charges to be pressed in that same manner,” said Justin Moore, Loving’s attorney.
Miami-Dade County Police Director Juan Perez said last week that Giraldo had been relieved of duty while the department investigates the incident.
“I find the actions depicted on the video deeply troubling and in no way reflective of our core values of integrity, respect, service, and fairness,” Perez said.
The NAACP also called for more oversight of the Miami-Dade County Department and an increase in diversity in recruiting and training roles.
Loving and her attorney plan to meet with the State Attorney’s Office this week to discuss filing charges against Giraldo.
“If we do something wrong, we have to take responsibility for it. If they do something wrong they have to take responsibility for it,” Loving said.