Miami-Dade police relieved one of its officers of his regular duties after a video surfaced of police violently taking down a black woman who had allegedly called them for help.
Cell phone video posted on Twitter shows the March 5 arrest, which begins with the camera pointed at the officers’ feet and a voice—presumably a police officer’s—saying “just calm down.”
A Miami-Dade officer adds, “if anything, she needs to be taken down,” referring to the black woman at the scene, later identified by WPLG as Dyma Loving.
“Why do I have to be corrected when my life was just threatened?” Loving responds, telling officers she just wants to charge her phone.
Within moments, officers lunge at the woman, who doesn’t appear to have done anything to provoke them. As the police manhandle Loving, a bystander filming the confrontation pleads with the police to stop.
“She didn’t even do nothing,” she tells officers.
Two officers then proceed to headlock Loving and drag her to the ground, dislodging her wig in the process. The arresting officers were identified in a police incident report as A.I. Giraldo and J.F. Calderon, according to the Miami Herald.
In the disturbing video, the bystander continues to scream at police to stop, before asking for their names.
In response, officers tell the bystander, “We’re busy right now.”
After video of the arrest went viral this week, Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez shared a statement on Twitter Wednesday night.
“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 wrote.
“Upon becoming aware of the video posted on social media, an immediate inquiry was initiated which resulted in the involved officer being relieved of duty and of his role as a field training officer,” Perez said, adding that an investigation into the arrest had been launched.
“I will hold those that violated any of our policies and/or procedures accountable for their actions or lack thereof,” he added.
The Root confirmed that the officer in question has been relieved of his regular responsibilities and is now on desk duty. Director Perez said the officer who had been disciplined was a tenured cop working with two rookies.
“I don’t know what got into his mind,” Perez said.
Loving was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence, both misdemeanor charges, WPLG reports.
According to a police incident report, Loving was allegedly involved with a confrontation with a neighbor prior to the arrest. Police say Loving and a friend were walking by the home of her neighbor, Frank Tumm, when he called Loving’s friend a “whore.” The friend, Adrianna Green, told police she grabbed a plant from Tumm’s yard and threw it at him. He responded by grabbing a shotgun and pointing it at Loving and Green, threatening to shoot them.
The Herald reports that as of Thursday, Tumm had yet to be charged with a crime.