The abuse on the homeless seems to be continuing in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. A video shot by a witness on Sunday, Feb. 22, has surfaced, and captures nine-year veteran police officer Victor Ramirez knocking a homeless man to the ground, and then slapping him so hard you can hear the echo.
The incident took place outside of the city’s bus terminal. The homeless man, 58-year-old Bruce Laclair, said this of the incident:
?I had to go to the bathroom, and he wouldn’t let me go to the bathroom.?
While the video does not show what happened before the two men appear from the direction of the bathroom, what was recorded shows Laclair as no threat to Officer Ramirez as he pushes Laclair to the ground. After a short verbal exchange, the officer can be heard saying:
?You’re not going to go pee. You’re not supposed to be here, okay? So get up. I’ll push you down to the ground and I’ll beat you up if you F*****n try to fight me?
After another short exchange of words, Officer Ramirez slaps Laclair and then arrests him. Laclair was charged with trespassing due to this incident. After pleading ?No Contest? to the charge, Laclair was released later that evening.
Because of this incident, Ramirez was suspended with pay and may face charges himself once the Broward States Attorney’s Office looks into the matter. Charges would be fitting after watching this blatant use of excessive force. Officer Ramirez is the type of officer that give so many other good officers a bad reputation.
After all of this, Mayor Jack Seiler had this to say:
?It’s unacceptable?I was very disturbed by the video, I was very frustrated by the timing of it because we have been dealing with these issues and I thought we kind of put all this behind us.?
Ft. Lauderdale has been ?dealing with these issues? alright. This is the same Mayor of the town that has continuously passed laws directed squarely at the homeless. Laws that prohibit sleeping on public property to being able to confiscate their belongings. Adding insult to injury, they must either pay to get their belongings back or have them thrown away after 30 days.
It seems to me that the money spent on police hours, and the cost of incarcerating the homeless, could be better spent on finding solutions to get the homeless off of the street in the first place. Not beating them up for needing to use the restroom.
